Camping in Ferron

Matt had planned and was so excited for a camping trip down to Ferron, Utah. His family went there alot growing up and he loves it, so he planned for a year to go camping there. (A little pre information. A month before all of this, we ended up trading in our Suburban for a mini-van. We decided if we were ever going to get a truck, this was how it was all going to happen. So we traded in and we both had mixed feelings about it. I knew we were going camping and wanted to pull a 4-wheeler, but Matt informed me that it wouldn't be a problem.) On with the story. We were all loaded and headed out on the boy's birthday. When we were just past Blackfoot, we blew a tire on the 4-wheeler trailer. We pulled over to the side and Matt and I got out in the 95 degree weather and tried to get the tire off the trailer. Matt forgot to put any tools in, so we couldn't get the spare tire off. So we ended up getting the flat off and then we headed into Blackfoot to get some tools. While there, we decided to just get a new tire instead. So we headed back to repair the tire. So after about 1 1/2 hours we were all done and on the road again.

The boys didn't seem to mind being stuck on the side of the road for 1 1/2 hours. As long as their movie was going they were happy. All was going well until we got to about Plymouth. The check transmission light came on. By this point I was really frustrated and mad. I had kept telling Matt that I didn't think we should pull a trailer with the mini van, but he was determined. We got off and checked things out and there were no leaks or anything and the car seemed to be driving fine. So we continued on. By the time we got to Ogden, Matt was beginning to wonder if we should keep driving it. So we got off in Ogden and found a dealer. They were already closed, so we were going to leave the car over night and have them look at it tomorrow. In the meantime his parents were headed up to pick us up. We hadn't eaten any dinner, so the kids and I walked over to McDonald's to eat. That made them happy. After we ate, his parents arrived and we were going to unload our car into theirs, but we got in and the light had turned off. We figured we had just overheated, so his dad pulled the trailer to Bountiful and we drove the van. It took us 7 1/2 hours to get to Bountiful. I was not a very happy camper. The next morning before heading out for camping, Matt went and had the car checked out and they said there was nothing wrong with it. Surprise. I could have sworn there was a problem yesterday. Oh well. So we pulled a boat (a lighter load according to Matt, and against my better judgement) all the way to Ferron. All went well until we got to the campsite and our check transmission light came on again. I just tried to forget about it. We ended up camping the first night in the tent. The kids loved it and the weather was perfect. We even roasted some smores and those were a hit. It sprinkled on and off in the next morning. Matt took Aiden and Collin fishing from the bank and then the girls went out in the boat fishing with Matt and his dad. Then the fun started. It started raining around 1 p.m. and it didn't stop. Luckily we had rented the Ranger Cabin, so we went back there and cooked dinner inside. We decided to stay in the cabin that night and everyone else camped in the rain. By the next morning we were all tired of the rain and everything was so wet. It was still raining, so we packed up a day early and headed back to Bountiful. The light was still on as we drove out of the mountains. When we got to town we stopped and checked the fluid levels and noticed the coolant was pretty much empty. So we bought some and filled it up and the light went off. All was well until we pulled into Matt's parents driveway. The car started seizing and lost all power. By now I was mad. We unloaded the entire car and Matt was able to mostly coast down the hill and take it to the dealership. The plan was to head home on Sunday, but now we were stuck until Monday when the dealership opened and someone could look at the car. So we stayed at Matt's parents and waited. Monday they looked at the car and told us that we need a new engine. We were not happy. So they told us we could drive the car home to Idaho, but we would have to stop every 100 miles and add oil, because it was burning through the oil. So we started our trek home and stopped to fill it with oil, but it was never low and we didn't have any problems the whole drive home. We had the dealer in Rexburg check it out for us and they said nothing was wrong. I was hating the van by now and was mad we got rid of the Suburban, but all is good now. Since this lovely weekend, we have had several times where there has been something wrong with the van, but when they looked at it they said it was fine. I am now the owner of a Suburban again. We got rid of the troublesome van and got a different Suburban. I am happy. So our camping trip was a bust. We had a 1/2 day of fun camping, but the drive, and the weather were not so good. Hopefully next year when we decide to go camping again, we will have better luck. (Sorry for such a sob story post. I didn't want to forget our wonderful weekend.)