The Galloper II, by Jodi
We got our car. It's called a Hyundai Galloper II and it's diesel. I'll post pictures as soon as we get it back from the mechanic. :)
Here's our sweet new ride:
Kevin drove with our new friends Jose and Victor all the way to San Jose yesterday. Jose went because he's bought several cars from this dealer and wanted to help. Victor went because Jose doesn't have a driver's license, so he came as an extra driver to bring our rental car back. San Jose is four hours away. First off, I can't imagine asking anyone to take an 8 hour round trip at 5 a.m. to help us buy a car, let alone having two people offer to help us. In fact, Jose stayed with Kevin while they got all the paper work filed with the lawyer, dealt with having the bank wire the money, and figuring out anything that needed to be fixed at the dealer. Kevin didn't get home until about 7 p.m. and Jose stayed with him the whole time. Kevin was completely exhausted from all the driving and trying to communicate the whole day with people who only speak Spanish.
Victor (left) and Jose (right) with Kevin at breakfast on their way to San Jose.
During the drive home, Kevin noticed that the engine temperature gauge didn't work. Then, the front blinker light disconnected and was flopping around on the hood. And the A/C knob fell off. So, we've got it back at the mechanic's today. The dealer is paying for all the repairs, though. It's actually a lot less stressful buying a used car here because mechanics charge about a tenth of what they do in the U. S. (finally, something that's cheaper). So, if you buy a car with issues, it's not so overwhelming to get them taken care of. Plus with the way the roads are here, cars just don't hold up as well.
But, it's diesel, which is awesome. I don't know why, but the diesel fuel is a lot more efficient. Kevin got the tank filled in San Jose and after a 4 hour drive home, it was still almost on full. The back seats are jump seats, so they fold in half and then up to the side, so it opens up the space a lot better than the fold down seats in our rental. It drives pretty rugged like a jeep and even has one of those handles to hold onto on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. I'm just grateful to have a car I can drive without stressing about all the dings I'm going to put in it.
Jose went to Santa Cruz with us today to show us where the mechanic he likes is. On the way to Santa Cruz, right after we started driving in our new car, Tessa asked me "when is it going to leap?" I had no idea what she was saying and just thought I heard her wrong. So, after she repeated herself several times, Sadie figured out what she was talking about and she's like, "oh, no, Tessa, it's not a Leaper. It's a Galloper." So then Tessa's like "...oh...does it gallop?"
We went to a beach in Samara while the mechanic worked on our car. It was a really great beach with a really shallow area that went a good 15-20 yards out before it got about the kids' waists. And then another 30 yards before it even went up to their chest. Poor Autumn was on Kevin's back when he crouched down to jump over a wave and she thought he was going to dive into it. So, when he jumped up her head was coming down and her nose collided with the back of his head. She had a nice little bloody nose for the ride home. While we were there, we looked back at the beach and there was this group of at least 6 horses galloping across the beach. They didn't have any riders or ropes or anything on them. They just galloped across the beach and then ran into a field. Kevin thought they were going to trample Jose. I'm still not sure where they were going, but it was really cool watching them. Seemed liked something out of a movie.
On the way to Santa Cruz, right after we started driving in our car, Tessa asked me "when is it going to leap?" I had no idea what she was saying and just thought I heard her wrong. So, after she repeated herself several times, Sadie figured out what she was talking about and she's like, "oh, no, Tessa, it's not a Leaper. It's a Galloper." So then Tessa's like "...oh...does it gallop?"
I'm so sick of homeschool. The kids are terrible about it. Autumn moans and complains endlessly about how much she hates it. Jack just cheats and tells me he's done 10 minutes after he started because instead of reading the lessons, he just skips to the next page until he's skipped through all the pages. And Sadie just avoids it and lays on the couch and refuses to do it and then sneaks outside to the pool. I'm just ready to put them back in regular school because they're much more accommodating with their teachers than they are with me...especially our cute Sadie. She would never tell her teacher "no" about an assignment she didn't want to do. But she has no problem telling me "no" and then losing her paper and then losing her pencil and then forgetting she was supposed to do something.
Here's our sweet new ride:
Kevin drove with our new friends Jose and Victor all the way to San Jose yesterday. Jose went because he's bought several cars from this dealer and wanted to help. Victor went because Jose doesn't have a driver's license, so he came as an extra driver to bring our rental car back. San Jose is four hours away. First off, I can't imagine asking anyone to take an 8 hour round trip at 5 a.m. to help us buy a car, let alone having two people offer to help us. In fact, Jose stayed with Kevin while they got all the paper work filed with the lawyer, dealt with having the bank wire the money, and figuring out anything that needed to be fixed at the dealer. Kevin didn't get home until about 7 p.m. and Jose stayed with him the whole time. Kevin was completely exhausted from all the driving and trying to communicate the whole day with people who only speak Spanish.
During the drive home, Kevin noticed that the engine temperature gauge didn't work. Then, the front blinker light disconnected and was flopping around on the hood. And the A/C knob fell off. So, we've got it back at the mechanic's today. The dealer is paying for all the repairs, though. It's actually a lot less stressful buying a used car here because mechanics charge about a tenth of what they do in the U. S. (finally, something that's cheaper). So, if you buy a car with issues, it's not so overwhelming to get them taken care of. Plus with the way the roads are here, cars just don't hold up as well.
But, it's diesel, which is awesome. I don't know why, but the diesel fuel is a lot more efficient. Kevin got the tank filled in San Jose and after a 4 hour drive home, it was still almost on full. The back seats are jump seats, so they fold in half and then up to the side, so it opens up the space a lot better than the fold down seats in our rental. It drives pretty rugged like a jeep and even has one of those handles to hold onto on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. I'm just grateful to have a car I can drive without stressing about all the dings I'm going to put in it.
Jose went to Santa Cruz with us today to show us where the mechanic he likes is. On the way to Santa Cruz, right after we started driving in our new car, Tessa asked me "when is it going to leap?" I had no idea what she was saying and just thought I heard her wrong. So, after she repeated herself several times, Sadie figured out what she was talking about and she's like, "oh, no, Tessa, it's not a Leaper. It's a Galloper." So then Tessa's like "...oh...does it gallop?"
We went to a beach in Samara while the mechanic worked on our car. It was a really great beach with a really shallow area that went a good 15-20 yards out before it got about the kids' waists. And then another 30 yards before it even went up to their chest. Poor Autumn was on Kevin's back when he crouched down to jump over a wave and she thought he was going to dive into it. So, when he jumped up her head was coming down and her nose collided with the back of his head. She had a nice little bloody nose for the ride home. While we were there, we looked back at the beach and there was this group of at least 6 horses galloping across the beach. They didn't have any riders or ropes or anything on them. They just galloped across the beach and then ran into a field. Kevin thought they were going to trample Jose. I'm still not sure where they were going, but it was really cool watching them. Seemed liked something out of a movie.
On the way to Santa Cruz, right after we started driving in our car, Tessa asked me "when is it going to leap?" I had no idea what she was saying and just thought I heard her wrong. So, after she repeated herself several times, Sadie figured out what she was talking about and she's like, "oh, no, Tessa, it's not a Leaper. It's a Galloper." So then Tessa's like "...oh...does it gallop?"
I'm so sick of homeschool. The kids are terrible about it. Autumn moans and complains endlessly about how much she hates it. Jack just cheats and tells me he's done 10 minutes after he started because instead of reading the lessons, he just skips to the next page until he's skipped through all the pages. And Sadie just avoids it and lays on the couch and refuses to do it and then sneaks outside to the pool. I'm just ready to put them back in regular school because they're much more accommodating with their teachers than they are with me...especially our cute Sadie. She would never tell her teacher "no" about an assignment she didn't want to do. But she has no problem telling me "no" and then losing her paper and then losing her pencil and then forgetting she was supposed to do something.
I want to see your car leap and or gallop!!! :) sounds like you have some very kind friends, beautiful surroundings, and the adventure continues!!! We send our love and hugs to everyone... You're in our prayers.
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