He hooked the battery charger to the battery and Zack turned on the car...no problem! Yay! we are on our way! Zack slipped the gear shift back to put the car in reverse and...dead...the car just went dead. So, Ronald jumped us again. Zack let the car idle for a few minutes and then shifted into reverse...only to have the car die again. We tried it again...we had some ticking and then the car roared to life. We left it sitting for longer this time. Zack put us into reverse..success. we pulled out of the parking space, shifted to drive and then made it about 10 feet before the car died again.
ok, well, we will just let the car charger stay on longer and let the car idle longer and then be on our merry little way. Except that this time the engine wouldn't even try to turn over! So, Ronald and I pushed the car back into the parking spot while Zack maned the wheel.
Zack had called his father to let him know of our car troubles and to see if he had any ideas of what the problem might be. His parents live about an hour from the airport and so we had thought about towing our car there since it would be closer than home. His dad ended up coming to get us despite the fact that they had company (We have the best family).
Zack also called our insurance company to see if they could send someone to help us out...he was on hold FOREVER. Then, he was given crazy long ETAs. So, we just got into our car and sat waiting for Zack's dad to arrive. By this time, we had met just about all of the people working at the Fly n' Go. (If you ever fly out of ATL and need a place to park you car, the Fly n' go workers really went out of their way to be helpful!)
Zack's dad eventually made it over to the airport and jumped us off. The car started and Zack and his dad spent time testing the battery and other manly/car fix'n things. They finally decided that they did not trust the car to keep running long enough for us to make the trip home. So, Zack and his dad took out the 2 things that they thought could be the problem...the usual
suspects: the battery and the alternator.
What started out being a real low point in our trip ended up being turned around into a good time. We were able to spend time with Zack's family. We talked with them a little Saturday night, and then we were able to go to church with and spend time with them on Sunday as well.
After church, we went and ate at a local Mexican restaurant. We ordered the fajitas for 2...it fed 5 people with leftovers! I'm not sure what 2 people's appetite these portion sizes were based on, but they must be involved in food eating competitions to fit all of that food in in one sitting.
While we were eating, it started to POUR!!! yay! working on a car in the rain! :( boo!! Zack and his dad donned rain gear and we (Mama Sandy and I) rode with them to the airport parking lot to work on the car. On our way to the parking lot, we stopped by the auto parts store to find out that YES, it was the alternator. So, with a new shiny alternator in hand, we headed on to the parking lot. All of our friends from the day before were there and they came and checked on us periodically.
Mama Sandy and I got the chance to chit chat while they were working on the car. They managed to get it all taken care of in a little less than an hour. Then the boys made a point of letting us know that their job was done ...Mama Sandy and I kept finding new topics to discuss...they would think that we were almost ready to go...and then another topic of interest would pop up! :) ha!
So, what started as a car time blues ended up being another "fun" part of the adventure.
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