Oy. Car trouble is no fun anytime, but August is *not* the time to be stranded on the side of the road. Especially with miserable, whiny, hot kids.
This week I needed to take my van into the shop to get some work done. We couldn't all fit in Bill's little blue car, so Dad kindly agreed to let us trade cars with him so we could drive his Durango while the van was in the shop. I used his car without incident until Thursday, when I took Avery and Rhys to Milwood Library for a co-op meeting and Harriet the Spy viewing party. On the way to the library, I noticed that we were low on gas, but we were running late, so I decided that I'd just wait and get gas after the library. So we rushed to the library and got there just in time for the movie to start. After it ended, we went out to the car, loaded everyone up, and I attempted to start the car. But the car wouldn't start. At first I was afraid that I'd run out of gas (which I've never done before!), but I quickly realized that the problem was the battery. I didn't have any jumper cables, so I called Boomph and Carolyn to come help me. They came pretty quickly, and it didn't take long to get the car running again. However, I was very worried about the gas situation! I was too afraid to turn off the car to get gas, so I decided to just go home as fast as I could. Carolyn and Boomph followed me for a while, and the car seemed fine so they headed home. I made it as far as our highway exit, and the car stalled. I was able to get safely to the side of the road, but then we were stuck. We were only a few miles from home, but Bill had no car there to come help us! So, once again, I called Carolyn and Boomph. Carolyn was so sweet to drive out to Round Rock to come pick us up. It only took her about 30 minutes, but it felt like an eternity stuck in that hot car in the 100+ degree temperatures! I felt so bad for the kids. :-(
The story goes on, but the gist of it is that we got the car home, but we can't get the battery to hold a charge. We did get our van back, so at least we're not stranded anymore. I just feel terrible that I was driving when Dad's car stopped working! It wasn't my fault, but still...ugh.
1 comment:
I don't know what we did before cell phones! I was thinking about that while I waited for Carolyn. I was in this little pocket with no businesses off of I35. It would have been about a mile walk to a phone!
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