Friday night, on my way to Madrigal, about 3 miles from the camp, I was going up a rather steep hill and the car started to slow down and then just died.  Fortunately, I was able to put it as close to the side of the road as possible, for that was all she wrote.  There was some smoke from under the hood.  It smelled bad.  The dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree; oil light, battery light, engine light, VSA light. 

I put the hazards on and proceeded to call AAA while Kiera called for LARPer reinforcements.  I ended up having the car towed to the dealership where I've had it worked on for the past 6 years.  I thought that was going to be the end of my Madrigal weekend, but thanks to the understanding of my darling wife I was able to take her car back up on Saturday morning.  Yay!

Therein lies the end of the yay-ness as car issues go.  I got a call from the dealership this morning.  The coolant was empty whch apparently caused overheating which blew the radiator and the head gaskets.  I'm now looking at a $2500 - $3000 repair bill.  The subject says it all.

Well, whatever the case, the van has stopped going.

( Car trouble details behind the cut )