Adoption Adventure

Little Miss Mollykins doesn't know just how much trouble we went through to adopt her, but if you'll sit for a spell, I'll share the tale.

We had already had our phone interviews with her foster people, Denise and Chan, and her rescue owner, Kathy. We knew she would be a good fit. We bought supplies (dog food and treats - check, water and food bowls - check, pet bed that the cat hadn't claimed - check). We prepared our home. We prepared the van (cleaned, seats removed, emergency supplies). We were ready, and we took off.

We didn't actually get onto the road until near midnight. That was alright, though, because we had blocked off the whole weekend. Then we reached Boonville Missouri, just west of Columbia. Kay was driving, and we stopped for gas and breakfast. As we pulled into the gas station, slowing down, the transmission shifted to a lower gear... and we heard a terrible rattling begin. Uh oh.

She pulled up to the pump and stopped, and the rattling stopped, too. Phew! The engine might not explode. She tried revving the engine, and no rattle. She put it in park, and we filled the tank. Start it back up... still no rattle. Good! Put it in drive to leave... the rattle was back. No no, this isn't good. Maybe it'll fix itself... after all, the shift timing problem I experienced before went away when they fixed the power steering, so let's just cross the street to McDonald's. It's not far, and puts just a little work on the engine. Rattle rattle Rattle Rattle RATTLE RATTLE. Nope... not going to fix itself. Begin cursing like a sailor.

One call to AAA and a tow later, and we were at the nearest good auto shop, Midwest Autoworx. James, the very friendly and knowledgeable owner, and Valerie at the front desk (who is, oddly enough, from Indy, too) provided information, comfy couches in the lounge, free WiFi, and offered us coffee while we waited. It's a pretty decent way to bite your nails, waiting for bad news, but they're really good and we didn't have to wait long. It was a loose ball bearing. The transmission would need to be replaced. $2500 on short notice. Great... just great. Repeat curses silently in my head, but it could be so much worse. At least we weren't trapped in a snow-storm. At least we weren't hours from the nearest town. At least we had the whole weekend!

James was quite kind, and gave us a lift to Enterprise in Columbia, Missouri. Along the way he picked our brains about which iPad to buy for his wife. I hope she loves your choice, James, and thanks again for the ride! Enterprise may boast that they'll pick you up, but understandably they only mean within the city in which they're located. We still had a day and a half left in the weekend... and the van wouldn't be ready for up to a week, so a rental was just what the doctor ordered. We could have given up and flown back, but Molly was waiting for us, and we were already so close, and we'd have to come back again anyway.

At Enterprise, we met Ashley, who helped us pick a vehicle. Kay and I joked around a little. Ashley said I was being facetious. I really appreciate a wider vocabulary. She found us a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan with only 2000 miles on it. I love my van, but wow was this a nice vehicle. The stow-and-go seating was particularly appreciated, since we were on our way to get Molly.

All told, this expensive set-back took us through lunch. I didn't originally have plans for the weekend following the adoption. Now I did, and if Molly was good in a car (which she is), she'd have two road trips in her near future. So we resumed our trip, and soon we were meeting Molly for the first time.

We met Denise and Chan for the first time that evening, and shortly afterward Molly joined us. She was a little wary at first, but warmer than they expected. When they took all the dogs out to play in the back yard, I started playing ball with another dog, Josie, and Molly decided she wanted in on that. I also got my first happy pounce when I started playing with the puppies that she liked to protect, and she saw that they were happy with me and that I treated them well.

Even though she has a piercing bark, K was in love, too. We got a hotel for the night because we were exhausted, but went back the next morning and adopted her, and the rest is history.