On Saturday, April 9th, Megan and I departed Ponte Verdra Beach, FL. We began our trip home with a planned stop in Savannah, Ga to pick up my car from Grainger Honda. I was contacted earlier in the week and was told that my car was fixed and that it was good to go.
Our first stop was at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where we returned our second rental car. This task was a breeze. They even gave us a ride to Grainger Honda in the car we returned, since it contained a week's worth of stuff that we loaded into the car. We had no desire to move it more times then was necessary.
Upon arrival at the dealership, I went inside to take care of paying (I had to have a baring replaced) and got my keys. Megan located my car and loaded it up with all of our belongings from the rental. While I am standing there, I see our buddy Patrick round the corner. He looks right at me and makes no acknowledgement of my existence. Ok, he may be busy or does not recognize the crazy woman that he met earlier in the week. So, I continue waiting. No use in yelling out at him and looking more crazy then I already am.
When my service manager, Robert, got to me, he told me that I would not be able to take my car that day. He explained to me that several of my valves were bent and that they would give me a loaner car and that I would have to come back the following weekend and swap the cars. FANTASTIC!!! I was super excited to hear this piece of news. I call Megan and explain the situation.
"You are kidding, right?"
"Ummm, no. Robert and I are on our way to see you."
I get outside and see that Megan has moved all of our belongings into my car. Robert promptly pulls the loaner car around and we empty my car and load the new car with all our goodies. We then proceed inside to fill out paperwork in order for me to take their car. Everything is filled out and we are ready to go, when Robert looks at me and says, "I think I made a mistake."
He had...he got me mixed up with another woman with the last name of Finway...Finnegan, Finway. All the same in the grand scheme of things. So we head back to the lot and move our stuff again.
1: Loaded Car at Aunt Mac's House
2: Rental 2 to my car
3: My car to Rental 3
4: Rental 3 back to my car
Mind you it is 86 degrees (we are sweating like pigs doing all this).
Robert gets behind the wheel of my car and turns her over. My car makes a sound as if a dying bird is flying around inside of it.
"What is that!?!" I know, I know...Ms. Calm, cool and collected.
"It's your AC belt. I will tighten it up and you will be on your way."
Oh goodie!!1 Megan and I set up camp in the dealership and begin to entertain ourselves. I read a book and Megan plays angry birds on her phone. We can consistently getting approached by people who work there...We are now local celebrities in this place. I decide that we just need to pitch a tent in the center of the showroom and move in. I mean hey...we have spent enough time there already, might as well.
30 minutes later, I am handed my keys and we depart the dealership. I say goodbye and we drive off. As we are pulling out of the parking lot, we drive past Patrick who waves at us confusingly. Then proceeds to text Megan.
"When did you get here?"
"Around 11:45." (it is now 1)
"Why didn't you tell me you were here?"
"Shannon said she saw you and you saw her and you didn't acknowledge her. Plus, you are at work and we did not want to bother you."
"If I saw her I did not realize it was her."
We are hungry at this point and hit up the Cracker Barrel in good ole Pooler, Georgia (remember this is where the car dies the first time). We also decide that my car needs a name. So, we name her Grainger after the Honda dealership. We eat lunch and I offer the keys to Megan so she can drive.
"Are you sure? The last time I drove your car it broke."
"Megan, it's fine. We got here no problem. They fixed it, you should be fine."
"Ok."
We fill the car with gas and begin our trek home, when all of a sudden the radio goes dead. I mean turns off. Not like we lost the signal...it turns off. All the gauges go to 0 and we lose power steering and brakes.
YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME RIGHT!!!
We manage to get the car into a Taco Bell parking lot and I call Robert while Megan begins pacing the parking lot more out of boredom then worry.
"The car died." I explained to him what happened.
"Can you start the car?"
I don't know...so I turn her over. IT STARTS!!! HOORAY!!!
"Can you get the car here?"
"I don't know, but I'll try."
I yell to Megan, "Get in!!!"
I drive the car around the parking lot, thinking this will be a good test to see if the car is ok. We are good. So, I take her out on the road. We pull into the turn lane to get onto I-95 south and tragedy strikes... SHE DIES AGAIN!!!
Well ,I call the dealership and tell them the situation. This time I know exactly where I am and Grainger Honda is sending service men to come save us. As we are waiting, we are upsetting many motorists as they have to go around us to get on to the interstate. Megan made up a song that we sang, "Go around us, we are stuck." All while we are hanging our arms out the windows waving people to go around.
Megan also asks me, "Why did you have to be a hero, Shannon?"
We had several offers for help and were also informed that we should turn on the hazard lights...ummmm they were totally on, but what ever was wrong with my car would not allow them to flash. Are you kidding? We are most certainly going to die in Pooler, Ga. I decide to call 911 and attempt to get police help so that someone did not smack into the back of my ca while we wait to be rescued.
After about 30 minutes, I look into my rear view mirror and I see a Blue Honda Civic pull up behind me with a Grainger Honda plate on the front. OUR RESCUERS!!! 2 service men get out of the car and Megan and I go into the wonderful air conditioned rescue vehicle. We watch as they try to jump the battery and then they throw the car into neutral and push it across 2 lanes of traffic. HOORAY!!! the car is now on the side of the road.
We now move all of our stuff from my car into the new civic and the cop arrives. This is now the 5th time we have moved our stuff. Now think about it...2 woman have packed one car for a week. This has been no easy task to move. We leave my car on the side of the road and head back to the dealership.
I call my mother and I am hysterically laughing because the delirium has hit me. She thinks I am kidding when I first tell her what happened. Then she realizes that this is not the case. OMG!!!
We arrive at our home away from home, Grainger Honda, and Robert looks at me and says the following:
"Ms. Finnegan it is your alternator. Take the came you came in (the blue civic) and go home. I will have your car fixed and I will have it brought to you in Atlanta."
We leave. We dance to music in traffic. We entertain fellow drivers and we arrive home.
I now have my car back. It was brought to me on Thursday morning while I was at work. It is fine and driving well, even though I 'm convinced that Murphy is living in my trunk, because there have been 2 more mishaps that I will write about in the coming days.
Megan and I have also come to the conclusion that we should never drive again on any of our trips... I am willing to risk it as long as we take her car. HAHAHA!!!
Until then, drive safe.
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