Awesome tow truck driver makes my day slightly less sucky

[mathnerd]

I had the pleasure of meeting an awesome tow truck driver today! Unfortunately, this was because I was stranded on the side of I-10 smack in the middle of Downtown Phoenix, AZ. In rush hour traffic. In a small car with three kids and two dogs.

Yeah, it was a fun day.

I'd had a minor issue Monday night, nursed my car through to the next place that had an available hotel room (I'm limited to where I can stay because of the dogs), checked things out and everything seemed to be okay again. I stayed overnight and got back on the road this morning. Everything seemed to be going fine. I was even getting as much as 55mpg. Things seemed to be going well. Then we got into Phoenix. It was a little after 3pm. Traffic was backing up. After about 5 minutes of stop and go traffic, I see the temperature gauge going up. In an effort to to actually overheat and do more damage, I got onto the shoulder as fast as I could. Unfortunately, this put me in really bad spot to be disabled, especially considering I had three kids and two dogs in a small car.

So, I call AAA. Now, I've had them for years and never had a problem. This, of course, would be the time I have a problem. They can't find a record of me renewing last summer. They gave me a couple options. First, they could send somebody out to get me to someplace safe, since I was in a horribly unsafe place and I had been a member (though according to their records, I wasn't today), or I could get a "new" membership over the phone and they'd send somebody out to tow me to my hotel a few miles away. I chose the second option.

Then came the next problem: They didn't have an available wrecker that could transport even all the people, let alone the dogs. My only choice was to call a taxi out. The AAA rep called a taxi company and we made arrangements, though that company wouldn't transport the animals, so my only choice was to crack the windows and leave the dogs in the car while the kids and I went in the taxi. At this point, I'm desperate, so I agree.

It took the wrecker about 25 minutes to arrive. The taxi wasn't there yet. Right as I was explaining to the driver the plans, another taxi (a van) was passing by. The driver flagged him down (traffic was going slow enough) and asked him if he could take 4 people and two dogs. He said "sure!" and pulled over in front of the truck. I called the first taxi company and told them I no longer needed them, and we all piled into the taxi while the driver hooked my car.

So, I get to the hotel and a few minutes later the tow truck arrived with my car. We discussed the best place to drop it, and of course, he said "My shop". Well, NOBODY touches my car but me. I have sufficient tools in my car to fix most of what can go wrong (though maybe not as easily as with a full garage of tools). I told him I'd rather tinker with it myself, and he gave me the locations of the various parts stores in the area, along with his card should I decide it's beyond my ability to fix (which I don't think so...I'm fairly certain I've got a radiator fan relay bad, as I don't recall the fan kicking in right before it got too hot). I'll check it out in the morning, as the hotel has already agreed to allow me to check out at 1pm instead of the regular 10am check out time. If all else fails, I'll nurse the car to my final destination at night, when I know I won't encounter traffic and the cool air moving through the engine as my car moves will keep it cool enough.

So, I'm super impressed with this driver. He was totally awesome, going out of his way to make this ordeal slightly less horrible. He didn't have to flag down that other taxi and he didn't have to provide me with the names and addresses of the parts stores with the best prices in the area. He was unfailingly polite and efficient. I couldn't have asked for anything better (except, of course, a car that didn't break down).

[Teysa]

Hopefully you'll be able to fix the car without too much trouble. Safe journeys the rest of the way.

[Jester]

So, I get to the hotel and a few minutes later the tow truck arrived with my car. We discussed the best place to drop it, and of course, he said "My shop". Well, NOBODY touches my car but me.

Yes, because that's gone so well for you on this trip.

I'll check it out in the morning, as the hotel has already agreed to allow me to check out at 1pm instead of the regular 10am check out time. If all else fails, I'll nurse the car to my final destination at night, when I know I won't encounter traffic and the cool air moving through the engine as my car moves will keep it cool enough.

Or you could stay an extra day in that wonderful desert city and check out a couple of the things I recommended.

Aw for the car, though, I'd highly recommend that you make sure it's gonna work, because the route you're taking has literally nothing along it between where you are and where you're going. It is the epitome of desert wasteland. Let me put it this way: in the biggest "city" along that route, it's front page news when they add a new stop light. (And no, I am NOT exaggerating.) Not a place you're gonna wanna get stuck. Especially with three kids and two dogs.

[dalesys]

... it's front page news when they add a new stop light...

Couldn't you mean " ... new power pole ... "

[mathnerd]

Jester, there's an alternate route that goes through a town big enough to have a couple hotels 144 miles from here. That's as far as I'm going to try to make it today. And as far as things working out, it's an older car. Things go wrong. That's why I travel with basic tools.

[Geek King]

I just saw a bumper sticker yesterday: Red Horse Barbershop, located at the intersection in Red Horse, Ohio.

Which intersection, you ask? It apparently doesn't matter, as there's only one in that town.

[EricKei]

GK - Sounds like a town where mom used to live (Brevard, NC). Main Street "per se" was literally only 3 or 4 blocks long (the rest was highway), and it was the sort of place where nobody bothered to lock their doors. Population: five thousand When they said, "...a place where everybody knows your name," they meant it.

[AccountingDrone]

Or you could stay an extra day in that wonderful desert city and check out a couple of the things I recommended.

.

That beer place has good food ...

[Seshat]

GK - Sounds like a town where mom used to live (Brevard, NC). Main Street "per se" was literally only 3 or 4 blocks long (the rest was highway), and it was the sort of place where nobody bothered to lock their doors. Population: five thousand When they said, "...a place where everybody knows your name," they meant it.

Big place.


I'm serious. Drive down the 'dark desert highway' (any of them) in Australia, and you'll find plenty of 'towns' where the 'town' consists of one shop, one church and one schoolhouse. The shop being the shop, pub, and gas station. All in one, of course.

The town's 'housing' is the 'neighbouring' farms - some as much as three hours away. If they're lucky, the town also has a doctor.


Edit to add:
If you're going through real desert, TAKE PRECAUTIONS. Please please please.
If the US has 'trip intention' systems, use them!

Basically, you stop in at a police station (or in towns as small as the one I mentioned above, the shop), file a trip intention form stating where you're going, what route you're taking, and when you expect to arrive. When you arrive, or if you change your plans, you stop at another police station and file that you've arrived (or are changing plans).
(When filing, they encourage you to file in reasonable stages, and can advise you on how much water, food, etc to take per person.)

If you don't arrive at the destination, they check for a change of plans. If there is none, they go looking for you. As long as you have the recommended water, and filed in reasonable stages (and stayed on your planned route), they WILL find you.

In Australia's deserts, this saves lives. If such a system is available in the US deserts, please use it!

[Kittish]

If you're going through real desert, TAKE PRECAUTIONS. Please please please.
If the US has 'trip intention' systems, use them!
<snip>
In Australia's deserts, this saves lives. If such a system is available in the US deserts, please use it!

Second taking precautions! Have a MINIMUM of one gallon of water per warm body in the vehicle, plus another couple of gallons FOR the vehicle. Sun screen. *nods* You can get a very bad sunburn on a nice, cool spring day in the desert. Because the temp is comfortable, you just don't realize that the sun is par-broiling your skin. Sun screen for the dogs too, if there is such a thing.

I've never heard of any such system being available in the US. The closest thing I can think of would be to set up a buddy system with someone who would alert local authorities (state highway police I would think) if the traveler failed to check in within an expected time frame.

[Seshat]

Sunscreen for dogs is definitely a thing, and should be available if mathnerd drops in to a vet.

I suspect mathnerd is in regular phone contact with a couple of US-based friends I know she has.

Mathnerd, please give said friends detailed info on which route you plan to take, and when you expect to arrive, before you enter any of the desert zones. That way if you don't call them, they can raise the alarm.

[mathnerd]

I am definitely in contact with several people. Jester is one of them, along with three other friends, including the friend who's home I'm aiming for. I've also just had my car towed to a repair shop. On top of everything else, somebody cut the locks on the bikes last night, so my plan to bike to the nearest parts store and get what I needed to fix it went up in smoke. I've criss-crossed the US several times and never run into problems like this. This has been one hell of a trip.

[MoonCat]

Good luck!! Check in with CS when you get where you want to be so we know you're safe!

[Seshat]

Please don't tell me some awful thief stole children's bikes.

I mean, it's distressing enough to an adult to have something stolen. But for your three boys, disrupted as their lives currently are....

[mathnerd]

Yup. Somebody stole disabled children's bikes. Scumbags. The silver lining is it's that much less weight on the back of my car as I cross the rest of the desert and then climb the Eastern California mountains. When I get settled, I'll get them new bikes.

So, good news from the mechanic. They were able to reinstall the existing fan. There are some issues with old wiring, so I'm still going to need to be careful, but the mechanic is confident that the car will make it the rest of the way. Also, it only cost me $32.28. That's a far cry from the original estimate of $250.00, and a much needed financial break. I was freaking out pretty bad yesterday.