7-25 (Tues)

Good news, bad news . . .

The good news is that Nancy had AAA. The bad news is that we ran out of gas! I was tooling down the road and forgot to look at the gas gauge. We were about an hour into our departure when I heard a sound. I asked Nancy if she heard it and she said, "yes." She checked both cell phones and didn't see anything unusual there. I told her it sounded like a doorbell. We forgot about it. Maybe 30-45 minutes later I noticed the gas gauge was on empty and the gas icon was lit up. I had Nancy get out the car instruction book, she read, "your vehicle has a programmable electronic feature that will sound a chime when the Low Fuel Warning Light come on." I think it must sound like a doorbell!

We were 8 miles from a little town called Grooms, in Texas when we saw an exit and it showed a gas sign. This was more like a service road and there was NO gas. This service road shot right back up onto I-40 but we didn't make it that far which turned into a blessing.

Nancy called AAA. The 800# connected her to Tennessee and they couldn't find Grooms. We finally got connected with the right group and they said they'd send someone from Amarillo in 30-45 minutes. We just sat and waited. About 45 minutes later a guy showed up and poured a couple gallons in the car. He said he would follow me to the gas station. I put the car in gear and mashed on the gas but it wouldn't go. I put it in park and then back in drive but it wouldn't budge. I jumped out, ran back to the guy in the truck and told him the car wouldn't move. he got in my car, turned the key and that was it. How dumb was that? I didn't even know the car wasn't turned on!

We are in Farmington, NM for the night.