Travelling fun! ... or not.

Well, I don't have any pictures, but Friday and Saturday turned out to have a few unexpected adventures.



First, the first weekend of spring break was spent at a debate tournament in Caldwell, Idaho. I went with three other debate squads on a bus. We had to be there at 2:30, but one of the debate coaches needed to be there at 11:00 for an earlier meeting. Anyway, we were right on schedule until we passed Mountain Home. All of a sudden, there was a sound like a hundred debate boxes and luggage just fell over. We looked out the window, and noticed that we had just blown a tire. We immediately called roadside service, but there was not a bus tire in Mountain Home. So, two hours later a truck came and finally gave us a new tire. Fortunately we had left so early because we arrived only a little while before the actual tournament started.



There were no additional funny stories on the bus ride home on Saturday afternoon (well... anymore than the usual when you have a bus full of high school students), but impulsive me-- I decided I needed to drive to UTah that Saturday night. My brother and sister-in-law were headed back to Chicago on Sunday, and if I wanted to see them (especially Annie pregnant) for the first time in months I had to hurry fast. So, the minute the bus pulled into the JHS parking lot at 8 PM, I hopped in my car, packed a few more items at my apartment, and was on my way by 8:30. Everything was going well and I was expected to be at my cousins' house by midnight, when suddenly my battery light came on. Since I was so close, I just decided to continue on and ask my cousin about it later. That was until all the lights in my car and the radio shut off. Something was terribly wrong.

I pulled off at the nearest gas station, where a kind stranger jumped my car. Back on the interstate, I called my cousins to tell them that I was alright and continuing on my way. In the middle of the conversation, the lights went off again and my car literally started to lurch. Fortunately there was an emergency exit right ahead, where I pulled off and asked my cousins to come get me.

Now, picture this if you will: single girl on the side of a busy interstate at one in the morning. I was scared stiff, and not only because it was cold and I had no heat. I pulled out the mace a friend gave me and in the other hand I held my keys, which were the sharpest objects I had in my possession at the time. A car pulled off onto the emergency ramp in front of me, and I started praying they would leave. What can I say, I am a scaredy cat. I just kept trying to think of any safety message people tell you when you are struck in a scary situation. Yet, all I could do was lock my doors and wait.

Half an hour later, my cousin came with his son and jumped my car once again. Once again, it travelled to the next exit and then in shut down. We pushed it to the side of the road, and went to my cousins' house. Suffice it to say, with the time change added in, I was in bed at 3:30 Sunday morning. After church, I called my car insurance who towed my car to the house of my cousin's friend. The car is still being worked on, but I have been enjoying myself just hanging out at my cousins' house.

So, in the end what did I learn:
1- always leave early because you never know what will happen
2- make sure your car insurance has roadside assistance (this saved me a ton)
3- my family is absolutely awesome (I already knew this, but this just is further proof of how amazing they are)
4- life never goes how you plan
5- be the nice stranger, because you never know when you need the nice stranger in turn
6- make sure someone knows where you are going and is expecting you (otherwise, this could have been a lot worse)
7- Heavenly Father has a sense of humor, and amazing timing
8- life is always willing to provide you with a funny story to tell as long as you remember that the only major difference between a tragedy and a comedy is how it is presented