Life of Pride
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Home at last! Bliss! Joy! I could kiss the ground - or at least my little sisters. :) When Hannah and Nathan Curby and I woke up at 7am on Friday morning, the ground was covered with textured ice. Trees creaked and crackled in the chilly wind. So, slipping and sliding, we loaded up the cars. By 8am we were on the road, slipping and sliding on the ice there. I am very grateful that Hannah told me to steer into a skid, because otherwise I would have gone off the road at one point. :P But then we drove more slowly. By around noon we were out of the icy area, and then all was well...
Until just around dusk. Nathan Curby called me from their car to mention that their battery was shot and all their dashboard lights had died, so I had better lead until we found an exit, because they had no speedometer. Then, after another five minutes of this, I glanced away from my rearview mirror for just a second - and they were gone! Their battery had died the rest of the way, and they had stopped by the side of the road. Thankfully, though we were in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky, their car had conked right between two nowhere exits that were only a mile apart.
Where else but the middle of Kentucky can you find a state trooper who knows the only car shop around, which isn't really a car shop, because the guy normally fixes up racing cars for personal use and has a wall full of at least five dozen Demolition Derby trophies? And the only reason the state trooper knows this guy is because he is also a member of the local "con-stab-yew-layry." The mechanic shows up with a wrecker and loads up the Curbys' sad little Dodge Neon. He calls ahead and has his wife run their pickup over to the local salvage yard to get an alternator belt (the Curbys' had broken). While we are waiting, she kindly invites us into their house, which is small and smells strongly of different mingled cigar smokes and beers. One whole wall of the living room, however, is a tremendous big-screen TV. The incongruity amuses me, but I don't really know what to say to the old guy with the stained yellow mustache who is rocking in front of the TV. After a few minutes, I feel queasy, so I go sit in my car and try to nap, but really I just want to get away. By 9:30, the car is ready to go. I want to drive the last six hours until St. Louis, but the Curbys' parents want us to stop. We stay the night in a Motel 6 in Lexington.
OK, I'm tired of present tense, so I'm arbitrarily switching back to past tense. :) This morning, we woke up early and were on the road again by 6:45am or so. Driving was uneventful, sunny, and easy - until about 50 miles east of St. Louis, at which point the Curbys' alternator pulley kicked off the new belt. So close! This time, we made it to an exit, and a helpful mechanic charged their battery while I called my dad and found a car place. The newly-charged battery carried them another 30 miles, until they reached the shop. At this point, we had been told by the mechanic who charged the battery that their crankshaft was bent, and that they would have to obtain a part from the dealer - who wasn't open on Saturdays. We were making elaborate plans for how they would stay over at my house for a few days. :) But thankfully for them, that mechanic dude was wrong. It was just the alternator belt again - probably, the guy in Kentucky had put it on wrong. These new mechanics fixed 'em up, and they were off in time to make it to their house in OK today! My sister had driven out, and she mentioned that the traffic through St. Louis on westbound I-64 was terrible, so we took the Curbys on the highway loop around the city instead of through. They stopped in momentarily at my house, and then chugged off west. I hope they made it home; I haven't heard from them since.
As for me, I hugged all my family multiple times and ate some banana bread. Then I went down to my basement "cave" (chair; blanket; bookcases) and tried to read a book. I managed 19 pages before I fell asleep. I slept for six hours and woke up at 1:30am. Now here I am. I'm going back to sleep. :)
Until just around dusk. Nathan Curby called me from their car to mention that their battery was shot and all their dashboard lights had died, so I had better lead until we found an exit, because they had no speedometer. Then, after another five minutes of this, I glanced away from my rearview mirror for just a second - and they were gone! Their battery had died the rest of the way, and they had stopped by the side of the road. Thankfully, though we were in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky, their car had conked right between two nowhere exits that were only a mile apart.
Where else but the middle of Kentucky can you find a state trooper who knows the only car shop around, which isn't really a car shop, because the guy normally fixes up racing cars for personal use and has a wall full of at least five dozen Demolition Derby trophies? And the only reason the state trooper knows this guy is because he is also a member of the local "con-stab-yew-layry." The mechanic shows up with a wrecker and loads up the Curbys' sad little Dodge Neon. He calls ahead and has his wife run their pickup over to the local salvage yard to get an alternator belt (the Curbys' had broken). While we are waiting, she kindly invites us into their house, which is small and smells strongly of different mingled cigar smokes and beers. One whole wall of the living room, however, is a tremendous big-screen TV. The incongruity amuses me, but I don't really know what to say to the old guy with the stained yellow mustache who is rocking in front of the TV. After a few minutes, I feel queasy, so I go sit in my car and try to nap, but really I just want to get away. By 9:30, the car is ready to go. I want to drive the last six hours until St. Louis, but the Curbys' parents want us to stop. We stay the night in a Motel 6 in Lexington.
OK, I'm tired of present tense, so I'm arbitrarily switching back to past tense. :) This morning, we woke up early and were on the road again by 6:45am or so. Driving was uneventful, sunny, and easy - until about 50 miles east of St. Louis, at which point the Curbys' alternator pulley kicked off the new belt. So close! This time, we made it to an exit, and a helpful mechanic charged their battery while I called my dad and found a car place. The newly-charged battery carried them another 30 miles, until they reached the shop. At this point, we had been told by the mechanic who charged the battery that their crankshaft was bent, and that they would have to obtain a part from the dealer - who wasn't open on Saturdays. We were making elaborate plans for how they would stay over at my house for a few days. :) But thankfully for them, that mechanic dude was wrong. It was just the alternator belt again - probably, the guy in Kentucky had put it on wrong. These new mechanics fixed 'em up, and they were off in time to make it to their house in OK today! My sister had driven out, and she mentioned that the traffic through St. Louis on westbound I-64 was terrible, so we took the Curbys on the highway loop around the city instead of through. They stopped in momentarily at my house, and then chugged off west. I hope they made it home; I haven't heard from them since.
As for me, I hugged all my family multiple times and ate some banana bread. Then I went down to my basement "cave" (chair; blanket; bookcases) and tried to read a book. I managed 19 pages before I fell asleep. I slept for six hours and woke up at 1:30am. Now here I am. I'm going back to sleep. :)
Comments:
Wow! Y'all's trip home was rather more exciting than mine. The worst that happened to us was we thought we'd miss a connection (we didn't) and lost our luggage (which arrived at our doorstep 24 hours later). Yipes, the poor Curbys.
Post a Comment
