A Scene from Final Destination?

Dad, Mom, and I went on a very quick trip to Baton Rouge Wednesday and Thursday. We had a nice time shopping and eating! (I overruled and got to pick most of the places to go!) After a late lunch at Olive Garden, we set out on our way home. But we weren't aware of the adventurous trip home it would be!

Not too far out of town, I had the sudden urge to pee. (Not surprising, considering the Starbucks coffee and 2 raspberry lemonades I had to drink earlier.) Dad, being the annoying man he is, said that he wasn't going to stop, but alas, pulled in to a McDonald's. As I was running back out to the car, dad began to pull out of the parking spot, and I noticed a huge spot of fresh car gunk/liquid where the car had just been.

"Uh, I sure hope that's not coming out of our car!" I told Dad.

"Doesn't look like oil." Dad replied.

"Hmm, you think it's transmission fluid?" I questioned.

Dad got out, looked under the car, and sure enough, the car was leaking huge amounts of transmission fluids. Matter of fact, as soon as he put the car back in gear, it did that jerky thing cars do when the transmission is messed up. Here we are 4 hours from home and about to lose our transmission!!

I put in some coordinates in my iPhone. (And just let me add in here, that my iPhone was a HUGE help in guiding us through Baton Rouge to find a Starbucks, PF Changs, and other fine stores!) We were basically in the middle of nowhere, about 2 hours from the nearest "real" town. So we did all we could do...drove til we found something resembling an auto store.

Just a few miles down the road, dad pulls into a mom and pop type store, "Wilson's Food Mart." I was certain there would be no transmission fluid or stop leak inside that store. But the signs in the window did advertise "Live Bait" and "Mild and Spicy Boudin"! Dad comes out with in fact a quart of transmission fluid, but to his dismay, no funnel long enough to reach the right hole under the hood.

It was at this moment that a couple of Cajuns walked out of the store and asked Dad what the trouble was. Dad explained the transmission leak, and a boy looking no older than 14 years old looked at me in the passenger seat and said "Well, y'all haven't been letting her drive the car have you?" I raised and eyebrow and shrugged my shoulder at the guys. The smart man said "I'm outta here." The dumb boy who made the comment just winked. Oh puh-lease!

Obviously this was the place to be in this one-stop town, and every nosey, I mean, concerned citizen asked what was the problem. Finally, the dumb 14 year old boy, showed some smarts. He actually was a "mechanic" and sounded a bit knowledgeable about things. He rigged up a funnel using some tubing and an old bottle and was able to assist dad in pouring 3 quarts of transmission fluid back into the car. The car was completely drained! After about 45 minutes of pouring and measuring and cranking and re-cranking, they established they had done all they could do, and it was best for us to try and drive on. The thunder, looming clouds, and fear of being stuck in Cajun land was putting me into high gear. Dad went back in to the store to buy one more quart of fluid, in case we needed it down the road. I hollered out for him to pick me up some M&Ms.

Mr. 14 year old Mechanic hollered out, "Nuts or regular?"

"Regular." I yelled back. "There are enough nuts around here as it is." I mumbled back to my mom.

Dad offered to pay the young man for his help, but he refused. However him and a friend kept looking back at me as if maybe they had another idea in mind. I made mom swear she wouldn't let dad leave me behind for payment!

I must admit, although weird, the boy was extremely nice. He told dad to keep his rigged funnel in case we needed it later. So not a moment too soon, we headed back on the road. We made it to Natchez and pulled into an Advanced Auto store. There dad purchased some stop leak and set us back out on the road. From there out, we seemed to be doing great. We stopped again in Vicksburg, and even though there was still some leakage, the dipstick was still measuring fluid.

As we neared home, I noticed the sky lighting up in the distance. Soon, lightening was filling the sky. It was extremely gorgeous, especially since the storm was in the distance. We were discussing the events of the day and the apparent storms that were coming in, and all of a sudden, Dad pressed the brake and laid on the horn. Just feet from the highway was a rather large doe! Thankfully Dad saw it in time to deter it from darting out onto the road in front of us! Whew! We dodged a burned up transmission to almost have to replace the entire front end of the car due to a run in with a deer!

About 20 miles outside of town, the wind had kicked up, and it was evident we were on the verge of a large thunderstorm. The wind was whipping and leaves and such were flying all over the place. Then out of nowhere this huge circular object comes flying down the highway. It was seriously headed straight for us! With the wind spiraling it towards us, I thought it was a stop sign. All I could think was that it was going to go straight through the window and decapitate me! In seconds, dad again whipped the car to the side and the object brushed against the far right front side of the car. It turned out only to be a gigantic beach ball!

After the near death experience, the heavens opened up and the rain sloshed down on us! We were so ready to get out of that car and in the house! Thankfully God was on our side, otherwise we could have been stranded on the side of the road, totaled by a killer deer, decimated by a beach ball, or worst....left to marry a 14-year-old, Cajun mechanic!

There's NO place like HOME!