Got gas?

On February 13 we went to see Grandma in Idaho. We had the car all packed, drove to the U to pick up Corky and headed out of town. We used to stop and get a burger for everyone before we left the city, but the last few times we've driven right past and stopped later at a small truck stop. I like it--we don't need to eat quite as many snacks and we miss some traffic--that's always a plus. Corky was driving and noticed that we'd need to get gas in Tremonton--we've done that before. It only takes a little over a half a tank of gas to get to Grandma's house, and we started with half tank. That should work, right?

Just after Brigham City and before Tremonton, the car started acting crazy, so we pulled over. Nothing. Wouldn't start. We've had a belt in the past that was kind of quirky, so Corky checked out the belt. Nope. Belt in place. Car no start. Heap big problem.

It was getting dark and I started praying. At first I wondered if it would be appropriate to pray for our mechanic neighbor to show up, but I decided against that. We just needed to know what to do. We had cell phones, but who to call? Corky was standing outside, I was inside. We were both praying that a highway patrolman would show up. And that's who came. He was so pleasant and kind--he called a tow truck for us. We decided that we'd go back to Brigham City, and even though it's a small town, it's bigger than Tremonton. And we had our bags all packed, so if we needed to spend the night, we were at least prepared. More than likely there wouldn't be a shop open by this time anyway.

Tow truck came. Holy cow--you should have seen Jake. He was so excited, especially when we all piled out of the car and into the truck. He was sitting on my lap, but the driver pushed up the seat and made room for Jake in between his dad and the driver. He had the greatest view. He was almost shaking he was so excited. We opted to stop at a truck stop and put some gas in the car just to see if that could be the problem. The gauge said we still had gas, and we should have been able to make it to the next town, but obviously we didn't get that far.

Hmm. Gas in car. Car start. No problem.

What a goofy thing! Always put gas in your car! I can't even remember the last time I ran out of gas. You'd think if you were going on a 3-1/2 hour trip, you would remember to gas up. You might want to tuck that away somewhere, safely in the recesses of your brain. Certainly not in the forefront, since it's fairly logical!

At the truck stop, Jake noticed, and boldly told the driver that he was about out of gas and needed to get some before the tow truck ran out. There was also a motel right there next to the truck stop, so Jake was doubly disappointed that our car worked and we were not spending the night at a motel. Once we started our trip again, he was a tad bit worried that we were heading back home. What a funny boy.

Great lesson, no? Perhaps instead of spending the $95 on a tow truck to drive you about 10 miles, how about spending it on AAA? If I understand it correctly, you call them and they'll bring gas right to your car.