For those who haven't been following our saga, we got notification from the state of Colorado a few weeks ago that it was time to get our cars registration renewed. They also wanted an emissions test done. We passed emails back and forth with Arapahoe County's DMV over the last few weeks and they consented to fore go the emissions test if we would get the VIN verified by local law enforcement officers(not all of Washington state does emissions testing). Well, the locals here in Port Townsend refused and passed the buck to the State Police. They also gave us the phone numbers to contact them. Calls were placed and an appointment was scheduled for this morning at 11am.
It was snowing this morning so we left early. On the way down to Bremerton, the Mazda started to act up. The heat sensor on the dash kept going up and then down. At the same time, the heat coming into the car from the heater kept getting hotter then not as hot. Both up and down. The strange thing is that when the cars heat got hotter, the heater for the car got cooler and when the heater got hotter, the cars temp got cooler. This went on for the entire trip down. I figured the thermostat was fried(or boiled in this case) and would need to be replaced in Bremerton once we got there.
When we got to the State Police office, we were about an hour early but I went in to talk to them anyway. Guess what?---they refused to give us a VIN verification!!! Since Colorado won't pay for it, they won't give it. They stopped doing VIN verifications for out of state cars several years ago!! Now why the man I spoke to on Monday that set up the appointment didn't know that--a supervisor in the department-- I don't know. I even had the forms in my hand. All he had to do was look in the windshield and write down the numbers.
I called the DMV back in Colorado from the car repair place we found up the street and explained about everyone refusing to do a VIN verification. She said she would look into it and see if there was anything she could do since we were hitting all these walls. Oh, by the way, it wasn't the thermostat. We had an air pocket on the water coolant line that goes through the engine and heater that was stopping the water from circulating. Once gone(it got burped), the car was fine. I've never had that happen before.
After a lackluster lunch at a teriyaki restaurant, we decided to drive down to Takoma and get the emissions test done since they were the closest to Bremerton. As we drove South, I called the emissions department to get directions. Had to leave a message. They called back about 10 minutes later. Tracy talked to them as I drove. Tracy explained what we needed and they gave us the address. Tracy told them we were on the way down as we spoke. They then told her that the place was closed due to snow(no snow where we were). Now we were really getting into the "let's beat our heads against a brick wall"mentality. The more we tried, the more it just didn't seem to work out.
We turned the car around and headed back for Bremerton and Silverdale to do some shopping--PetSmart for the fur people that live with us. While there, I ran into a State Police officer and tried to get him the do the Vin verification(nothing to loose by now). He had no problem with that. Out we went to the car. Out came the forms. He'd never seen forms like these before--Colorado forms. He then asked the question--"Have you been to the State Police office in Bremerton? They do VIN verifications there". I related to him that "yes, we had been there" and that they wouldn't do it since it was "out of state". WELL--since the office had refused to do the verification, he wasn't about to do it and walked away. There is that brick wall again!! Curses, foiled again!!
With fur people's food in hand, we drove over to another marina we had heard about. The Port Of Brownsville Marina about 5 miles East of Silverdale. We scoped it out and walked the docks. A nice place and the price can't be beat. It's $257/month--power included. That's $300 less that Point Hudson where we are and we would have to pay electricity on top of that! We'll save about $400 a month by staying there and they are within 5 miles of a Costco! How can you beat that?
It started to snow on our way home after that. Not a lot, but enough to make me keep our speed down. Once home, we tucked ourselves in while it snowed and have had a lovely evening.
Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully with warmer temps and less of the white stuff.
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