re: Have you ever broken down in the middle of a long road trip?

Yes, and breaking down on a long road trip was totally different pre-cell phone and pre-internet. Kids these days have it so easy.

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What the frick is wrong with you lately?

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Just trying to be social. Life is short.

yep. Headed to a climbing area in the middle of nowhere, NM. Crossed the rio grande south of taos and headed down the dirt road. Truck started overheating. No cell service. stopped. Poured half our drinking water into the radiator. Proceeded to a building we could see on the horizon. Woohoo its a store! frick, its closed, no one around, and the truck overheating again. Surely they have a hose bib? Yep...locked. Literally had a pad lock on that fricker so you couldn't take their water. frick. Poured most of what was left of our water into the radiator. Proceeded to next building on horizon. Lucked out. Tiny US post office. borrowed their phone and called AAA. Thought we were going to die going back into the canyon in that tow truck. His eyes got real big as he desperately grabbed gears going down the gravel switchbacks. Couldn't afford to fix everything at once so the A/C didn't work the rest of the summer. Fun times.

Last fall. Had just recently swapped vehicles with my dad because my truck was having issues. Side note, graduated from LSU and currently go to school in Augusta, GA. I had an exam at 8am and decided I would just leave right after to head down to Baton Rouge for the Florida game. Get to the car around 10am and find that the side view mirror on the driver side had been completely blown off by some dumbass that couldn't park apparently. Was in a parking lot, not paralleled on the street or anything either. Little did I know, that was just the start of the bull shite.

About 45 minutes outside of Mobile, the transmission in my dad's car crapped out. Had it in cruise control and the RPM's just started red lining out of nowhere and I could just smell the transmission fluid. Pretty awful thing to experience when you're stuck in the middle and about 4 hours from either place you've ever called home. Luckily got the car to a gas station about a quarter mile up the road, called my brother who is in grad school at LSU and told him I was stuck in the middle of Alabama. My options were him come get me, or have our parents who live in ATL come. After 6 hours of driving, and a ticket to the game, I was not fricking turning back. Waited for my bro to get off work and come pick me up at this gas station for 5 and 1/2 hours (brother of the fricking year award btw). A few old rednecks with dog kennels in their truck beds had stopped and asked if I was in need of help. Dudes were pounding bud lights and driving around to let their dogs loose on some shite apparently. Anyway, basically just sat around and drank beer with these dudes while listening to Alabama high school football on the radio.

Brother shows up driving our sister's car because his was fricked up apparently, we transfer my stuff and get on the road. Everything is going great, until we're about 15 minutes out of Covington... Flat fricking tire. I shite you not. We get the car jacked up and everything, and discover we don't have the torque wrench in the damn trunk. A dude randomly pulls over who used to be a mechanic and has what we need. He proceeded to change the tire in about 2 minutes. Someone should've signed him to a nascar pit crew. We finally got into Baton Rouge at 4am central time.

Had to buy a flight out of New Orleans for sunday, about 400 bucks. But it was worth it. As far as my dad's car, he knew some people from business in Montgomery and had the car brought there and picked it up a week or two later.

TL;DR: got totally fricked multiple different times on this journey. A 10 hour trip turned into fricking 18 or 19. Drank a bunch of beer with strangers. Eventually got to see the Tigers play and whip that Gaytor arse and see a bunch of friends and family. Would do it again.

Our van broke down about 30 miles from Port Angeles, Washington.

While my buddy and his girl hitchhiked into town, I commenced to bang the girl I was with.

After a few minutes there was a flashlight outside the van's curtains and a knock on the door. I opened the door and stumbled into a ditch of water buck naked.

The cop flashed his light on the naked chick and a half-drunk case of beer next to her.

"I see you have things under control," he said as he got back into his patrol car and drove off.

Now that is how you handle that type of situation.

While I admire your perseverance, I ain't loaning you or any of your family any of my vehicles.

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Have you ever broken down in the middle of a long road trip?

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Not exactly.

My alternator did throw craps on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Obviously I was stopped dead still, had no tail lights, and my car was painted black.

I saw a semi barreling full on behind me. I was sure that I was going to die.

At the last second the semi swerved, blew his horn, and the teamster flipped me off.

Grenaded a front wheel bearing in N.O. East heading back from Delacroix. Had a boat hooked up and all.. Was hot as a MOFO laying on the interstate at 3pm.

Luckily I had a grease gun and some emery cloth and was able to clean up the spindle. I pulled the driveshaft and limped home in 2wd.

I was just waiting for some hoodrats to pull up and rob me.

Had my o2 sensor all ackin a fool on the Hoover Dam. Truck was stumbling in all of that traffic, and I was sweating it. Didn't fix it until I got to Los Angeles.

My truck is one of the most common trucks in the US, so finding parts for it in the middle of nowhere is easy. I also carry around $3k worth of tools with me everywhere, and can n-word almost anything, so I'm not too worried. Only extra things (which I usually have anyway) I have are an extra belt, a gallon of water, two quarts of oil, a grease gun, and ATF, which has multiple uses.