Tuesday, July 22, 2014

From the travel journal - Day 5

Cara - We packed and cleaned out our unit and were on the road by a little after 10:00 a.m. I reported the shower/tub drainage problem in our unit, but other than asking me if I had reported it, the front desk clerk didn't take notes or seem to even care. Next visit to Pompano I shall try hard for the Wyndham Royal Vista.

Kelly took the wheel to drive. We had agreed to eat breakfast out and we had some trouble finding a breakfast place on the route we were taking home, different from the one we took to get here of course, but eventually we located an IHOP and sat down for brunch.

Susan - After we left IHOP and had been on the road for an hour and a half, Maddy needed a potty break and Kelly suggested we get gas. We saw an exit with a BP so we pulled off of it. I purchased and pumped gas while the others went inside for junk (and from the chatter I heard Cara spent $24 for all of it!). Once I was finished pumping I yelled for Darcy to bring out the keys so I could lock the Caravan II doors and join the rest of them inside.

I found the bathroom gross, but usable. I came out to meet the rest of them at the counter where they were shelling out lots of $$$ for their junk. I wasn't buying or paying for Gabby's (Cara did) so I asked Kelly for the keys again and walked to the the car with Darcy and Gabby. We opened the van doors and waited for Kelly to come out. Once she sat down in the driver's seat she tried to start the van. It wouldn't turn over. I knew this was not good. Then Kelly said, "The battery is dead!" I was worried how Cara would take it, but once we told her she asked for the owner's manual and did what the Boos family does -- researches books, internet, or youtube to find answers.

At one point I thought I heard her ask for one of us to ask one of the many men and their families for help. They were all pumping their gas or entering into the gas station. I asked a guy who was traveling with his girlfriend. I asked him if he could help us check our battery and that we thought it was dead. He walked over to the van and we informed him we couldn't find the hood release either! He pushed Kelly aside and then told Cara to "put away the manual before you hurt someone!" He popped the hood and immediately informed us that we needed a new battery. He, of course, had no jumper cables and told me where the nearest Walmart was. He said he was sorry he couldn't help more but he was late for work.

About that time I heard a woman two pumps over yell that she had jumpers, but didn't know how to use them. I said thank you, took them, and proceeded to seek out a man that could help us. About that time a nice older lady said, "Hey, if you have jumpers we can jump you!" They pumped their gas and then pulled up next to our car so our hoods were next to one another. Her husband got out of their car and he was so cute! He wore jean bib overalls, sandals, and a hearing aid. He looked just like a farmer from Indiana, but they turned out to actually be from Illinois. He attached the cables to both cars and VIOLA it started!

After saying our thank yous and returning the cables back to the nice woman in the other car we were off to Walmart in search of a new battery. On the drive to Walmart, Cara made the mistake of calling Tom. Making a quick decision is not what Tom does. We found the automotive area of the Walmart and I ran inside to ask:
  1. Do you have a battery for a 2010 Honda Odyssey? 
  2. How much is it?
  3. How long will it take to put in?
The non-American man was very nice and answered my questions. He told me to pull around and he would get started. So we did! $120 later we were back on the road and hopefully we will be at Cara's soon!

Cara - Lord have mercy, but once again I have had car trouble while traveling. Just once I would like to vacation without issues. Earlier in this trip, my "low tire" sign came on for a day and a half and I had to constantly check my tires. Now, having stopped for a potty break we had a dead battery. Kelly discovered it. She got in to drive again and nothing turned over. I did not immediately panic as I normally do as I first thought she was kidding, but my stomach did sink when she showed me and all I heard were some clicks.

Having been in the back seat the entire way writing in the journal, I had absolutely no idea where we even were. In the middle of nowhere it looked. I messed around with the gas tank and tried the engine myself. Nothing. I began to panic.

I've always done that when anything happens in a subject that I'm clueless about such as automotive repair 101. I panic. "We are in the middle of nowhere!" I remember saying to Kelly before taking some deep breaths and talking to myself to calm down. I got the manual out as if I knew what to look for and then I suggested that Susan ask a man for advice. Nothing against Kelly's blondness and feminine wiles, but Susan is the perfect female to get men to help her; young looking, cutely dressed, perfectly coiffed hair, painted nails, and a sweet, little voice. She was dressed in short shorts and an aqua green, tight tank workout top that showed off her newly acquired, very Florida tan. She hopped out of the car and immediately had a male at our hood.

Unfortunately I had no idea how to pop the hood on the Caravan II. I have yet to use it. I looked everywhere where latch releases for hoods are suppose to be, but nothing. The male, a guy with longish, dirty blonde hair - honestly I could not describe him as my nose was in the car manual as using feminine wiles is SO over my head. I feel very inadequate asking for help, but Susan has no qualms. She is as good at asking for help as she is checking the oil on a lawn mower - something else I can't operate, but that's another story. The guy stood and rolled his eyes at our attempts. Darcy climbed over the back seat and attempted to find the latch, but she too struck out. Finally the guy moved over to the driver's side, pushed Kelly out of his way, edged his way between a concrete beam and the open car door, told me to stop reading the car manual, "Put that away before someone gets hurt" (which I admit made me snicker), and tried to find the latch himself. Even he had trouble. He grumbled some, but eventually located the lever. He got under the hood and said we needed a new battery and asked if we had jumper cables. I couldn't even answer that question. In the Caravan I have jumper cables, but in this van I have no idea what I have or where it might be so I texted Tom asking if I had cables. Here is his response:

Tom: "For you or the car?"
Tom: "Coffee or wires in the truck"

The guy didn't have jumper cables, but told us Walmart was right down the street and we could pick up a battery there. Kelly asked if anyone of us had Triple AAA and that made me realize that I had roadside assistance through my automobile insurance so I got on my phone to alert them. While I was on the phone giving them my cell number so they could access my location, Susan found jumper cables and an elderly couple to jump our battery. By this time I was on the phone with a human who assured me assistance would be there within the hour, and then I had this elderly man in overalls telling me to turn on the engine. I told the nice roadside assistance lady that I thought I might have help and she told me to call her back if it didn't work out. 

The little man got my car started and Susan and Maddy got directions to Walmart. Meanwhile I had Tom texting me to jump the car and drive it home. I called him to tell him we had gotten it started and were planning on getting a new battery. He argued with me, told me the car would be fine, and that he would replace the battery when I got ho. Susan was shrieking from the front seat at Tom asking him if he was going to come and get us if we broke down. Kelly was shouting out for directions. Maddy was trying to give them. I was holding the phone out from my ear while Tom told us we all needed to calm down. Tom insisted we would pay too much for a battery and would wait hours for someone to help us put it in. By this time we were at Walmart. I asked Tom what price was good and Susan hopped out to ask for assistance. I hung up with Tom and Susan was back in the van saying a battery was exactly the price Tom quoted and they would put it in now.

We drove around to the garage and a nice, soft spoken man tried not to get overwhelmed by all of us talking to him at the same time. He told us he would check the battery first and assured us that if it wasn't the battery they would jump us again and send us on our way. But of course it was the battery. All of the men that helped us had told us that. Susan asked again if maybe it could be the alternator and the kind man looked her in the eyes and said, "Ma'am it is your battery." And then he put in a new one and we were back on the road by two o'clock, an hour and ten minutes after we discovered our trouble. Tom couldn't believe it when I texted him.

Cara - "We are back on the road"
Tom - "Really?"
Cara - "Yep. Cheaper than we thought $110. We are driving home now."
Tom - "This is a good learning experience for the girls, young and old."

So, of course, I asked the girls what they learned from this experience. Immediately my two piped up with the same answer at the same time.

Maddy & Darcy - "Do NOT call your husband!"
Gabby - " Um, to always carry jumper cables."

Kelly took the wheel again and before we knew it we were back in Tampa Bay. We reversed our directions, dropping off Kelly, and then heading home where we unloaded and promptly made Tom take us to dinner. A nice ending to a typical traveling vacation with Kelly and family.


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