I had a great adventure with Mercy yesterday at Prince William Forest Park. I have an annual pass there, so I wanted to make sure I was getting some good use out of it. We had a nice hike. As we were leaving the park, I noticed my car was making strange noises. By the time I reached the main road, route 619 adjacent to Prince William Forest Park, I knew I had a blown out a tire. For a while, there was no safe place to pull over as 619 is a two lane road. I was only a few miles north of the park entrance near the boundary of the park, when I knew I could not drive any longer. I turned onto a side street, that was also an entrance into Prince Wiliam Forest Park’s camping grounds which were gated off. I immediately took my cell phone out to call AAA. However, my phone was telling me I could only make emergency calls. There was no cell phone service where I was. I do have AT&T wireless, which does not have as much coverage as Verizon, but I think they are a much better wireless carrier. Suddenly, it felt as if I was being transported back to the 1980s, when there was no cell phone service. I was thinking about calling 911, since my phone reception only allowed for it. I was having a roadside emergency, not a life threatening emergency. I decided to see if there were any campers staying at either of the campsites. I turned my car off and took my keys out of the ignition and walked Mercy with me as I crawled under the gate to see if there might be any campers who could help me change my tire. I saw there were two enterances. I chose to turn right but then I came upon another gate, and the road path was still very long, so I figured it would be better to head back to my car and try to find reception or call 911. 

I did call 911 and asked them to transfer me to AAA. In the meantime, I decided to dig up my tire and jack. This was actually the first time this car, which I had owned for 8 years since it was new, had a flat tire. My previous tires on this car had outlasted their life span. I used to have flats all the time with the other cars I owned before this current car. I know a flat tire may not seem like a big deal to alot of you, but when you are alone in the middle of no-where with spotty phone reception when your car breaks down and you’re a female, it get’s a little scary. I remember the 1980s when we had to rely on the kindness of strangers to come help us. God had a lesson to teach me here; that he was still looking out for me. I struggle with doubting as to whether God is still looking out for me and has my back sometimes, since most humans have not had my back and I have had to do things all alone for so many years to get to where I am today. I ask God to help me not to doubt.

As it turned out, a good samaritan did come to my aid to to my rescue as I was removing things from the trunk to get to my never been used spare tire. He was an awesome guy! Very professional and kind. He even checked the air pressure of my doughnut tire, and when he was not satisified that it had sufficient air pressure, he got out his air pump, which he plugged into his battery, and inflated the tire to it’s proper pressure. We were both finally on our way. I was never truly on my own though. I had my God and his angels looking out for me and I had my faithful companion Mercy.