I was at least thankful that the slight overcast kept us slightly more cool than the usual 100+ degree Arizona desert heat and the wind blew my hair in my face disguising the tears.
Being in the middle is always a precarious situation. If you're closer to home you can just as easily turn around and go back. Or if you're close to your destination, at least you have the wherewithal to push on. But there looking at the desert and becoming increasingly hateful of cactus and highway I decided now was a good time to start turning lemons into lemonade. For starter's we would have to start cracking open a couple of our concert beers.
I flipped through my phone and thought of my cousin Jessica. She lives in Phoenix and since we were half way there maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to pick us up.
"Hello?"
"Soooo...guess where we're at?"
And then- "I'll be there in about 45 minutes."
Sure enough, even before the tow tuck was supposed to arrive, she was there.
We decided to wait for the tow truck and an hour later, we were still waiting.
"Screw this. They said they're on their way. They know what to do. I already talked to them. Let's go."
Jess drove us through Phoenix to our hotel where we sat and contemplated what to do for the night. Should we still go to the concert even though we were already running late? Stay here? We don't want her to have to chauffeur us around. This is such a clusterfuck. But Jess insisted we go to the concert. She was free for the night and being the person she is, she sacrificed her evening to make sure our one night in Phoenix went according to plan. Did I mention how much I love my family and how badass they are?
We got there about an hour late (we broke down at 4:30, and the concert was scheduled to start at 6:00. Between waiting for the tow truck in vain for an hour, driving though Phoenix to get to our hotel, check in, drop off bags and drive back through Phoenix...yeah, we were late). We excited the car and were greeted with the echo of "Taper Jean Girl." We made it.
(Not the BEST quality, but were in the middle of a huge amphitheater, AND if you listen closely that's "Arizona" they're playing. Yes. "Arizona" in Arizona).
We stayed for about an hour and when the show was drawing to a close we decided to beat the rush and Jess picked us up. We all decided chicken wings sounded good and headed to Native New Yorker where Greg ordered this-
Why yes, that IS an order of EVERY flavor wing Native had to offer. I had a slightly smaller version and Jess had an even smaller version. We sat and laughed and marveled at the fact that despite the day's beginnings we were all happy at that moment.
Jess dropped us off at our humble abode for the evening-
The San Carlos is a historic hotel in downtown Phoenix. It was quaint and lovely and Mae West evidently stayed in the room right next to ours back in the day. We were going to explore the hotel and swim in it's rooftop pool until Greg mentioned something about "The Shining" (the hotel *seemed* like it could in fact be haunted) and spooked me. I shut us in our room for the evening and we watched TBS all night because "I was tired." When in all honesty, I couldn't get this image-
out of my head. So we called it a night.
The next morning we got up and called the tow truck company to check on our car. Apparently it was still on the side of the highway. Also, this wouldn't be covered by our car insurance. Our morning was shot and we headed back to making phone call after phone call to our car dealership, insurance people, and tow truck trolls. They finally picked up our car only to drop it off at the dealership across town in Tucson, despite us explicitly telling them-"The dealership on the north side. NOT the east. Thank you." They said they'd be charging us mileage and fees for their mistake and after about two or three hours of the most aggravating customer service representatives EVER, we finally got the car in it's right place and thanks to a manager who understood, we got all fees dropped. Persistence people. Don't let people try to shove you around for your money. Car repair was about $750, a big financial donkey punch for us. But at least we were back home and Jack's molars were in and the storm had passed.
In the end it was all about the company. Whether you make it to your destination or not, be thankful for who may be there to see you through, hold your hand and give you hope.
We just may tackle this marriage business. We survived the honeymoon after all.
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