Car Trouble

When we last left off, I was leaving Arlington. It was circa 7:45 p.m. and I knew I'd be driving through some rain and storms but I was ready. I was headed towards Dinwiddie and I thought my weekend adventure was over.

I was wrong, so very wrong.

So here I am jammin' hardcore on the way home, like singing at the top of my lungs as usual. The rain was actually keeping me awake and I was making excellent time. I had just entered Hanover County and I was about 1.5 hours away from home when my check engine light came on. I was a little freaked out but my check engine light has come on before and my car was acting fine so I was like hmmm this is no big deal.

Then the red oil light came on and in the few seconds I had to think, I thought, "This is not good." Then my car just seemed like it didn't want to go so I pulled over on the side of the highway.

First I calmly called my mom, then I called her bf. I explained the situation and my whereabouts. Then I panicked. I realized I was alone, in the rain and storms, an hour and a half from home, in the dark, parked on the side of the highway. And I'd by lying if I said I didn't cry a little bit.

Then I called everyone I could think of because I needed someone to talk to because when you sit in a car alone and the wind is blowing the trees, you start imagining things that aren't there. You'll never believe the number of people who don't answer their phones at 9:45 on a Sunday night. I talked to my sister for awhile and then Mike called me back and stayed on the phone with me until my mom's boyfriend finally got there.

My car would not start so we decided to leave it there until the next day when it was much lighter. Bad idea. Turns out the state police like to tow cars. At the owner's expense.

Which is how my car came to be in Ashland, Va in a state police impound. Poor Betsy.

Long story short, things have only gotten worse since then. My car would not start the next day when we went to get it. We had it towed to a mechanic who let us know my car wasn't working because the timing belt went bad.

Well when they finally put the new timing belt on, it turns out my engine is bad. So that's the story of how I came to be broken down on the side of the road alone (nbd - only the 3rd time that that's happened to me) and without a car during the busiest week of my summer.