Then we tried to get up the goddamned mountain.
We got about half-way up, and it was pretty obvious we weren't going anywhere. The chains were working, and then they started clacking. I think we broke one, again. So, I took my foot off the brake slightly to start rolling back. And started rolling back at an alarming rate.
After several minutes of terror, I was able to ease the van mostly down the mountain. At least down the worst part. Keeping it in neutral and driving on the snow rather than the ice meant that we didn't die on the way down. Or hit our roommates car. Both of which were very serious concerns. It's a damn good thing I'm a snow and ice goddess.
Problem with this? We were half-way up the mountain, and still had to get home. And it was 12:30. It took Colin and I probably an hour or so to get up there. Not because it is very far, but because there was a shit-ton of snow and ice. Guess what my husband was wearing? His kilt. I was wearing jeans, but they don't help much when the snow can still get in your sneakers.
We got most of the way up, trudging through the snow, to the place where we would have to cross the ice to get the rest of the way up. The MOMENT I stepped onto the ice I went down. Hard. On both of my knees. I proceeded to lie on the ice and cry for 15 minutes, because it felt like I had broken something. I cried and I cursed the mountain and I cursed Montana and I generally felt miserable and horrible. I eventually drug my ass up and slowly made my way across.
Our roommate came down to rescue us, bringing snow shoes. Once I got across the ice I was ok, even though I was still in a lot of pain.
My knees are both awfully pretty colors today, and they are very tender. I have several other bruises and I am still incredibly sore. At this point, I'm not going down the mountain until a) I can get a ride from the roommates or maybe our landlords or b) things melt so I can walk down. I am NOT willing to go through pain like that again.
So at this point, I really don't know what to do. I might call Tire Rama tomorrow, and see if they would be able to tow my car and fix the brakes. Of course, I'll have to ask my parents first if they are willing to do that...god only knows how much THAT is going to cost. I don't want to put more money into this vehicle, but it'll be awhile before we can afford another one.
I have an idea that maybe we'll keep the van, and just buy a 4-wheel drive vehicle to supplement it. But I am not going to worry about that until we get our van fixed. Hopefully, I'll hurt less tomorrow and we can actually figure this out.
All in all - I'm just REALLY glad we made it down the mountain safely. That could have been so much worse...
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