Stranded!

I am writing this blog from a hotel room in Durant, Oklahoma. Not exactly where I was planning to be tonight, but I am happy that I am not on the side of the road! The kids and I left Tulsa on our way to Houston this morning. Everything was going well and we were driving ahead of the forecasted freezing drizzle. The kids were happily looking at books and singing along to the music, and I had fueled on a mocha from my favorite coffee shop. We stopped for lunch about 2 1/2 hours into the drive. Soon after we were back on the road, the trouble started. The engine overheating sign came on. With a slight rush of adrenaline, but trying to stay calm, I spied a safe spot to pull over and turned off the car. After talking with Marshall and my dad, I checked the coolant levels (which were fine). Since there was no steam, they surmised that it was something to do with the fan. I didn't know exactly what they were talking about, I just wanted them to tell me what to do and I would do it! They decided I should get back on the road. Ten miles down the road, I called Marshall to tell him that everything was fine when the car started overheating again. Again, I pulled over. This time, they decided that I should head for the nearest town. I limped into town, pulling over every mile or so when the engine started to get hot. By this time, Marshall was on his way down in my parents' van. The kids were getting cranky (nap time for Noah), so I pulled out the suckers. Peace in the car. A policeman who stopped to help on my last cooling down pull over gave me directions to a hotel, where we watched movies, read books, and had a couple of dance parties while waiting for Marshall to make it down. He had to drive through a nasty winter storm, but he came to rescue us! He did forget the extra seats to my parents' van, though, so we can't take the kids anywhere. We walked to Jack in the Box for dinner and tomorrow he will take our van right next door to the dealer and we'll go from there!