Taking a trip with no destination

Yesterday morning Liam and I headed up to Idaho for a long weekend. We didn't make it even half way. The car decided to poop out on us. It just shuddered and died on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Since the battery light came on I thought all I needed was a jump. So I jumped out of the car and flagged the first minivan I saw. They stopped! Two seconds of trying and someone stopped? What a blessing.

The folks that owned the minivan were named Jon and Colleen. The names of angels. They tried to jump me, but we couldn't get the cars close enough together. Jon asked me to try to start the car anyway. I did and it worked... for about 15 seconds. Then it shuddered and died again.

They called their dad in Layton and he apparently called dispatch to get me a tow. The tow was to show up in 15 minutes. So I told them that was great and to get on their way with their three little ones. We went to our respective vehicles. They went a couple inches then stopped the car. Jon got out and walked towards me. I rolled down the window and he gave me a wad of cash. I pushed it away and said that wasn't necessary. He said Colleen said I had to take it. I was humbled. They gave me $60. I immediately thought of the gas costs overall to get this all taken care of.

I called Ian to tell him the car situation. He made arrangements to leave work and head my way.

Instead of a tow truck, a state trooper showed up 30 minutes later. I had Liam in the front seat with me and had a DVD going for him to pass the time. I opened the passenger door for the policeman. He was so nice to Liam and asked him what he was watching. Liam replied, "The car is broken."

He offered to take us down the road 30 miles to the closest town. He was confident I could leave my car for the tow and they wouldn't have problems without having the car keys. I relayed that he was supposed to be a tow guy and now I had to make arrangements for that. So he told me that he'd wait in his car until plans were made. My insurance gave me the information I needed and assured me that towing was covered on my plan. I talked to the tow guy, Reggie, and he said I shouldn't leave my car. He'd have a much harder time loading it without the keys. He'd be there within 30 minutes.

I told the officer my plan to stay and wait. He didn't like leaving me there. He told me to call 911 if I needed anything and then advised me to put Liam in his car seat. Both of us should have seat belts on if a car were to ram into us while we sat there. After getting Liam strapped in, I waved good-bye to the officer.

Reggie arrived about 25 minutes later. Liam was beyond impressed with the rig that we got to ride in. Reggie was so great with Liam and very nice all around about our predicament. We arrived at a mechanic's and Ian arrived not 5 minutes later. I was glad he got to meet Reggie. We were well taken care of and Liam had made a new friend. As we were all talking outside, Reggie lifted him up to the driver's seat so he could blow the horn. He scared himself to death, but was so impressed at the same time! We said good-bye and went inside to wait for the diagnosis of the car.

The fuel pump needs replaced. Grand total cost: $995.

YIKES.

The car would be fixed in 24 hours. So we decided to hop in Ian's car and head home. We stopped to get some dinner and then Liam and I zonked out for the rest of the drive. It was such a long day for all of us though. Liam had woken Ian at 5am that morning.

Today we head back north to pick up the car and pay the hearty bill. What a way to start off the weekend.