The Adventure Home

Our trip to Atlanta just happened to fall on Easter weekend. I was a little bummed about missing out on the Easter festivities with Ella that morning, but my mom said she'd wait to have the egg hunt after we arrived and my sister and her family weren't coming until late in the afternoon, so we'd all be able to sit down to dinner together. We decided to leave Atlanta in the morning so we would arrive in Columbia at a reasonable hour.

We checked out of the hotel around 10:30am and immediately got on the road. About an hour and a half into the trip, I noticed the car start sputtering and jerking. I looked over at Donald and saw the gauges on the dashboard go out. Luckily we were in the right lane and there was a rest stop directly in front of us. We couldn't have asked for a better place to break down. Donald pulled into a parking spot and the car sputtered forward again as he tried to put it in park. He waited a minute before turning off the ignition. When he did, he tried to restart the car immediately, but it wouldn't start. We waited a few minutes while discussing what we should do. We were still in Georgia and quite far from home and it was Easter Sunday, so most businesses were closed. Donald was able to start the car back up again and he pulled out of the parking spot and drove down a little ways to another spot just to see how the car was driving. It sputtered out on us again, so we decided to try to get the car towed instead of driving some place (especially since we had no clue what was around us or what would be open that day). I called my Mom to let her know what was going on and she offered her AAA service to us. They tow up to 100 miles and our insurance only tows up to 16 miles, so it was a no brainer. Unfortunately, we needed the card to use the service, so my Stepdad had to drive out to meet us, which meant an hour and a half wait for him, then any additional wait we'd have to do for the tow truck. What a fabulous way to spend Easter Sunday!

We waited. And waited. And waited some more. We played a rousing game of "You know how I know you're a douche?" (when you park your Hyundai sideways in 2 spots so no one will hit your car; When you dress better than your girlfriend; When you peal out of a rest stop in your pretentious car, etc.). I played with my camera and took some really uninteresting pictures of Rest Stop No. 62. We saw some guy drive up behind the rest stop and walk into the woods to pee (at a REST STOP!!!). We commented on the numerous cute dogs we saw. We sang Flight of the Conchords songs to each other. We texted people. It was a fun filled afternoon.

Four hours later, the tow truck arrived. YAY! We punched in the address of our mechanic into the TomTom and found out we were 97.1 miles from the shop. Could we cut that 100 mile limit any closer?? Talk about luck! We hopped in Roger's car and followed the tow truck back home. I napped while Roger & Donald talked each other's ears off. We got back into Columbia after 6pm. The day was pretty much shot. We were all starving, but happy that everything was taken care of and thrilled that we got as lucky as we did with everything. My Mom had the food waiting for us when we arrived and it was quite possibly one of the best meals I've eaten in ages. My angel baby was so excited to have us home and excited about the Easter bunny. We missed the egg dying, egg hunt, etc., but we were all together and that's what counts.

My BFF asked me if the trip was worth the trouble. Yes. It definitely was. I'd do it all over again. Flight of the Conchords rocked the party! I hope they come back again real soon.


Note: For the overly curious - the alternator went out on the car, which drained the battery. Tauri is all fixed now and running perfectly.