You have to drive a lot of tin to find your crystal!

Less than a week ago it became evident that my daughter in law's beloved van; "Gracie" was on her last wheels and was no longer able to transport my son, Chris, Paula and granddaughter baby Star, safely around town anymore.  Gracie plays a sentimental role in our families life (especially Chris and Paula's) in that she drove them to and from Florida safely and without a hitch (they had everything in the roof carrier), even with a blown head gasket on the way to Florida and a glued in spark plug on the way back from Florida.

Chris and Paula took Gracie to the shop on Saturday and the diagnoses was not a happy one.  She would require $2500 worth of work.  Even Paula admitted that Gracie would not merit being brought back to life at that price.   It was decided that the family would need to buy a new vehicle and so.....as the week began....so did the hunt.

On the outset of this story; it is important for the reader to know that when Chris and Paula put their minds to doing something and....their trust in a loving God.....the end result is always positive.

Sunday Chris and Paula scoured Craigslist for a vehicle that would not only safely move their family from one spot to another but they quickly decided upon a type of vehicle.  They knew they wanted a van of some type because they are not much for staying in one place and they wanted something they could comfortably travel in and stay in if the need presented itself.  They choose an Econoline conversion van.

You know how once you have decided on a type of vehicle you see them everywhere?  Well that was certainly the case for us.  Even though most of the Econoline vans are older, they seem to last forever and so there are a lot of them to choose from.  But because they are older they each come with their individual quirks.

Monday brought them to two vans, one in Southeast Portland and the other in Oregon City.  The one in Southeast Portland was not a conversion van but an Acura Mini Van.  The price was right on this and from the pictures it looked flawless.  After driving all the way to the dealership, come to find out there was a big dent on the passenger side of the van, something they had failed to take a picture of for the post on craigslist or mention on the phone.  Another one they had advertised at that particular car lot also looked like a good one until they called on it and the dealer said; "great van, you just have to jump it to get it started."  Thanks but no thanks.  From there after a quick stop at McDonalds it was off to Oregon City to see the next one.

This particular van was for sale by owner.  Again from the sound of the ad and the pictures on the craigslist post the van looked wonderful.  It had 170,000 miles on it and the last 40,000 miles was on a new engine.  Older gentlemen who supposedly; "had babied the van".  Keep in mind these vans are old and have been around for awhile (just like their previous owners).  Len was with Chris and Paula when they went for a test drive.  Upon further inspection this van was also less than wonderful.  It had holes in the carpet, the lights in the cab didn't work, the headlights weren't as bright as they should be, but as they drove all engine related mechanics seemed to work well.  They had just about decided this might be an ok choice (remember these guys are on a tight budget and so for the amount they are willing to pay for a vehicle you are going to have some things that aren't quite right).  But safety wise....this was looking good.  Len pulled over, turned off the engine so that they could change drivers, Paula got in the drivers seat....and the van would not start again.  This was the first indication that this was not the van to be bought, the second was when they called the owner to tell them they were stranded and he replied; "what, did you turn off the ignition?"

Tuesday looked more promising when another conversion van was located in Tigard, also by a private seller.  This one had 218,000 miles.  A little higher than desirable.  It was beautiful though.  It ran nicely, (except for a nagging sound that Len thought might be the beginning of a transmission problem), the seats were clean and in good shape (except for the fact that the wires for electric seat/bed in the back had to be jeery rigged every time you wanted to put it up or down) and the front seat was very comfortable (yet the adjustments on the seat didn't work so Paula would have had to wear her high heel boots and have a pillow behind her just to reach the pedals.)  This was a gem...and remember...for the price...there has to be some problems.  It was decided this was the car for them... they negotiated the price and went in search of cash.  Did you know most ATMs won't let you get enough money out to buy even a early 1990's van?  After calling the bank in hopes of getting them to authorize a larger withdrawal, they all finally came to the conclusion this purchase would have to wait for the banks to open on Wednesday.

Len was having some reservations about the high mileage of the van in Tigard and began looking at Craigslist again to see if anything new had been added.  As luck would have it Wednesday at 11:54 a.m. ANOTHER ECOLINE VAN was posted on craigslist.  This one in NW Portland.  A white one with yellow stripes.  57,000 original miles, new tires, muffler, battery, and even new windshield wipers.  This was sounding too good to be true.  As Len was off to do some church service, I was left in charge of this particular expedition.  My son asked me as we went to look at it, "mom do you know what a good engine sounds like?"  I told him I thought I could probably decipher it.  We drove out Corneilus Pass Rd as the sun was setting, hoping we would be able to get a look at the car (and the beautiful view from these folks house) before it got dark.   We arrived before sundown, the view from the hill of the valley and the Van was stunning.  It was everything they had advertised and more.  All the lights, electrical parts, engine, tires...everything works.  It has a gorgeous paint job and the carpet (albeit it is 23 years old) has no wholes in it and is clean.  Paula said it looks as if this van was taken right out of 1989 and dropped into 2012 (missing all of the years in between).  We took it for a test drive and it performed terrifically.  Just as we got back to the owners house (the owners story is a topic of a whole nother blog) the van began to sputter.  (WAIT WE THOUGHT THIS WAS THE VAN)  Don't panic, this is the van, it just was out of gas.  The owners rather embarassed, jumped in their other car (a mini cooper) and went down to the valley with a gas can and got us some gas.  Upon putting the gas in the tank, the car started right up and ran perfectly again.  We happily gave them our cash (which we got out of the bank before we headed up the hill ) and got the title and were on our way.

Upon arrival at home as Paula was getting out of the car, she noticed something in the cubby of the driver's seat door...... a crystal.......for any of you who know Paula you know how much crystals are a favorite of hers and have great meaning in her life.  We truly did find a "gem " of and in this van.