My Summer Vacation Part 1: An Unlikely Angel

I would never have thought that a little old marine could be an angel. But I think I met one last week.

Imagine a hot day. It's 100+ degrees out (I know, not hard to imagine with this weather)and you are on your way to Grandma's house. You've been looking forward to a week of good eating, sitting on the porch and playing with a yappy (albeit cute - yes Nate, I probably spelled that wrong:) dog. You're less then 20 minutes from "home" as Grandma's house is known to be when you live there that week in the summer. And your beloved 1995 Ford Contour overheats on the side of the road.

Ok, ok, yep - that's the beginning of my tale. I waited for a while to see if the engine would cool down - seriously, I just got it checked out before I left. I made a few phone calls. And I headed back out on the road.

About 10 minutes later, after rolling the windows down and running the heater - supposedly it's supposed to blow cool air on your engine? I was stuck once again. I pulled off on the side of the road and got on my phone. Cell phones are my friend, let me tell you.

I hadn't been there very long when an old Jeep pulled up. "Please, God, don't let this be some scary man!!" was my prayer. And he wasn't. He was, however, a short little man with weathered skin and a WWII US Marine Corps hat on. He didn't seem as scary as he could be and he took a look at my car. We decided to have my grandparents come pick me up (I'd already been talking to them). And I got to talking to my angel. His biker son and his biker wife pulled over to make sure we were OK. He told me a couple of war stories and offered me a cigarette. "I wouldn't want to leave my wife or daughter here by themselves, who knows what scary (place racist name for illegal immigrants here) are running around. I smiled as best I could and said, "Thanks, would you mind sticking around for a while? I have some water in the car." He stayed. He smoked. He calmed my nerves - you can't really freak out in the middle of the open 100 degree road with a very old Marine looking after you now, can you? And he was my unlikely Angel.

Stay tuned for some more of Lisa's summer vacation!!!
Look out for mechanics, mullets and many marauding (word starting with "M" that means people) making their way to multiple destinations stranded in Amarillo, TX.

Now school might not be so bad!!