Uh-oh! My car won’t start

I got in the driver’s seat and reached over and unlocked the passenger door for my high school friend — this was back in the day before automatic door locks — and turned the ignition. The car tried to turn over but made a grounding sound. Hmm, that can’t be good. I looked over at my friend and smiled. 

I tried again and, of course, but nothing happened at all this time. The car was dead. 

I got an immediate feeling of dread. I had to call my parents and have them bale me out. I had learned from my dad that a car not starting was usually caused by one of three problems: a dying or dead battery, a bad alternator, or an issue with the starter. None were good.

Image by Mike Bird by Pexels.

Leaving me stranded

That was the first, but certainly not the only time I’ve ever had a car die on me. I’ve been thinking of times my car has left me stranded. 

The worst experience had to be breaking down near the entrance to my work. I had just started a new job a few months earlier. You had to pass a security entrance to get on the property. I didn’t think much about it until the day my car broke down right after I entered the gate. I was able to steer it safety out of the way, but right in front of everyone coming into the office. And me standing by the side of the road, waiting for roadside assistance to come and tow my car away. Oh, brother, I wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s one way to make friends in a new job.

Image by Mike Bird by Pexels.

The bear went over the mountain

The craziest experience had to be breaking down on Skyline Drive, the scenic byway through Shenandoah National Park. The kids were all rather young and we had been visiting the park. We were all pretty tired. As I was going down a hill, I pushed the gas and felt nothing. The car’s transmission was going, leaving me with little to no power maneuvering around a long mountain. 

Fortunately, God was looking out for us, because up ahead I was able to coast into an overlook. To make matters worse, we could see a huge storm coming in. It can be challenging to get cell service in the park, but we were able to call out for a tow. 

As we waited along the side of the road, a big black bear came off the side of the mountain. I quickly jumped inside our car. She was only 15 to 20 yards away and took a few steps toward us but then followed her cub down the rest of the mountain. 

Yes, we were lucky. (I wrote more about the Shenandoah experience a few year ago in my post, When a bear came calling.)

My cars lately have been pretty dependable. I don’t have a lot of recent stories to tell. Of course, I’ve now jinxed us. I guarantee you my car will die next week, leaving my family and I stranded along a busy highway!

Mark it down.