The van performed so well on the drive across southern Minnesota that we decided to chance it and skip the changing cars part. Onward to the Cascade!
Although the van worked fine, I had trouble with my iPhone. It wouldn’t connect to the internet. I was pretty sure that I should have had reception but nope, no luck. When we were on the outskirts of St Paul at about 5 pm I thought to call Younger Son, who knew we had car trouble but hadn’t been updated since we were sitting at the side of the interstate on Friday night.
Recording: Your mobile service has been temporarily suspended because of a missed payment, blah, blah.
Oh, good grief. YS has been having some trouble managing his finances and has a plan in place to get himself out of trouble, but apparently said plan didn’t cover this month’s cell phone bill. (Both ES’s and my iPhones are on his plan because it was so cheap to add them. Sometimes cheap comes at a price.)
Picture us driving several hundred miles in a 27-year-old vehicle with no spare tire and no cell phone. Yeah, we were counting on luck to get us through, and it did, although not without a few choice words here and there.
(Smokey’s Tracfone — which he hardly uses — had gotten screwed up sometime in the past month, and he had been counting on using my phone to contact the company and get it straightened out once we got to the North Shore. Nope, not gonna happen.)
Next: the Guacamole Disaster.
kmkat & her kneedles 
I know people say things like we’re too dependent on our cell phones but honestly, they are really a necessity when traveling. I’m glad you didn’t wind up needing yours and I bet YS got a good lecture when you returned.
Oh, NO! I can’t imagine being without my phone . . . and especially during a road trip. (Just like “the olden days!”) Glad your tire stayed on. . .
Several years ago my phone died on a long trip, alone, in the dark, so of course I had a flat tire about an hour later. No pay phones were to be found so I started wrestling with lug nuts myself; luckily a police officer arrived before the serial killer. I’m glad luck got you through!
I’m happy you got there okay! (Knowing it’s so, since you have to have an internet connection in order to be posting this…)
At least your car didn’t explode, like mine did that time. Oh, wait… are you home yet? Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…
I live a boring life and I am LOVING it! I highly recommend it!
Oh dear – I hope that Part 3 is a happy outcoem!
I just got my first smartphone, and it was nothing to add the kids on, too (Byron’s stuck with a plan he got on through his job, but when he’s done with that contract, he’ll join us)–with a company called Consumer Cellular. If you ever decide to get off your son’s plan, and if Smokey wants a smartphone, it’s an AWESOME company that bypasses all those stupid sales traps you see through the big providers.