“Remember that one time we almost got killed by the New Mexico Chainsaw Massacrer?”
Okay I’m overemphasizing. Sure, but we totally could have been killed or kidnapped by someone of similar nature okay!
– Jane
Denver was great, but it was time to head home. We loaded up the car and headed back South to Texas. The drive was interesting. There are large open spaces, with 80MPH speed limits. Then, you come up on cities with populations around 2,000. The speed limit drops to about 30MPH with a state trooper on every corner. (Exaggeration, but FR.) Three hundred and fifty miles, and 4 hours after our starting point, something strange started to happen with the car. The car had been through, the snow, the cold temps, the ups, and the downs. She was strugglin’ some.
We were just about to drive out of Clayton, New Mexico. After this town, there was about 2 hours of open road until the next town or city. As we’re driving out, with the last of the houses behind us, I turned to Mary and said, “This doesn’t feel right, We should turn around. There was a Dairy Queen back there I think we should pull in to for a bit.” *U-Turns*
As soon as the car made the full 180, I felt a rumbling and stumbling beneath me. The car was attempting suicide! We panicked and tried our best to get it into the parking lot. It’s just seconds down the road. As we approached the turn in to DQ, the car shuts off completely! We literally rolled right into a parking spot. OMFG, I’m shivering thinking about this all over again. It was 6 degrees. SIX.
So, what do we do?
First, sit there and look at each other for 5 minutes. Unsure.
Then, Mary was kinda just like “Okay what the fuck we gon’ do really?” and went into the Dairy Queen to talk to the employees. She told them we were from out of town, we’re stuck, and we need help. The very kind DQ lady had the contact information for the town mechanic. It was such a small town, I think she probably said “Oh I’ll just call Randy over to come help ya out!” Everyone knew everyone. Any how, She called [we’ll call him] Randy. He came in a jiffy. And by ‘jiffy’ I mean the longest hour of our lives. We sat in the car and watched the DQ lobby close. It was the day after Christmas, and they were working on holiday hours. Our idea to go sit inside wouldn’t have worked out well. We waited in the car, covered in all the clothing possible with no heat at all! It was tough. At the time, I didn’t really think much of it but we were in a very dangerous situation. We were stranded, seven and a half hours from home!
While we sat and waited, I had my fingers crossed that Randy would be able to get things fixed up quickly. We really had no idea what our next move should have been. But it was Christmas, and we pretty much knew that we’d be stuck for at least the night. Oh! By the way, both Mary and myself had to be at work the following day! We for sure wouldn’t be there though. So, what were we gonna do? I can’t forget to mention, that I spend most of my money on the trip. I didn’t have enough to cover repairs AND a hotel stay for the night. We honestly expected to be in our beds by now!
Randy showed up as quickly as he could. He thought it would be an easy fix for him, so he popped the hood, and got to work. It was already dark out, so there were limits. Randy was a nice dude. He left the heat on in his work truck, so we can sit in and defrost while he tries to get us moving. He came back to us with bad news. We needed a new part! Unfortunately, to complete the repairs, he would have to tow the car to his shop, and it would be a four hour job, Fuck our lives right? We kinds sorta expected the worst, so we looked for nearby hotels as he investigated the problem. There was a two star hotel, and a three star hotel. One was a little cheaper, but the reviews said “Come on @Rollinjaneandmary . You’ve dealt with enough today. Don’t stay here. You want to live.” So we chose the three star joint.
So….It was Tuesday, and I would usually get paid on that day. Since it was a holiday, I would get paid on Wednesday instead. That shit couldn’t have happened in a more inconvenient time. I was able to call a very good friend of mine, and ask him to save us. We’ll call him Bruce. I called Bruce, and told him everything that had occurred. Without hesitation, he called the hotel and booked us a room for the night! We were safe! [Shout out to Batman!] Now, we just had to get there. After the whole ordeal, we were able to get a ride from the last DQ employee to leave the restaurant, lucky us. We couldn’t leave our belongings in the car, because we needed them to get ready for the busy morning we’d have the following day! We packed up her car with a few bags and we were on our way down the road to the hotel. Literally a 5 minute drive. In six degree weather, that could feel like FOOOOO-EVERRRR walking. Trust me I KNOW. We got to the hotel, took our things out the car, and thanked the very kind woman. As I proceeded to check in, I realized I forgot my stupid ass bitch ass phone! What the hell ya know!?
Now, I have no option but to walk my stupid ass back to the car to get it. So I walked. Now that I think of it, what the hell kind of stupid idea was that? I could have been DEAD DEAD. I didn’t know a single think about where I was. Long story short, I froze my tits off, and got the phone. That had to be the longest, scariest, hardest walk of my life. But I lived, so OH WHALE! Got some sleep, and woke up ready to deal with the bullshit.
The Next Morning
First thing in the morning, I called Randy, to tell him we were ready for the tow. We began our walk back to the car. Don’t worry, it’s day light now and I’ve done this before. *eye-roll*
As frustrating as the situation was, the walk was actually great. We woke up to sights we have never seen before. Til this day, I have never had a more beautiful morning. Here’s some photos, so you can really get into the story. 😉
The view from our broke down car
BEECH STREET
The Tow
The tow did not mean a tow truck was coming. This I did not know. It’s fine tho. We from the hood, slightly country, and 50% Mexican, so we know how to improvise OKURT! Randy tied the car to his truck, and went to a-pullin’ us down the road. We passed a few blocks, then he tells us to pull over to adjust the straps. Doing so, Clayton police pulled up behind the car. Naturally, we panicked. We’re not used to seeing lights to HELP US. Ya know? So what the hell they want? LOL. He got out of the car, and started to walk our direction. I start to tell Mary, “Oh shit, I’m going to jail. We’re going to jail! Be Cool.” For reasons…I don’t know. HA! Anyway, he got out the car, and starts to walk towards us. Randy stopped him before he approached the car and told him everything was good. 😉 The officer escorted us thru traffic and things worked out well. (Watch the full video on our Instagram highlights @rollinjaneandmary)
The Repairs
The Shop was SO COLD! We pulled out our blankets and cuddled up in the waiting area. This is the shit I had to deal with….
LMFAO 
Her whole face was cold, lmao
Blah, Blah, Blah, expensive repair. It took about four hours for the complete. There were a few scares during the process. No one likes surprises when the mechanic is under the hood! After confirming the problem, Randy looked up the parts in his inventory. He found that he only had a part that had to be altered to fit. If that didn’t work out, we would have to stay another night, to wait for the part to be delivered! Fingers crossed that it would work! We sat there, and waited. Everything worked out in our favor. We paid and we were set to be on our way home!
The Ride Home
The music was playing and the sun was setting. Everything was on track again! We drove for about 2 hours…then all of the sudden, something else was happening! The car was overheating. Shooting up to the RED RED! What the fuck we gon’ do now??? Fortunately we were near a gas station. We pulled in to get down to the bottom of it. I assumed we’d need to add water? IDK. I opened the hood, and immediately saw the problem. There was a hose disconnected.
DAMN IT RANDY!
I’m quite handy, so I managed to get the hose reconnected, and added water that spilled out. At this point, we didn’t know what to expect, but fuck it, ya know? We want to go home! So we kept on driving. The ride was intense, but after a short while, everything felt normal and the rest of the drive was easy!
Basically…
It turned out great. We are extremely grateful for the Dairy Queen employees and Randy for helping make this entire situation easier. People were so kind. Mary and I spend the entire time laughing and being optimistic about it all, and it ended up being the highlight of the trip! We made memories and faced some of our biggest fears. Ya know, things could have went way south. The world is beautiful but it is also dangerous. You have to be aware and cautious of everything around you. Anything could have happened to us in the middle of nowhere. I mean, most likely murder because we’d be too fucking annoying to kidnap. Whatever. We’re safe and we had the time of our lives!
Happy Travels Yal!
Besties on the Road - Get Lit; Get Rollin' 