I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee that is starting to show its age. It has been a good car for me and has hauled many a box of pottery and equipment to art shows and to the store. Once you drive an SUV you get very spoiled with all of the room as well as the ease of driving something that puts you up higher in the driver's seat.

However, in light of the recent increase in gas prices, owning an SUV is not as cost conscious as owning a smaller car would be.

So, I was faced with deciding whether to hang on to my Jeep for a few more years vs. trading it in and getting a new one.

After much deliberation, I finally came to believe that I would be better off hanging on to it for a little while longer.

But, in making this decision I also realized that I needed to do a little maintenance on it....I needed to get my tires checked for wear, have the brakes tested and the oil and filters changed. So, that was my plan...Or so I thought....

Unfortunately, my car had some ideas of its own.

After driving around yesterday running errands I started to notice a strange smell in the car. Suddenly the "Check Gauges" light flashed on so I headed to the nearest gas station to have it checked out. This was, fortunately, one of those rare gas stations that actually has a mechanic on duty...but, unfortunately, he had already gone for the night.

As the gentleman there lifted the hood we saw that my coolant was boiling over and the car was terribly overheated. It was making all kinds of noises and the fan had stopped working. Something was definitely wrong. He suggested that I leave the car there overnight so that the mechanic could diagnose the issues in the morning.

This sweet gentleman did offer to take me home which was very nice. The timing was not great for me as I had been to Sam's Warehouse that day and the back of my Jeep was filled with gigantic packs of toilet paper, huge boxes of Cheer detergent, a ridiculously large bag of navel oranges, etc. etc. As I began unloading everything from my car, I imagine that he was probably questioning his kind offer.

But, after several minutes of unloading and loading, his car was filled with all of my super-sized products...and we were off.

So, I will be awaiting the verdict sometime this morning...Keep your fingers crossed that it is something minor and inexpensive to fix..... : 0