My husband Kevin and I have taken many road trips over the years – we travel to Michigan several times a year, and we usually go to Myrtle Beach a few times a year too. These road trips, especially the ones up to Michigan, can be challenging at times because you never know what you might encounter on the road – there could be bad drivers, or bad weather, or road construction. Any of these things can make for a rough trip, especially when the trip is twelve hours long or more. That’s how long it takes to get to Michigan from where we live now, in North Carolina. My husband always makes sure our vehicle is ready for the trip – he’ll get the oil changed, fill up the tank with gas, and make sure the tires are properly inflated. One thing we didn’t plan on was having to sleep in the bed of our truck on the way up to Michigan in the summer of 1999.
In 1999, we headed up to Michigan for 4th of July weekend. Everything was going great, until the engine started overheating when we were in Bluefield, West Virginia. Kevin pulled into a rest area, popped the hood of the truck, and discovered that the serpentine belt had come loose – without the serpentine belt, we had no way to cool the engine, which is very important during the summer. This was distressing, because Kevin didn’t know how much it would cost to replace the belt. What made the situation worse was that all the hotels in the area were booked solid – we could not get a room for the night anywhere. As a result, we were forced to sleep in the bed of our truck, in the parking lot of one of the hotels.
Neither of us slept well that night. When we woke up the next morning however, we were able to find an auto parts store not too far from where we were. What was even better was that the serpentine belt didn’t cost a lot. He was able to purchase the belt and put where it needed to go, and we were able to get back on the road and finish our trip.
I think the things that made this the worst road trip ever are fairly obvious – breaking down in the middle of the trip was bad, but having to sleep in the back of our truck when we couldn’t find a room anywhere was even worse. I’m just glad that the part that we had to purchase was cheap and that we were able to get back on the road quickly the next morning. Ever since then, before we leave on a trip everything gets checked – the oil gets changed if it needs to be, and Kevin also checks to make sure none of the belts are too worn out.