The car was full again. Very FULL! But, alas, the apartment was finally empty. We turned in our keys at the office, and drove east. The conversation between us was animated and flowed easily. We were high on a combination of adrenaline and fatigue. Sheryl had lots to share from the experience of her final day at work. And me, I was just happy not to live in Cary any more.

About an hour and a half into what should have been a two-hour drive, we were chatting away when, all of the sudden, the car lurched, the 'Check Engine' light came on, and then began to slow down. Instinctively, Sheryl (who was behind the wheel), turned off the air conditioning and rolled down the windows. Trying to figure out what was happening, I asked, "Are we overheating?" She looked at the temp gauge, and said it looked normal. We were not overheating, at least not yet.

Our speed leveled off at about 45 miles an hour, and the tach indicated that the engine was running at about 4000 rpm. No tachometer was really needed, though, because you could hear that the engine was running very fast to give us this speed. I asked Sheryl to try shifting from 'D' to '3'. She did and there was no change in operating conditions.

I suspected that we had just lost the overdrive on the car, and that we would probably make it the rest of the way. Slowly, on a 70 mph highway, but we should get there. We both decided, though, that staying on this through-way was better than pulling off the road. You see, my limited knowledge of the interior workings of today's modern automatic transmissions ends with the word 'overdrive.' I don't really know what it is, other than a final gear which allows your car to operate more fuel efficiently at highway speeds.

In any case, my limited knowledge led me to surmise that one of two things may have caused us to lose the overdrive. Something electrical or something mechanical. If electrical, it was likely that we will be able to continue to drive the car, indefinitely, with only gears 1, 2, and 3. Of course, we would have a max speed of 45 mph, and really poor gas mileage at that pace. If mechanical, bits and pieces of whatever makes up an 'overdrive' could be floating around in the transmission as we speak, ready to lodge into moving parts and shred them to pieces. For that reason, Sheryl decided not to reduce speed or get off the highway, which would cause the transmission to cycle through gears. Instead, she turned on the hazard lights and continued at 45 miles per hour for the remaining 30+ miles to New Bern.

It was a long drive over a short distance, as we listened for any changes in the high-pitched whine of the engine, and I asked at least 100 times if the temperature gauge had changed any at all. The answer was always, "no," and we made it all the way to the stoplight in front of Bridge Pointe Hotel before we had to slow down. We came to a stop as we turned into the parking lot, then accelerated through gears 1 and 2 before pulling into a parking space, and shutting off the engine. We had made it!

My response was laughter. After approximately 70 drives to the coast over the past 2 years (at the risk of anthropomorphizing) the car had finally decided that it no longer wanted to go the distance any more. I could read the look on Sheryl's face, though. She was tired from an emotionally exhausting week, having just quit a good paying job, and thinking, "what is this going to cost us?" We both agreed, though, that although this was a 'land' experience, this was exactly what we need to get used to because it will likely parallel many of our experiences at sea. Laughter seems like a healthy response.

As sunset approached, we carried all of our remaining belongings from the car to the boat, and stacked them into the cockpit. It was a huge pile of 'stuff.' The second such pile to find its way to the boat in less than a week's time! But, it was finally ALL here. We put away the few critical items before succumbing to the need for food. Over a late dinner we watched the full moon rise over the water, reflecting brightly to create a greyscale picture of our crowded cockpit.

This morning I awoke to a sunrise which turned the crowded cockpit, once again, to Technicolor hues. After a cup of coffee and a bit of blog writing, I decided that it was time to go to work. So, with the boat the boat rocking ever so gently, and you, dear Reader, entirely up-to-date, I will post this blog and begin my day of work.