Revenge of the Sportage

 

Our Kia and I'm sure other new cars, have colors around the messages that appear on the dash. On Tuesday, I was working and saw my dash light up with a message. I appreciate a good nastygram like most people do but don't cop an attitude with me. I get it. Once again, the hybrid battery is messing up. It's not my fault, dear car. 

As we stated in the last post, the Kia Sportage we have is a 2023 but chose to stop running on Tuesday. The dash lit up with the message above. We just picked the car up the previous Thursday due to a hybrid failure, although last time the car didn't leave a message. It just refused to accelerate. 

We called the dealership and put in another complaint. Last time they had no idea what was going on, so they simply reset the car and made it work. I drove it maybe 10 miles since and it gives me the message in the photo above. 

I am, at a red light on a busy street, preparing to turn left to get the car off the road. Apparently, the car didn't like my attitude so it flipped some attitude right back at me. My car just screamed at me with all she had!

She showed me her true colors by flashing red across the entire dash. Inside this ring of fire were the words she had spoken to me before, "Check hybrid system. Stop safely." But now she ensured I saw the message by sending it with all she could muster. The red not only caught my attention but actually intimidated me. Now I was scared the car would either stop running or blow up entirely. Am I driving John Carpenter's Christine now? 

I pushed the gas a little harder to get around the corner and pull into the parking lot. Would she ask me to exit the vehicle and lock me out? Or would she have me exit to run me over? Or am I about to have the crap beat out of me by a Kia? I'm a bit frightened, I must say. Hey, there are nightmares and movies made about this type of stuff. 

Texting Terry, I thought the man would cry on this second go-around with the dealership. I mentioned I would try to get the car home if I could. With a bit of anxiety in my gut, I turned the key in the ignition and winced. The engine fired right up. She did her usual system check from bumper to bumper and found nothing wrong. I began to drive. Believe it or not, I made it home without a hitch. No freeway driving of course, but it all went well. Could this have been a little glitch of some sort? 

Terry and I discussed the issue. We had no clue what to do besides dumping it off a cliff--shh, she can't know this. There's just one problem with that--we would still owe money on that car since it's so new and the vehicle would probably come back and haunt us even if we did. Or we would receive a huge fine or serve jail time for littering the area. I can hear her laugh now. No, the best solution is to have it looked at, again. Would this turn into another month of waiting? No work?

I did give her the benefit of the doubt and started the engine to go to the store before I made the final choice to send her away to repair camp. Yes, as a Capricorn, I do push my luck. We tend to be quite stubborn. 

I drove there, got my items, and returned home. As I turned onto our street, Christine flashed the red dash light molesting my eyes once more. That bright, painful-to-look-at-red was lighting up the entire car. Something is definitely upsetting her or she is trying to blind me. Either way, something needs to happen here. 

I stepped a bit harder on the gas pedal to get the car into our driveway. Christine had to go. There was no doubt about it. She was obviously begging for help because of pain, or she was purposefully teasing Terry and me. I don't care about the reasoning she had behind our agony but she needed to go have an attitude adjustment. Enter the service center at Kia, stage right. 

Today is Thursday and I made the call to have her picked up once again. The tow truck arrived. A young man opened the door and hopped down from the large truck. He smiled and I knew immediately he was the man who towed the car about five weeks ago. His smile told me he remembered me too, the house, and the little shit car in the driveway that was grinning at us both. Our trip to Eugene was definitely warranted. 

***

Like a lovely steed putting a Band-Aid on our wound, our loaner car awaited us. One more trip to Eugene to get it all taken care of, hopefully. Kia should just write us a check for about $500 by the time we are all finished running back and forth, just for gas alone. But a loaner car this time. It's a wonderful thing. Life as we know it can move forward without a hitch or at least that's what we are hoping for. 

The papers were signed. Someone went to put a little gas in the rental vehicle for us. We hear the words, "No smoking in the car and no pets." Since I don't smoke and Togo's magical fibers of love will remain on the couch and on the floors of the house, rolling like tumbleweeds, no need to worry there either. I spend 1/3 of my life sleeping, and 1/3 of it just vacuuming the furniture and the floors. I don't want to add vacuuming the car to that list.

Just sitting on his laurels the dog sheds. My bathroom floor has his hair in every corner. Gotta love him. Bless my poor, overworked vacuum and Crosswave!

They take the keys to our baby and put them aside, meanwhile giving us promises of getting her to run properly. Hmm. Only if she cooperates and tells you what's wrong will you be able to do anything about her defiance to operate. She's like a teenager; unwilling to work with anyone and doesn't want to leave her room and actually go out driving. Good luck with that. 

With all things in order, the manager takes us out to see the loaner car. We walk around the corner and my heart sinks. Oh, no. Will this be another call to the tow truck company? I think the model of Sportage hates us. You give us another Sportage with attitude? Note to all: I swear, if we die, do not believe the suicide note. Just know it's that Sportage in the driveway who snuck into our room and asphyxiated us with fumes. Look at her grin. She has braces across her teeth like a lot of teens, but she's smiling. Oh, it's coming. It's coming soon. With all the technology, I'll bet she has talked to our car and the plan will continue. 

She was pretty though, I have to admit, although our silver baby holds my heart. I'm used to her refusal to go about the day and get things done. Teens are loveable too, you know? Stripped down to bare comfort, this one is also not a hybrid model. I guess there's that. No hybrid battery or system to mess up. Our foster car might just be a good solution. Except for that lovely gas mileage reading after driving all day. That's gone, for now. Sigh. I guess it is what it is. 

While we were in Springfield, Terry and I chose a restaurant. My granddaughter, Jess sent me the suggestion of a place in Springfield called Wildfang. Leaving the dealership, we were on the search for a burger. 

Opening the door to the restaurant, I guess I can say I was not entirely surprised. There was a Western motif around the place, including hard, wooden benches for the booths. There were padded chairs on the open side of the booths though, so my derriere was comforted. Terry's was not. Not that I need any padding on chairs. I have enough on the bottom side of my being to be comfy. Now I'm going to add to that cushioning at Wildfang.

While the decor didn't hold gorgeous artwork on the walls nor did it have amazing seating, but wow! Can they ever put on the feedbag! Who cares about the seating when you have tri-tip sammies with tater tots or cole slaw? Oh, yeah. 

Barbecued tri-tip for starters, on two slices of toasted bread. But we aren't done yet. The sammie had strips of fatty patty bacon, cooked to perfection. Add BBQ sauce for a bit of a twang and spice and you've got the tri-tip sammie from Wildfang. OMG, screw the car. We will come back to Springfield often just for this delight. 

It doesn't look like much, but once you pick up that beautiful sandwich and take a bite, the very idea of a sandwich will never be the same again. 

As a side, I ordered mine with tater tots. Terry ordered his sandwich with cole slaw. Both are great choices. 

Terry also ordered a nice stout beer with his meal. And, might I draw your attention to the lovely height of his sammie?

Hubby Mac reported the Coleslaw was excellent too. 

The tri-tip sammie was almost too fat to hold. Each delectable bite of this creation was amazing. Tri-tip is soft and easy to chew, plus the brining of the meat and the barbecue sauce added more tenderness and perfected the meat like no other. Roll the sauteed onions into the mix and wow. Just wow. 

Lest we forget those beautiful, crispy little jewels as the side. They were crisped to the correct stage, giving them that awesome crunch, and bringing out that lovely potato flavor. Tri-tip sammies are so thick that I could only eat half before my husband had to ask for a take-home box. 

If you love barbecued foods, you should take a trip to Springfield where you can order from a long list of delicious choices, but we can verify the goodness of the Tri-tip Sammie from Wildfang's menu. Awesome food. Happy customers sitting about the place and the staff all had genuine smiles on their faces, were friendly, and accommodating. The experience at Wildfang was perfect and yes, we will return. There's a burger calling our name ...

Okay, well this burger might call for a vice grip before it's edible, but hey, look at those onion rings!

Plenty of outdoor seating too. Heaters are set up inside the tent in several places to keep it nice and toasty. 

The double meat meal. 

Then, of course, you have your fancy pants meals too. 

Mac and cheese. We can't forget mac and cheese. They have pulled pork mac and cheese along with brisket mac and cheese and others. Yes, I'm excited about mac and cheese. This may be sitting in front of me on our next visit. 

Burgers galore. What else would you expect in a barbecue restaurant?

We absolutely cannot forget the good, old-fashioned western brisket chili with cheese and onions thrown on top for good luck and great heartburn!

Seriously, if any of you are close to Springfield, Oregon, stop by Wildfang's Restaurant. We left the eatery with a smile on our faces, that's for sure. Prices? Very reasonable. Our huge sammies and sides were $15 each. Burgers are about $14 on up, depending on what is on them. Great food if you like down-home cooking and barbecue flavoring. It's a beautiful thing!

Psst, there is a secret to be told about Wildfang as well. Each time they feed the Oregon Ducks football team, they win the game. Then there's that. Boom! Mic drop.  

***

I climbed into the Sportage wannabe. Terry started up the Xterra. Off we drove, into the sunset toward Roseburg. I was missing our car already, even though I had a brand new one to drive. The good time Terry and I had together, the great food, and at least having another car to temporarily replace ours made life a bit better. Although I do feel a bit offended still that my car screamed at me. We have some making up to do when it gets home. 

I'll leave this here and go finish the tri-tip sammie I had as leftovers. Thank you, readers, for following the blog. We appreciate you. We have the choice to let things in life get us down or we can choose to roll with the punches and be happy so, be happy!

Until the next post, let your light shine!

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