In our last installment of 'This boring life', you may recall we had been at a beautiful but awkward wedding.
The upside to being less than comfortable, and leaving early, is that I had no chance of being hungover the following morning when I had planned on getting up early to get my car to the shop.
A week or so prior, I had hit a curb pretty hard with my rear passenger tire. It was so jarring that I thought I broke something in my rear axle. I continued to drive it, since there was no real sign of damage (steering, wobbly wheels, extra bumpy ride, etc), until early last week, I heard a rattle. Only when I turned left...but only from a dead stop.
I looked under my hood, in all the wheel wells...I checked the springs and the brakes...everything seemed fine.
As I was about to just call the mechanic and get the car in, I decided to just take a peek a little further under the car.
Keeping in mind that I drive a Honda Fit, which sits about 4 inches above the ground, I could not get a clear view of what the issue was...
...but there was definitely an issue.
I thought it was my catalytic converter, but there was no loud exhaust sounds and no check engine light...it was just a rattle.
So I figured I'd just drive a few towns over to the Midas and let them figure it out.
Off to Orleans, I go.
Hubby had not gotten up yet, and I knew I'd be waiting for an estimate, so I told him to just chill and come meet me when he was ready. There was a chance I'd have my car back before he even finished his coffee!
After dropping the car off, I walked over to the plaza next door...I knew at least I could get a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, and sit for a bit.
On my way, I passed an old garage, and spotted this old beauty in the yard.
By 11:00 I still hadn't heard and hubs was on his way. Just as he got there, the rain started.
We drove out to the beach but I did not get pics as, by the time we got there, it was raining pretty hard.
Heading back into town, the rain subsided and we saw that the farmer's market was still happening, despite the rain so we figured on a walk.
The art sheds were not open.
We did not play chess but we did decide we wanted the umbrella fountain for our yard.
Though the market was open, there were few vendors there on a rainy day. Just a handful of produce and some bread, really.
We headed down the road to the auto parts store for some oil for the Mini (damn thing needs oil every other week!) which is when the rain got a little heavier. Thinking we could walk a little bit down the road to a little place called Sunbird, for breakfast foods, the rain picked up with every step.
It was packed, and just a tiny place so we did not wait in the line that formed to the door.
Instead, we ducked into the LandHo! A local spot that has been around forever.
They opened at 11:30...it was 11:38 by my clock...I was a little embarrassed to most likely be the first ones in the door for the day.
To my surprise the bar was half full already and a few tables were filled!
I tried to get a shot of how hard it was raining, but it is not clear through the window.
By noon-ish, we were finishing up and my phone finally rang.
"You're in luck! You don't need any exhaust work!"
"Great. What DO I need?"
"nothing. Your heat shield had rusted so we just took that off. You don't need it, but the manufacturers are required to put them on."
Okay, I don't understand that, but when I drop my car off expecting to drop another $600-800, I won't dig any deeper into a 'no charge' pick up!
We finished up and struggled to get out through the crowd that had formed by the door, in what was now a fully packed restaurant, and headed back to hubby's car so I didn't have to walk in the rain, all the way back to Midas.
On the way back, we passed a little cemetery in the middle of town.
Like most Cape Cod towns, you can usually find a little cemetery tucked in between the shops on a main street.
Not a terribly exciting walk, but as I mentioned, it was pouring rain for most of it.
There's really a lot more to Orleans, Massachusetts but that's all you get today.
Enjoy your Thursday evening! ;)