ride the windstar!

We left Austin at 3:00am on Friday. It rained most of the way home, sometimes very hard, especially during the dark hours before dawn which occured very slowly somewhere between Dallas and Shreveport. Other than the rain, and an early morning interstate parking lot on the south side of Dallas where two cars seemed to have literally ripped each other apart, the trip was uneventful until we reached Atlanta at 7:30 Friday night. Anticipating a homecoming at 10:30pm, we stopped for gas and coffee and relief in Conyers. Dave washed the car and vacuumed out the sunflower seeds and we started up the street toward Waffle House for coffee with a full tank of gas. We made it about 100 yards before the transmission decided enough was enough. It had been grumbling all day at tiny rises in the interstated as it had to go in and out of overdrive, but we thought we'd prayed it all the way home. Not so. What we'd done was prayed it to a place where there was cell phone reception, actual people to receive a call, and we could actually be rescued on the same night.
Matt is a AAA member so we were able to be towed 123 miles to Augusta for only $50. We all three rode the 123 miles in the cab with the driver, each sitting with one bun on the seat and the other on the next guy with our arms around each other, vicariously smoking the driver's cigarettes. No doubt Dave got very nervous each time Emmit (the driver) had to go through 7 gears. We had great conversation with Emmit beneath the very loud din of country music and bleeding radio stations before we arrived in Augusta at midnight, twisted and stiff and thankful.
Dave's brother, Chuck lives in Augusta where we were met by Josh who would take us the rest of the way, leaving the debilitated Windstar in the street beside the mailbox at Chuck's house.
I got home at 2:00am where I found Allison asleep on the couch waiting for me. She ran me a bath and went to bed where I, relaxed and clean, joined her at 3:00.
We'd been up for 45 hours, in the car for 23, and ended the week with an exclamation mark for our story.
God works in mysterious ways.
Stay tuned for Austin thoughts as I slow down and process the week. Meanwhile, don't laugh too hard as you read about our exclamation point.