Stranded

This weekend, we took Cora on her first trip to Mema and P-pa's house in San Angelo.  We left late on Friday after John got off work and intended to come back on Sunday.  God had other plans. . .  

Here is how a normal brake caliper  should look:  

Here is what our brake caliper looked like:

Notice the gaping hole where the bolt should be.  Yes, that's right!  Somehow, we managed to lose a bolt from the caliper while driving to San Angelo on Friday.  This NEVER happens. . .yet, somehow, there we were with the brake grinding and grabbing on the highway.  Our theory is that when we took our vehicle in for a service recall at the dealership in our town, the mechanics did not properly re-tighten the bolts.  Harumph!  This will be another negative notch in the belt for that dratted place!  (I will not name names, but I assume that if you know where I live and care to figure it out, you will be able to!)

So, we stopped at Auto Zone on the way back from my grandparents only to find out that this part must be ordered.  Ergo, our best bet will be the Toyota dealership.  Is the parts department open on Saturday afternoon?  No.  Will it be open on Sunday?  No.  Can we drive our car any farther?  No! Thank goodness Mema and P-pa let us stay. . .not that they would refuse more time with baby Cora.  And, thank goodness we have a fabulous neighbor who doesn't mind keeping Penny for another day.  I do believe that one day after Linda keeps Penny, we will not get her back.   Penny LOVES Linda, and thankfully, Linda feels the same way about Penny.  

John got up early this morning so that he could go to the Toyota dealership and get the little bolt.  And, drum roll please. . . they do not carry that part.  It must be ordered!  Are ya kiddin' me?!  It's beginning to look like we will need to hitchhike back to our home or catch a ride with Mema when she comes tomorrow.  Our only option appears to be to get a correct size bolt from Home Depot and hope and pray that it does not melt on the drive home.  This is not a great option.  As a last ditch effort, John calls Brake's, Etc.  They have a bolt that is the right grade, just a little shorter.  Bingo!  This should get us back to our town to where my preferred dealership will have the right bolt waiting for us!  

Once we got going, we had an easy drive back.  May I just say that I love Mason!  I had never been there until this weekend.  I will definitely need to go back there to go antiquing.  I'll just make sure I have plenty of tools and bolts available for the trip!