A small hiccup on what otherwise would have been an 10-hour drive to Pineville. The truck burst some small bit of plastic or rubber, and coolant shot out onto the road and all over the engine. The truck overheated. I stopped immediately, so probably no serious damage, but with three people and two dogs in the car, in the middle of rural America, and with three hours to go before destination, there was some scrambling. AAA was called and a local tow outfit came. Austin and the dogs stayed in the truck on the JarTran, while Carolyn and I rode in the cab to a garage. The garage gave me a lift 20 miles to a small airport that had car rental and, after doing that, I drove back to the garage, unpacked and repacked, and got to my destination at 8 pm, only 3 hours late. Victory! The truck will get picked up, and the rental car returned, in Sunday. It's only money and time.
2 comments:
Dear Patrick,
Some advice for summer travel with dogs.
1. Cars -even brand new cars - break down in the damndest places.
2. White cars with tinted glass are safer for dogs in hot weather.
3. Always have enough leashes to walk your dogs to the nearest exit (cell phone service is iffy in rural America).
4. Carry a space blanket or sun shield (with some means of keeping it attached) so, if you must, you can leave the dogs with the car while you go for help. (Not every motorist willing to take you will take your dogs.)
Or, as those boy scouts like to say, " . . ."
Donald McCaig
Very good advice! I would also add a couple of credit cards to that list. Amazing what kind of trouble they can patch over! We were lucky that we had plenty of people and leashes. I had even thought to add a 12' cable leash in case the pit bull had to be tied out. All good in the end.
Post a Comment