A Few Lessons

HI,

What better way to start off my blog experience than to share with everyone a few of the lessons I have learned while driving around the country. The first lesson is a recent experience, the first 200 miles of my journey to be exact. Here it is plain and simple, stop what you are doing, drive to your nearest automotive store and purchase a nice set of jumper cables. Next, take them out the package, find a safe place in the car and NEVER remove them. You know its going to be a long year when after 3 hours of driving, a nice little light illuminates on your dashboard and your car begins beeping at you. Yes, I went from a calm and relaxed state to pure panic in 2.3 seconds. Now mind you, it was Saturday evening at 6pm, the night before Easter Sunday and I still had 15 hours of driving left. The first thing I did was call my brother to ask him what the chances were of my battery dying as soon as I turned off the car? “There’s a pretty good chance sis, you do have jumper cables right?" Hence my first lesson, go out and buy jumper cables so you don't sound like a complete idiot when asked this question and you're forced to answer a quiet "um nope." After a quick lesson in jumping a car which included "Jess, make sure you ground the car first so you don't electrocute yourself" I was feeling a little better. I was still kicking myself for not addressing the battery situation when it had been pointed out to me a month earlier by my mechanic.----Lesson #2: Listen to your mechanic--- It turned out after a stop at Ace Automotive, that my battery was in good shape and I was now dealing with a clogged tube;) I guess I can go ahead and retract my second lesson though; you don't always have to listen to your mechanic! Don’t worry Grandma, I made it to Dallas in one piece.

Okay let’s see, a couple more lessons I can pass along...............if your car comes with a compass, always make sure it is on and you are aware of what it says. It would be a real shame if you say, got off while driving 38 hours cross country for a little Dairy Queen and were slightly distracted with the new blizzard favor to notice that the compass was reading W instead of E when you got back on the road. Trust me people it can happen to the best of us.

This is a big one, if you happen to travel in a caravan of many girls carefully observe the amount of fluids you are taking in. It’s a quick and unfortunate way to loose friends if your voice is the only one over the walkie talkie asking for a rest room break at each and every gas station

I could probably go on forever but I think I've done enough damage for one day. I’m sure I have made a few of you a little concerned but honestly don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.

Keep smiling,

Shep