Vacation, good; car, bad

Vacation, good:

I had a pretty awesome camping trip with the Koppys. We stayed at the Crags campground in the Colorado State Forest for a couple of days. (I nearly froze to death the first night; we drove to the nearest Wal-Mart–100 miles away–the next day so I could buy another sleeping bag.)

Driving up to the Crags:

My favorite picture:

We did some great hikes and great scenic drives, but after a while got tired of being so freaking cold all the time. We moved to a campground at a lower elevation and experienced the joys of camping near other people’s ill-behaved children for a few days. The Koppys dropped me off at the Denver airport and I flew to Minneapolis.

The next day, my family and I drove up to the North Shore, staying at a small campground a few hours north of Duluth. It rained almost the entire time and was quite chilly. We still had fun, but after consulting a gloomy forecast, we ended up going home two days early.

Hiking at Sugarloaf Cove:

Lake Superior

Car, bad:

As soon as we got home, my dad and I talked to Vladimir, the guy who was supposed to be fixing up the car we’d just bought through him. The car wasn’t ready yet. I figured, no problem, I’m leaving on the 30th and Vlad will have another week to finish it. Then I can drive home to Kansas City in my new (used) car. Shiny!

Fast-forward a week later. I’m still here. The paperwork has taken a tortuous and somewhat shady turn, what with Vladimir giving the title to us and then us finding out he didn’t actually sign it, he bought the car through a dealer friend; and realizing that since the plates had expired I’d need to get a temporary permit for the car, which I can’t get without the title signed over to me; and then there was the part where Vlad had to send the title to New York for some reason; and the back-and-forth with various people at work, getting permission to remain in Minnesota; and now it’s Labor Day weekend, and even though the New York people are sending the title by express mail, the service center that issues temporary permits will probably be closed by the time it gets here, and I will have to stay through Labor Day until the center reopens, and I have been living out of a suitcase for a month.

At least I get more time with my family, and the weather is nice. I’m enjoying that.