In the summer of 2003, we took a road trip to visit Hobie and Irene in La Verkin, Utah, Michel and Mary in southern California, Cory and Therésè in Northern California, and the Calls and Jaspersons in Star Valley, Wyoming. As part of the trip, we planned a few tourist stops along the way including the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Donner's Pass.
We had a wonderful trip. It was fun to visit our family in California. On our trip from Sacrament to Star Valley, the transmission on the van did not sound so good as we drove up the mountain pass on Interstate 80 before we got to Nevada. When we stopped at the Donner Memorial State Park, I could tell the transmission was having some issues but the van was still drivable. So, we decided we would continue to Star Valley.
As we traveled across Nevada, we decided we would take Highway 30 across the north part of Utah to Malad and Soda Springs Idaho instead of driving through Salt Lake City on Intestate 80. As we got off the interstate, we did not pay close attention to the gas gauge. Shortly after we crossed the state line into Utah, the low gas warning started chiming.
However, there are not many towns or gas stations along Highway 30 across northern Utah. We kept driving and watching for a place to gas up. The warning continued to chime. We asked the kids to start praying that we would find a gas station.
Finally, we saw a sign for a gas station. We pulled off the highway to fill up the tank. The needle on the gas gauge was well past the Empty mark. Not sure how we finished that leg of that trip without running out of gas!
When we got to Star Valley, we took the van to Suloff Auto Repair in Afton to check out the transmission. The mechanic gave us some pictures of the metal filings in the bottom of the transmission oil pan. However, Suloffs would not be able to get a new transmission in for a week and then would need time to get the transmission repaired.
We had replaced the transmission in the van about 4 months before we started our trip. The new transmission had a one-year warranty. The closest location to Star Valley for the chain that serviced our transmission was in Denver. Suloffs told us that we should be able to make it to Denver.
We left Star Valley a couple of days later. We had already planned to stay in Denver at the Drury Inn as that was one of the places we liked to stay on our trips to Wyoming from Oklahoma. The trip to Denver went smoothly until we started to drive up Sherman Summit between Laramie and Cheyenne. the transmission started making noise and popped out of gear.
We stopped on the side of the road. We said a family prayer that we would be able to continue on our trip. After we prayed, we asked the kids what they thought and everyone voted to continue. The van would not move when I placed the gear selector in Drive. But it would go in first gear.
We turned on the emergency flashers, put the van in first gear, and continued over Sherman Summit. We stopped at the Tree in the Rock Historical Site just outside of Cheyenne. When we got back into the van, the transmission would work in Drive again.
We stopped at the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne. We had a family discussion about staying in Cheyenne and trying to find a location in Cheyenne to fix our transmission or continuing the 100 miles to Denver. After some conversation, Jamie and Tanner assured us that we had prayed to make it so we should continue to Denver.
We made it to Denver and checked into the hotel with no other issues. The van seemed to run just fine. Of course, there are no major hills to drive over between Cheyenne and Denver. The next morning, I went outside to drive the van to the transmission repair shop. The transmission would not engage in any gears (forward or backward). I had to call the transmission shop to come and tow the van.
We stayed in Denver (fortunately, the hotel had capacity for us to stay in the same room beyond our original one-night stay) for the rest of the week. The transmission repair shop was able to get a new transmission delivered in two days and then they worked all day on Friday to get it installed before they finished work for the weekend. I was able to pick up the van at 5:00 p.m. on Friday as they were closing.
The stay in Denver was interesting. Our room was a typical double Queen room. One of the reasons we stayed at Drury Inn is the local manager let us stay in one room even though we had seven people. The room was crowded with all of us in the room. Because the van was in the repair shop, we could not go anywhere else. Fortunately, we found a branch of the library within walking distance of the hotel. We had the stroller with us and would walk to the library for part of the day. Needless to say, our stay was an adventure.
After we got the van back, our trip from Denver to Norman was uneventful. The transmission company replaced the transmission and reimbursed us for our hotel stay. We did not have any issues with the second transmission. It was still working fine two years later when we sold the van.
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