“Alright, are we ready?”, I hear my Dad say as we walk out of the garage to start our road trip to North Carolina. See, my Dad, Mom and sister were finally moving to North Carolina, close to where I was living, and I was so excited! I made the trip up to New Jersey to help them to pack and make the 7 to 8 hour drive to their new home.
The plan was to leave about 5pm that evening, drive to Fredericksburg, Virginia and then get a hotel for the night. The next morning, we would finish the drive into North Carolina and go to the rental office to pick up the key to their new apartment (which was in the same complex as mine). So here we go – Mom and Dad in the UHaul truck, pulling the Toyota Tercel behind it, my sister in the middle, driving her car, and me bringing up the rear in my mom’s car – an Eagle Premier.
Does anyone know about the Eagle Premier? Well, if you do, you’ll remember that they were notorious for fuel pump problems. In fact, during the time my parents owned that car, they replaced the fuel pump at least three times. The fuel pump had just been replaced in the car 6 months earlier, so we thought everything was okay. We get on the road and drive from New Jersey to Alexandria, Virginia; just outside of Washington, D.C. on interstate 95. We are in the left lane and all of a sudden, I feel the car jerk. I didn’t even have time to think – I just got over to the right lane and onto the shoulder, where the car promply died. Of course, since I was bringing up the rear, my family just kept on going; thinking I was still with them. There I was, stranded on the side of the highway at 8:30pm – alone.
Fortunately, I had a cell phone – but unfortunately, my parents and sister did not, so I couldn’t call them and let them know that I was stranded. So I sat there for a few minutes, trying to think of what to do. Then I decided to call AAA roadside assistance to get some help. I did, and the person said a tow truck would be there in 45 minutes. In the meantime, I try to start the car up, but nothing. I then think to myself, “How can I get in touch with my family”?
I waited for about an hour and no tow truck arrived, so I called AAA again. “Oh yes, ma’am, a tow truck will be out there in 45 minutes”. Um yeah, you told me that an hour ago! So, I waited some more – and waited – and waited. Then, a state trooper stops by. “Ma’am, do you need help”?. I tell the officer that a tow truck is coming, but I need to contact my family to let them know what happened. I told him that they should be in Virginia somewhere (since the plan was to stop overnight) and probably didn’t get far. I give the state trooper my parents’ names, a description of the UHaul truck and my sister’s car and he puts out an APB all along 95 South looking for them. He leaves and I continue my wait for the tow truck.
Two hours later, no tow truck! Finally, the highway motor assistance patrol comes by. You know, the ones that drive the yellow or white trucks up and down the highway, giving assistance to stranded motorists? Apparently, there were several breakdowns that night, so both the tow trucks and motor assistance was pretty busy. A short, round, middle-aged guy withh thick glasses gets out the car and asks me if I need help. Um, yeah, I’ve been sitting on the side of the road almost 3 hours now! So, he tries to start the car (yeah – I tried that) and he then tried a few other things before he finally says, “Well, I think you need a tow truck”. I just look at him, like, “Really, Sherlock?”. I said to him, “Well, I called for one twice so far and one has not shown up yet”. So he calls again for a tow truck and the dispatcher tells him on will be there in about 30 minutes. The motor assistance guy decides to wait with me until the tow truck arrives and asks me to get in his truck.
At this point, it’s about 11pm at night and I’m out here, stranded on 95 South in Virginia with the motor assistance guy. Get in his truck? Not knowing what else to do, I climb in the truck and shut the door. Trust me, I was so close to the passenger side door that you would have to peel me off of it. The guy then proceeds to talk to me about his failed relationships and his recent divorce (huh??!!!) and how’s he’s a nice guy looking for a nice girl, blah, blah, blah. I just kept right on sitting there, praying and thinking to myself, “If this guy lays one fingernail on me, I’m gonna turn into the Tazmanian Devil and try to tear him to shreds”; and at the same time I was saying “MmmHmm”, “UhHuh” and “Oh really?” in the right places. Finally, hallelujah! The tow truck arrived! I jumped out of the motor assistance truck like my butt was on fire and ran to the tow truck. I guess the motor assistance guy got the hint, because he just drove away.
So, the tow truck guy comes and gets the car up on the truck and then says to me, “Where do you want to go?”. Wow! I guess I didn’t give that much thought. I mean, I’m on 95 South around Alexandria, Virginia. Where am I going to go? I see a Hampton Inn hotel sign in the distance, so I tell him, “Just tow me there”. By this point, I was tired and in need of some rest, and still hadn’t heard from the state troopers to see if they found my family. The tow truck guy then takes me and the car to the Hampton Inn. We get in the parking lot and just as he was about to get the car off the truck, he realized that he’d locked the keys in the car. WHAT?! Are you serious? Not only does the car not run, but now the keys are locked inside and we can’t get the car off the tow truck! The tow truck guy says, “Well, now we need to call a locksmith”. So once again, I call AAA and ask for a locksmith. The dispatcher tells me, “It will be about 30-45 minutes.” Here I am, in the Hampton Inn parking lot at midnight, with the tow truck guy waiting for a locksmith. If there was ever a time that I needed a drink, this was it.
After about 45 minutes, the locksmith arrives and unlocks the car. The tow truck guy gets the car off the truck and then says to me, “I know a mechanic in Chantilly that can work on your car. I can pick you up tomorrow and take you over there”. At this point, I’m like, what the heck? How much worse can this day be? So, I tell the tow truck guy sure, and he gave me the mechanic’s card and said he’ll pick me up at 7am. I then check-in to the hotel for the night (or what’s left of it) and call the rental office of my apartment complex. I leave a message there, telling them what happened and that when my family gets there, to call me at the mechanic in Chantilly. I also called my apartment and left a message, just in case they decided to drive in to North Carolina that night and stay in my place (my mom had a key). Then, I crashed for a few hours of sleep before the tow truck guy arrives.
My phone rings at 7am on the dot. “I’m outside – are you ready?”. Fortunately, I was ready to go, so I checked out of the hotel and met the guy beside the car. He put the car back on the truck, being careful this time not to lock the keys inside. Then, we get in the truck and make the quiet, uneventful 30 minute drive to Chantilly, Virginia to the mechanic. By the time we got there, my Dad had already called the shop. I was glad that he got the message – when I called him back, he said they thought that somehow, I had gotten ahead of them on the highway, so they just kept on driving until they reached the apartment complex in North Carolina. When they didn’t see me immediately, they thought that maybe I was behind a bit, so they waited. They were so worried, they forgot they had a key to my apartment, so they ended up sleeping in the UHaul truck until the rental office opened that morning. When the office opened, the manager gave them my message and my Dad called the mechanic shop.
Needless to say, my Dad was frantic. “Are you okay?!”, he says. I told him I was fine and not to worry – the mechanic is looking at the car right now. “Well, let me know what happens, okay?”, my dad says. I tell him, “Of course, Dad, just concentrate on getting moved in; I’ll be fine.”. I wait in the shop for about an hour, and then the mechanic comes to me and says, “It’s the fuel pump”. What?! I told him that fuel pump is brand new and has only been in the car for 6 months! He tells me, well, these things happen sometimes, especially on these cars. He said I could either get a new fuel pump, which would not come in until Tuesday (today is Saturday), or he could try to fix the one in the car and hopefully get me on my way this afternoon. Well obviously, staying in Chantilly until Tuesday was NOT an option, so I told the mechanic to try to fix it and let’s hope for the best. A couple of hours later, the mechanic finally comes out and says, “The car is ready. Now, I can’t guarantee that it won’t break down again – you may get around the corner and it breaks down, or you can drive on it for years and never have another problem.” I said I would take my chances, paid the man, and got in the car. I started it up, and made a right out of the parking lot. The car hitched, and I hit the gas. I kept going, and I didn’t stop until I reached my family’s apartment in North Carolina!
I parked the car in front of my family’s new home and wearily walked up to the door. Before I could knock, the door opened, and my dad was standing there. I walked up to him and he looked at me – he had tears in his eyes. He said to me, “I’m so sorry”. I hugged him and said, “It’s okay, Dad. I’m home.”