Molly, our 21-year-old is graduating from Elon University in North Carolina on Friday May 23rd. A much anticipated and planned for trip back to the United States. Flight leaves Mazatlán at 6:22 AM. We wake at 3:30 AM and leave for the airport by 4 AM with Augustine our new friend we met at our apartment complex. He makes money by taking people to and from the airport in his minivan but this morning he decides to go in our car (AKA piece of shit) because we only have one bag, and he had car issues earlier this week. We are 20 minutes into our highway voyage when I ask Rick (who was driving) if the car is accelerating properly. He was busy talking to Augustine and not paying attention that his speed was dropping rapidly.
The car could no longer accelerate. We pulled over as the car came to crawl and instantly looked for phones to call for help. We were in the dark, on a highway only occupied by large semi-trucks in a ‘NO SERVICE’ area.
No one stopped as the clock ticked on. We were 7 miles from the airport and 30 minutes from our flight boarding time. This would be a great time for the caring warm attentive culture of Mexico I love so much to play out…no luck. We called emergency services, no luck. Rick tried to find a signal to call for help, no luck.
Just when I was beginning to start texting Molly, a beat up old, pick-up truck pulls over and offers us a ride. André and I hop in cab with the nice man and his female companion while Rick and Augustine hop in the back bed. The first thing I notice is the engine light is on, the radio is falling out of the center console. I didn’t think we were going to make it. Rick later reported that there were no shocks in the back of the truck, so they were getting tossed around with every bump.
We made it. We were able to board within minutes of arriving and now after our second flight we will be arriving in Orlando, Florida with a bunch of prayers that the rest of our journey goes as planned.
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