In which my truck dies again, and I get very wet.

So originally the plan was that after church, Ari would come home with me and when Ray (Ari's friend) called, I'd take him over there so Ari could get a ride to camp. What actually happened was that we realized we had to get to The Grind (a coffeehouse downtown) because some of Ari's stuff was there. So we packed up Ari's junk and some of my stuff (because it would've been a while before Ray called, and I didn't intend to waste gas going back and forth). I was planning on hanging out in the park and reading until Ray called, then taking Ari over there and heading home.

Again,what actually happened was a bit different. We got about a block away, and suddenly, my truck was no longer running. We weren't even stopped! The engine just quit running! So... we kinda pushed the truck into a ditch out of the way and started hiking. Ari called his buddy over at the Grind and he said his wife was on the way to come get us. Problem was, when he said "Westview" they thought he meant "Westview church" and not "Westview Drive." Westview Drive is a wee bit farther on. We were probably about two miles from the truck when Ari finally got April on the phone and corrected it. She came and picked us up.

So she trucked us over to the Grind and Ari collected his stuff. From there, we walked to the city park, sat and read for a little while. It was great. Then the sky started to get dark, and there began to be thunder. Ray's house was quite a ways away, so we packed up the books and started walking again. We figured he'd be back by the time we got there anyway. We were probably about halfway there when it started raining. It wasn't like Utah rain. It was more the kind of tropical downpour that I was used to in Honduras. Within two minutes, the gutters were raging river rapids and we had to wade through the floodwaters that cascaded across driveways. I couldn't even see because the rain was driving so hard into my face. So needless to say, we were pretty much soaked.

Even so, I was enjoying myself quite a bit. I do like the rain. The only thing I was really worried about was my books. They were getting a bit wet. Then another thing that I didn't realize, was that Ari was sticking out his thumb. So suddenly, this lady pulled over. Seriously... the water was just about swallowing her car. She said she'd take us to Ray's, so we hopped in the back. Stupid and dangerous as hitch-hiking is (which is why I'd told Ari NOT to stick out his thumb) I figured this lady was okay, because despite her purple hair, there were children in the back seat. If you're gonna murder someone, you don't do it in front of the kids, right?

So anyway, we hopped in the back. The back window had been smashed out of the car and as we were getting out at Ray's, I sliced my thumb open on some glass fragments that were still sticking to the edges. Ray had just arrived home, thankfully, and I tried to call Angie to see if she could come get me. Unfortunately, my phone had sustained a bit of water damage, and wasn't working really well. So Ray just gave me a ride back. I made faces at my pickup on the side of the road as we passed, and my phone dried out and was okay.

So it was a happy ending, except for the dead truck bit, and Ari and I both thoroughly enjoyed our excellent adventure.

Here's hoping I can get my truck towed and fixed!
--Anna Grace