4th of July pt 1

Every year we go and spend a few days with some friends at Lake Sinclair for the 4th.  The past two years Gavin has also come with us.  In all honesty I was not super excited about this for no other reason than I just wanted some uncomplicated adult time.  But that was not to be so Gavin made the trip with us and luckily he wasn't the only kid there, another little boy a few years older came also and was a great playmate for him.

We had decided to leave early on Friday and go to ATL and see Clay's Mom before heading over to the lake on Saturday.  Of course for any of you that have traveled with us, we have an uncanny knack for travel drama.  Well this trip was no exception!

We left Vld about 11:30 and I decided to drive so Clay could wrap up a couple of work things.  Well not far from 475 my car starting feeling funny, like it wasn't getting enough gas or something.  It would just kind of catch.  I don't know, I can't really put it into words, but needless to say it freaked me out.  Well Clay didn't feel it the first time but then when it did it again, he said it was probably just bad gas.  We decided to pull off at the rest stop on 475 so we could switch drivers and so Gavin could run around for a minute.  Well just before we got their, my car lost all acceleration and even when I pushed the pedal to the floor it wouldn't go.  So we luckily coasted into the rest area and Clay went to work while I changed Gavin.  At this point it was already almost 100 degrees outside so it was miserable for all involved.  Luckily Clay got it running and figured it was bad gas so we pulled off at the next exit to get gas and a fuel additive.

It seemed to do the trick and everything was running fine but as we started to pat ourselves on the back, the traffic on 75 came to almost a complete stop and so did my car.  This time, the exit was uphill instead of downhill like the rest area so there was no coasting.  We barely made it off the road.  Gavin had just finally fallen asleep about 10 minutes before that and I was so worried because the car wouldn't crank back up so we had no air conditioning.  I knew that Clay and I could manage in the heat but I was so incredibly worried about Gavin.  You have no idea how many prayers I sent up!!  Of course Gavin wakes up almost immediately because he is sweating profusely and is hotter than you know what.  Clay has no luck with the car and has killed the battery trying, so their is no choice but to pack up what we have to and walk to the nearest gas station or restaurant so that I can get Gavin cool and Clay can figure out what to do.  Well right as we are getting Gavin out of the car, a church bus pulls over and offers to help!!  Praise the Lord, who is so gracious and kind!

The bus is full of youth and chaperons headed back to NC from camp.  Come to find out they had had their bus break down on the way to camp and God had showed up and showed out in their situation so they felt necessary to return the favor.  I won't tell the whole story of their incident but the short of it is that in SC where they broke down they met a man who owned a fleet of small passenger  buses and he had one brought over to them to use since they couldn't get theirs fixed.  When they realized that their luggage wouldn't fit, he got a truck with a camper and a driver to drive all of their luggage to camp and then had their van repaired and brought to them all for NO charge!!  If that wasn't a God thing than I don't know what is!

So Gavin and I sit in the bus with all of them while a couple of guys try and help Clay figure it out.  They end up jumping us off and we are able to make it up the exit and to a McDonalds. I am eternally grateful for those wonderful people from Winston-Salem, NC.  Clay's phone was almost dead so I had given him mine to use to try and call someone and figure out what to do.  Well any of you that know Clay really well know that he can't just push a button once.  Well I have an app installed on my phone that when you press a certain button a specific number of times, it sends out alerts to 911 and certain people you have selected telling them you need help and then when the GPS gets your location it send out a second set of messages.  So, of course Clay hits that exact button the exact number of times.  So as we are standing by the car trying to figure out what to do, a call from Emergency Services pops up.  Clay answers and tells them sorry, he has no idea how he called them and hangs up.  Well then my Dad calls and asks me if I am all right.  So I start wondering what is going on and ask him how he knew something was wrong.  He said he had gotten a text message saying I needed help.  Oh, crap!  Then I start getting calls from several of my friends and family all freaking out thinking I have been kidnapped!  And then I can't figure out how to turn it off!  I have no idea how many times it sent that message out but it was more than twice and I scared numerous people half to death.  Meanwhile, it is about 4 or 4:30 and Clay finds a Chevrolet dealership who agrees to take a look and possibly fix our car if we can get it there before 5.  Well the dealership is only 2 exits up but there is no way we are getting back on the interstate not knowing if we can make it so we have to try and go the back way which takes us through McDonough.  The car cuts off twice but thankfully Clay's Dad had told him to get something heavy and hit the gas tank, which worked like a charm for a few miles.

We pull into the dealership right at 5 and they take a look at it and determine it is the fuel pump and will have to be replaced.  By the grace of God they had the one we needed in stock and actually agreed to install it that same day, all for a small *cough* *cough* fee.  So two hours later we left the dealership an incredibly amount lighter in the pocket but with a car that ran like brand new!  So after a quick run through the drive thru we resumed our trip to Emory where we thankfully made it right around 8.  Made a quick (sort of) stop in to see Clay's parents and then hit the University Inn for some much needed sleep, but of course Gavin is all out of sorts and takes forever to fall asleep even though it is 3 hours past his bed time and doesn't sleep well since he isn't in his own bed.

Drearily we visited for a few hours the next morning before heading to Milledgeville to meet our friends for lunch.  Thankfully the remainder of the trip was much less eventful than the beginning.