Late update again #2 (the death-ride)

Monday:

Ok, today was the day of the long trip down from Härnösand to Helsingborg (Question: How long should that take?) We were happy that it was going to rain so that the sun wouldn't be beating down on us all the time. And, boy did it rain! My grandparents car is tiny, so we really had to squeeze in the 4 of us and our luggage. We were invited to my aunt and uncle's for lunch at the half-way point, and down to there it was pretty much uneventful. We even figured out a way to keep the peace in the car. Lunch was delicious. My uncle grilled various meats and my aunt had some potato salad made with new potatoes. Yum.

Rain was still pouring down, but we had high hopes we would arrive around 9:30pm. What could possibly go wrong? Well, how about the windshield wipers just stopping mid-window??? After pulling over and trying to figure it out by ourselves, Micah and I realized that we needed some tools to even see what was wrong. Fortunately, our wives were stellar examples of supporting mates. Once Micah and I got a tool, we also realized that we needed some skills. Unfortunately, those we couldn't acquire as easily. When I went to return the tool, the mechanics must have thought I looked too pathetic, so they offered to help out (even tho the place was closed and they weren't "official" mechanics). The guy had never worked on a Toyota before (it was a Volvo shop), and he had the look of a druggie, but was very nice. After about 45 mins, he had gotten the wiper-arm reattached, but was missing the part to keep it locked in place. He left the access open and showed me how to reattach it. Fortunately, it stopped raining after 3 wet re-attachments. We stopped for pizza at around 9pm. The guy was closing shop, but again, the pathetic looks struck gold :)

11pm a tired, gold-colored car pulled into it's final resting place, and we crashed. (Not the car.)