So, I'm driving along in my faithful minivan (nicknamed "Charlotte" by my Anna Mary). It's been a good van. It turned 14 this year, and we adopted it 9 yrs. ago. Just two days ago I took a picture of the odometer at 221,001 miles. Such a proud owner. God has kept this baby running all these years.
I filled it all the way up in Edgewood, a good 18 gallons worth (ouch), and headed to Albuquerque to run some errands. "Hey!", I said to myself, "why don't you stop at Tuesday Morning and Hobby Lobby on your way?" So I did. La la la...I'm looking through Tues. Morning and I hear, "If there is someone here with a purple minivan, with Kansas tags (don't judge-yes, we still have 'em) would you please come to the front?" I'm thinking, "Great. What could possibly be wrong?"
The girl at the front nonchalantly tells me, "Uh, your van is spilling gas all over the parking lot out there." WhAt?!?!? Sure enough, I walked out and the Hobby Lobby manager and another guy are at my van, helping another lady parked next to me push her car back so she can start it without exploding. I walked around to the passenger side and saw gas pooled up and flowing steadily from under the van. Then I realized that the stream of gas I saw like a trail through the parking lot to my van was MINE! I just stood there. What the heck do I do?? I finally got ahold of Jarrod, who, thankfully, was working in town that day. Then, here comes the Fire Dept. Not one, but TWO trucks.
Side note: I hate being the center of attention, especially when it comes to vehicular malfunctions.
But the firemen were very kind. They threw some kind of kitty litter-type stuff on the pool of gas and put some kind of goop on the fuel tank to try and stop the leak (which didn't hold very long). Jarrod arrived; after several quotes from tow trucks we decided to save the money it would cost a tow truck to take it back to Edgewood.
So...and I'm sure you're mental image is comical enough, Jarrod got a tow rope and the two of us towed it to a sandy spot toward home so it could just drip all it wanted. Jarrod drove the truck, and your's truly steered the van. I was in PANIC MODE!! -Having no control over the van, standing on the brakes to stop in traffic, being pulled onto the interstate... Get my drift? All I'm gonna say is that I don't claim responsibility for anything that I said between Hobby Lobby and the Carnuel exit!
It was a crazy long day, and we didn't get the van home until after 8pm. Now it sits at the top of our driveway until tomorrow. What to do. I suppose our plans to trade it in are justified now.
