Saturday, July 2, 2016

St. Louis: If it Weren't for No Luck Pt 2

The following day I arrive at the mechanic and the man barely remembers our conversation from the day before, but says he can at least look at it. The beast and I walk around St. Louis and came to a dog park- resident access only. Ok. Across the street was a coffee shop with outdoor seating and wifi- yay! I got lunch, met a friendly local father/daughter duo, and we spent some time there. Once finished, we walked around the streets more and I called the auto shop. He had no answers and said he needs to rule some things out, but that regardless of what the problem is, he can't get to it until next week. @*!$%*. We walk to the shop and my car hasn't even moved from the spot I parked it with the keys still in the seat- he never even looked at it. Well that was a great waste of an entire morning. A number of calls more were made and I found a shop that asked how soon I could be there.. within minutes! I say. I arrived at Mid Town Tire & Auto, parked, explained for the 28004707th time the issue and the man behind the counter, Dave, hooks it up with the diagnostic test. I tell him that I'll be in the area and leave my number. Retreat Gastropub has outdoor seating so Nev and I head there for a beer and some lunch. The restaurant is open so I do leave Neville attached to his leash with the leash under one of the metal chairs. I go inside for a minute, long enough to order a drink, and there's a huge crash outside. I look out the open door to see my puppy hauling ass, dragging a metal chair into the street. THANK GOD the car driving was going the speed limit and saw him and stopped. I ran outside and the same time a woman ran in to find me; she tells me the umbrella in the middle of the table moved and scared the hell out of my boy, and he took off. The bartender comes out and tells me they have service outside and leaves me with a nice cold beer for my nerves. 






I'm feeling hopeful since Dave was upfront and kind, update Mom on the situation, and relax a bit. Dave calls me with an update and it's not good. Potentially $2,000 not good, my car is undrivable and I'm not leaving for at least four days not good. That was the straw the broke the camels back *cue meltdown*. I lost it, crying my eyes out on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant just as the waitress was bringing me my food. In my head I wanted to apologize to her and say nothing truly terrible had happened, but that's not what happened. I just cried as I tried to form sentences to Dave, still patiently waiting on the phone, before I could choke out that I need to call him back. It didn't help that I couldn't get ahold of my mom who I had just spoken to, so I just hid my face and cried and tried to get it together. She called me back within a few minutes as I attempted to explain the car lingo I was just told, and I had a friend reaching out to help me as well (thanks Raj!). In the midst of this, Dave called me back and told me that that was the worst case scenario and he was going to stay late and trouble shoot some things, but that I was still not going anywhere for four days. So long, my friend Sara in Indiana who I was going to visit. I get a to-go box and my check, apologize to the waitress at that point, then adjust my plans in my head. This isn't the worst thing that could happen, just horrible timing and a HUGE wrench in my plans for the rest of the trip that will probably need to be cut short. As I'm trying to get it together, this lady, probably in her late 60s/early 70s, randomly stops by my table (out of the four occupied tables out there), drops an envelope, and leaves. What could this possibly be? A check for $2000? A Jesus letter inviting me to church? A handwritten note of encouragement? Gibberish? None of the above. I open it and laugh, a good, hearty laugh. This woman must be my elder spirit animal. And I contacted my mom and tell her about it and laugh some more. That felt good.


   

Neville and I proceeded to head back to the auto shop to get some things out of the car. Dave is there and you can tell he feels bad for me, having been party to my meltdown. He asks how I will get back to the campground (since I told him my traveling story when I got there) and I told him my plan is to find a dog-friendly Uber. He tells me that he will gladly give me a ride and make any stops I need to. What an angel, truly. On the TV in the shop there is news about uproar in Bangladesh and this helps me to put my 1st world problems into perspective. We stop at the store so I can pick up supplies, then he is true to his word and takes Neville and I "home". What an interesting time in the world to have such trust in strangers, but I am beyond thankful for this man. We get to know each other a bit on the ride and he tells me that he does charity work as much as he can for people with car issues and offers to help me out through the weekend, if I need it. Thank you, Dave! Back at the campground, I'm farting around, wasting time, and who drives by but the park ranger, checking park passes. Today, of course, is the day I should have been gone, and it is hours past 'check out' time. The man drives by and I called out to him as he sees that I am technically expired. His face looks like he has no patience for this nonsense. I point out that I have a rig that requires towing and I point out that I do not currently have a car. He hears me out and kindly gives me an extra four nights for free at the campground and asks if there is anything that he can do to help. Really, the kindness of the most unexpected people has been so great. When he left, I promptly grabbed two beers and headed over to see my new friend DJ to unwind. I vented and he listened, offered some food, and told me about his life. All of it. I sat and listened then headed back to my camper, wishing it was later in the day so I could just sleep this day away. I called my girlfriend, Nikki, who it turns out was also stranded. She was on a plane headed for Florida and ended up being stuck there for hours. We commiserated, and even in her predicament, she helped me feel better about my situation. Her girlfriend, Sara, also called me to chat and catch up. I'm thankful for these two, more so than I can say here. From there I did manage to go to bed quite early and hooray for that. The next morning I was determined to be in good spirits. There is a trail around the campground and I decide Neville and I will do that. Maybe 1 mile into the trail, I gave up. A) my heart just wasn't in it B) I knew there wasn't any beautiful scenery to be had other than more trees and C) LITERALLY every few steps there was a spiderweb wrapping around my face. I attempted to knock them out of the way with sticks, a la Autumn Olive Camping ninja style with my cousin Heather, but that did almost nothing to quell the overwhelming amount of webs out there. It was as if no one had been out on the trails EVER and the spiders took over. 



Back at the Drag Queen I put some music and and prepared to do some yoga, but it started to rain. Instead, I read a book, trying to wait it out. Then I read another book. And one more. It rained all day and that made for a great second night in a row to go to bed early. Except it didn't stop there; it rained just about the whole time. Between rain spells over the next few days I walked Nev all up, down, and around Horseshoe Lake. I noticed so many deer in the crops around the campground. Neville loved the slide at the playground, thanks to Josh and Jazzy for showing him that back in Tampa. I am so happy to have this dog here with me. Traveling with him certainly makes things harder and limits what I can do and where I can stay, but I wouldn't have it any other way. After two days of rain and the campsite emptying out, I am bored. I have no electricity, can't charge my phone, can't charge my computer, can't enjoy my hammock, and don't want my kindle to die. Thanks to DJ for helping me charge my phone so I wasn't completely disconnected. 






I attempted multiple times to get an Uber or Lyft driver or call a cab, and, much like in Helen, GA, there is only one cab driver in this area, and Uber doesn't come out here. Eventually, I am able to find one Uber driver on the radar and immediately get it. This fancy car drives through the campground and swoops me up; I am loaded with all of my electronics and chargers and head to the nearest town. I go to Starbucks and charge everything while waiting for the rain to slow a bit. It's much easier finding a driver in this city to take me to the campground. Enter: Cameron. We hit it off instantly, bonding over travel and good strangers. I told him my predicament, he filled me in on the goings on in his life. He couldn't believe how hard it was to get a driver at the campground and gave me his personal cell phone number in case I needed a ride again over the weekend. Another unexpected sweet soul! 





Love when No Chill Neville is this tired

I was determined to stay put for the weekend and wait two more nights and days, go get my car, and then get out of dodge. Later in the day, as I was walking Neville around the campground, there was one RV that had been parked there since I got there with no sign of people, and myself. That's it. My friend DJ was gone, the family across the way was gone, and the random tent on the other side gone too. Not the rain though, that seemed to be here to stay. While the pup and I were at the playground a car circled the loop. At the end of the loop, the car slowed waaaaay down and pulled to the side of the road to stop. I look around, trying to figure out the reason for this, and couldn't figure one out. Obviously, there were at least two people in the car, the driver dropped the other guy off so he could come kill me, and was waiting for the job to be done to drive away. Obviously. After a few minutes the car pulled slowly back onto the road and pulled off again a few yards up. I was on high alert, part of me wanting to go hide in my camper and the bigger part of me not wanting this driver to know which of the two rigs I was staying in. Eventually, the driver left, slow as molasses, and I hightailed it to my camper. After two more cars drove through the loop and the sky was still dark as could be, my anxiety was high and I had a bad feeling in my gut. I called around to different dog friendly hotels and spent money I definitely didn't want to spend for my remaining nights in this town. I called my homie Cameron, who answered promptly, and told him how uncomfortable I was in the campground by myself. Within an hour he was there and willing to take me and Neville to a hotel in the city. I can't say enough how thankful I am for the kind people I have come into contact with in this city. As I am packing a bag my Saf-T-Alarm detector starts beeping in my camper. I assumed this meant my propane was low, since that is what the Drag Queen was basically running on the past few days, and I turn on the valve to my other propane tank prior to leaving. I folded up my chairs that were outside and laid them down, just in case the storm kicked up, and then we were off. Cameron and I bond more on the drive to the city and he tells me I have a shining soul.. I haven't heard that before and loved it. After y two nights in a hotel, I was able to get my car back and return to the campground. I opened the door to the camper and was greeted with an AWFUL smell. Turns out, my second propane tank wasn't filled like it was supposed to be prior to leaving (looking at you, Camping World); therefore, it never kicked on. My refrigerator and freezer defrosted and the food I had in both went bad, fast. That hurt because of the money spent, but also the time it took to clean it out and throw it all away. Ugh. Additionally, my little green chair with the table attached, that I had folded down and put under the camper was gone. Really?! No one was even there! Oh well. I hope that whomever took it needed it more than I did, for their child or something. That's what I chose to believe, anyway. This whole experience made me homesick. How easy it would be to drive back to Florida and regroup before taking off again. No... it's just a string of bad luck and it will pass. I think of anyone who has ever said I am inspiring or a role model or any other positive thing and I rally and move forward. Like 'Yonce says, "Imma keep runnin, cuz a winner don't quit on themselves".  This is just a big hiccup, this whole city. And again, with all of the horrible things going on in the world, this really isn't the worst situation ever, and I am #blessed to be able to spend the money on being safe and comfortable for a weekend. 


1 comment:

  1. Love this!!!
    Ever been to South Lake Tahoe....good times, great people.
    Had a religious experience there, met a sorceress/goddess... ;-)
    I hope you find all that you seek....and some pleasantly unexpected stuff too.

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