Stranded on the Toll Road

Back Story:  Some days I can get sad and/or get my feelings hurt.  My kids are busy with their own families, their own friends, their own activities. Their own lives!! I feel put on the back burner, and somewhat either forgotten or taken for granted.  The feelings never last long, because I absolutely do understand, but, at times, those feelings do surface.  And then it hits me:  I probably did (and do!) the same thing with my mom.  I decide to go visit my mom.  No holiday.  No agenda.  Just a nice visit for no other reason than to spend time together.  The bonus is that she lives with my sister, so we made sure my sister and her husband would be home too.  It was going to be a good day, and I was looking forward to it.

Back Story:  A month or so ago, my car needed a new tire. I had been warned by the tire sensor warning light  No biggie.  Got a new tire.  And then the tire sensor warning light came on.  Again.  Took it into the dealership.  Had the tires all looked at.  Everything looked good.  Reset the tire sensor warning light.  And then the tire sensor warning light came on.  Again.  I have no idea how many times we played this game.  Mark says it was eight.  I don't think it was quite that many, but it was a lot, and I wasn't counting, so maybe he's right.  Anyway, Mark told them around trip five or six that instead of simply resetting the sensors, they needed to fix the actual problem.  They reset the sensors a couple more times anyway.  Mark finally got a bit mad and asked them to please just FIX THE ISSUE!  The dealership explained that, because we did not have an extended warranty,  we would be responsible for all the cost and repair.  Mark said fine.  We just wanted our car fixed!!  We took the car in again this past Monday to hopefully finally get the issue resolved.  The dealership replaced at least one of the sensors, and the tire sensor warning light has not come back on again.  So far.  The best part?  In doing our paperwork, the dealership discovered we do indeed have an extended warranty, and we even have roadside assistance!  Didn't cost us a penny!!  Who knew!?

Yesterday:  Headed in to visit my mom, my sister and her husband.  As we are on our way, the check engine light comes on. Are you kidding me?  We are now half way between our house and their house.  What do we do?  The car seems to be running fine, so we keep going with a plan to look into it in the upcoming week.

No biggie.

Until the car flat out dies on the Toll Road. 

Mark is able to coast to the shoulder.  We even manage to get close to an exit, but Mark is not wanting to risk the exit, as he does not want to finally come to a stop  in the fat middle of an exit.  

But wait!  We have roadside assistance.!!

We call.  

But wait!  We are on a restricted road.

????

So I also learned this yesterday:  While it is not technically wrong or illegal for a roadside assistance company to come get you on a Toll Road, most will not do so.  However, in our area, the Harris County Toll Road Authority will send out a tow truck and even a deputy to get you off the road and take you to a safe location.  It is all free.  It is all part of the fees you pay to use the toll road.  Thankfully, at this point with the deputy and tow truck helping to clear traffic, our little car started on its own, we were able to get off the toll way and into a nice safe parking lot.  Right smack between a Taco Cabana and a Walgreens.  

Call my sister.  They decide to come have lunch with us at the Taco Cabana whilst we wait for the tow truck.  We were not too far from their home at this point.  It wasn't the visit we had hoped for, or planned for, but there in the Taco Cabana we had a nice visit with my mom, my sister, James, me and Mark.

As the food arrived, so did the tow truck.  Naturally.  Mark went out and squared everything away with the driver.  Our car would be  taken to a Buick dealership in Katy right on I-10.  Mark then called the dealership and squared everything away with them.  And then we ate.  And visited.  And it was nice.

Now we are stuck in Houston, so Kristi and James are going to have to take us home.  They said they didn't mind, and maybe we could still have some fun along the way.

We dropped mom off at their home, because she would not be able to make the ride.  That would all be too much for her.

We talked and laughed and visited as James drove us all to our house.  We wanted to pop in to feed and check on all our animals.  

Then we hopped into our Elantra, and Kristi and James hopped into their car, and we were all going to meet at Houndsong.  

ONLY OUR CAR WOULDN'T START!!

Are you KIDDING me??

So we hopped into our truck REALLY hoping it would, not only start, but run.  Thankfully, it did!

Sheeeeesh.

We all met up at Houndsong where we had some beer and cheese curds with more fun and laughter.  Followed by some ice cream at the ice cream parlor next door.  (Kristi and I got the "Rusty Hinge" ice cream.  It was whiskey, biscotti and heath bar.  Highly recommend!!)

We had invited Kristi and James to spend the night and go to church with us, but with such short notice, it didn't work out that way, so they headed back to their home.  We headed to ours.  (We made it!) (Woo-hoo!) (THANK YOU, JESUS!!)

And as we crawled into bed we were honestly able to say, "That was a good day!"

Life is not always what you plan, but it can still be fun in unexpected ways!!

And, all too often, even when things can seem aggravating and irritating, God is working in our lives to give us little gifts and information that just might, maybe come in handy when we REALLY need it!

Bye, bye my once beloved, but now aggravating little car .... hope to see you soon when you're all better!!