My mom and I decided to take an adventure yesterday and try the world's longest yard sale. We had never done it before. We thought it would be fun and something different for us to do. Well....here is how it played out. First of all, we had to take both Ansley and Abby. They were troopers!! We decided that we should start out in Ft. Payne and make our way to Chattanooga, and then we would head back home. Both mom and I thought it was going to be a little different then what it was, or at least the way it was in Ft. Payne. Who knows, it could have been very different any where else. Once we got to Ft. Payne, we made our way to where the yard sale seemed to be, at the top of Look Out Mountain. We got out, a little umm... questionable...or at least to mom and I, especially with two young girls. We looked around at a few venders, got back in the car and drove a little further. It did not take us long to come to the conclusion that this was not our cup of tea. I think we probably were only there for 30 mins., and we decided to head back towards home. We probably would have kept going if it were only mom and I, but having both girls we thought heading home was probably the best. Thank goodness, we decided to head home when we did!!
Where we were on the mountain, there was not very much around. One gas station, houses, and land. At least that is all we saw. On the way down the mountain, my car starts making this beeping noise, lights that I have never seen start flashing on the dash board, and the air goes out. This happened around 12:15. Our plan was to go down the mountain, get lunch, and head home. The lights stayed on all the way down the mountain. As we got down the mountain the lights went off. Mom and I were not sure what to do. We decided, like any wise person would do, to keep going at least to where we were going to eat. We weren't going to go that far. We were going to go eat at Cracker Barrel. I typed it in my GPS, and it was saying that we had already passed it that we needed to turn around. Well, instead of doing that we decided to keep going and stop somewhere on the way. It turned out that we missed a turn somewhere to head home, and by this time the lights on the dashboard had come back on several times. We had only gone about 10 miles outside of Ft. Payne There was nothing around us except a few houses. Mom was driving, and she says "Erin, I can feel it. The car is about to die." We pull over in someone's driveway, and sure enough, the car went dead. It was now 12:30 12:45ish. We are hungry, and hot!!
Thank the Lord, that where the car went dead, the people were home, and willing to help. The man did so much for us. He tried to jump the car off, but the car would not hold a charge. He tried putting in a battery from one of his trucks but it did not fit. He called several mechanics in the area, but they were not opened. We were about 2 hours from home. I did not have very good cell service. Finally, the guy decided that we could just ride with him, and take our battery to the nearest mechanic that was opened. We are now approaching 1:30 or 2. Still no lunch, which is fine for mom and I, but poor Ansley and Abby. We get to the mechanic, they check the battery, and tell us that it is almost fully charged. WHAT??? How could this be? He gives us another battery to try, so that we could bring the car there. The battery works in the car. We get the car to the mechanic, and they check it out. It is the alternator. So, the mechanic begins to call around, and there is none in the area in stock. The closet one in stock is in Alabama City, which is near Gadsden, about 45 mins away. You have got to be kidding me, right? No...so Kip's mom, thank goodness, lives in Gadsden, picks the alternator up, and brings it to us. We finally get lunch at 2:30 or so, and we finally get the car fixed around 4. It made for a very long day!! Poor Ansley and Abby, and what troopers they were. So blessed that I was not by myself with the girls when it happened, and so thankful for the man that helped us out so much. And thankful for Kip's mom bringing the alternator to us. We made it home finally and safely!! The Lord knew what he was doing when we missed our turn to head home, and by having us decided to come down the mountain when we did, and by letting the nearest alternator that was in stock be in stock somewhere where we could have someone bring it to us. Thank you, Lord, for letting the pieces to this crazy puzzle fall into place. :)
