I’m in awe! I’m SO grateful! I am beside myself. How do you spell grateful and incorporate awe? I had a Breakdown and fuel leak. Notice the HAD? The shop in Fort Mojave, AZ. they just fixed us up! So hard! They fixed and screwed and then sent us on our way with a Merry Christmas instead of a bill. WHAT??
What is this world I live in where people do kind things? All the time? I’m gonna start vlogging. I think it’ll be a better way of getting attention and gaining support.
I have a lot to report, So I better start at the beginning, where I left off. Time to look. As I thought! right before it all started!
So we woke up in the morning at lowes and had a very slow morning, trying to make donations happen. By about 11, we were gonna put in a $20 to go to Oatman. I checked my fluids, started up and let it warm up a little, but the gas station was only a block away, So we didn’t sit there too long, but driving down the road I caught this intense diesel smell. When I pulled into the gas station I planned on running in and pumping while the engine continued warming up. I jumped out.
The diesel smell was the literal rainforrest drizzle coming out from under my engine! I immediately turned it off. Popped the hood and started looking. Nothing obviously disconnecter or leaking stronger than the rest of it. OH so much!
I called my dad. Check hoses, turn engine back on and see where the spray is coming out of. A guy on a bike with a trailer cart named Chris came to talk to me. He was great company to bounce ideas off of. It looked like it was just spray squirting out from under the alternator, right where that fuel pump sits. I tried to run my hands along lines but nothing seemed to be disconnected.
I pulled away from the pump without adding fuel, seemed wasteful at that point, just over to the corner parking spot by the intersection. What to do? Ask for help! how? WRITE ON CARDBOARD! Hood popped, made some food. Hanging out while the kids were miraculously distracted with playing in the bus.
This wonderfully colorful van drove by and I waved. He came back. His name is Marlo and he’s a middle aged human with brown eyes and a friendly smile (when he rattles his own seriousness.) He said he was a master mechanic and look at the problem. Then said he had some errands to run but gave me his phone number, saying he’d be back.
By this time, Chris came back on his bicycle and helped me get a bigger piece of cardboard. He stuck around until he had to go pick up his grandson from the school bus. Before he left he handed me 10$.
A van pulled up with a woman in the passenger seat, asking about the issues. Her and her husband were stumped, but said they may be back with an idea. Shortly after, another van pulled up. An elderly guy living in his van came out of it to check on me. I told him the situation, no money, leaking fuel massively, no ideas, two kids, stuck. He was going to give me a $5, but decided on his only $20 instead. Honestly, the people who have less are truly more willing to be generous, it’s mind blowing. Maybe it’s about having a realisitic perception of what they’re sacrificing, which can also happen in affluent people, but just seems rarer. Like, if I give someone a $5 bill, I know that I might put a little more than a gallon less into my fuel tank if it got to that point. Knowing they’re gonna use that $5 to get through the next hour or day, that seems a fair enough trade.
A lovely lady we had seen at the community park came by to bring us so much food. And then Marlo returned. He gave the leak a much more serious look, and then he turned that serious look upon me. I could tell he wanted to trust me. He wanted me to be what he saw, but his past told him not to. He kicked his past in the butt and trusted me anyway.
Ya gotta be careful out in the world. I also had my questions about if we were to follow him. would he lead us to a dungeon? or take the bus apart and then extort us? Child abductor? Nope! Artist, van lifer, mechanic, care giver to his elderly parents. A beautiful human with a very kind heart.
So yeah, we took the chance and followed him to the empty rental property he’s been working on fixing up in a lovely neighborhood, just 3 blocks from a river access. We had a lovely evening. The kids played in the yard. I rinsed the diesel out of my hair in our shoe tub filled with warmed water instead of shoes.
Marlo was running errands, living his life, but checking on us periodically. I took the kids down to the river for the sunset, where we met a friendly fisherman, catching nothing, with an anxious dog, Brody, waiting for him to reel in a fish. Brody’s anxiety completely disappeared when he realized there was another dog and kids. He wagged his tail and sniffed and happily bounded after rocks the kids threw into the water.
The kids went to bed easily after a ravioli dinner, after which Marlo came to chill for a little bit. He brought us a couple extra bags of food, some sweaters for me, and 3 wonderful blankets. We sat out talking for a little while. I relish the adult talking time with such a good natured human.
The next morning Marlo took an even closer look at the leak, hoping the line he purchased would fix the problem, but the harder he looked the more convinced he became he wasn’t equipped for the job and didn’t want to strand me in front of his house.
So we started calling shops in the area. One guy said it might cost $300 but he didn’t have any time available to get it done. Another shop said it’d be a solid $800. The next shop I called, ASR. The guy I spoke to was Zach with a bright and kind voice was immediately sympathetic to my situation. Marlo spoke to him too to reassure him that he diagnosed this himself and that I, myself, am who I say I am, an upright traveler and human, just trying to get out of a tough situation. We had a fuel pump ordered from Autozone (thanks to Marlo) and they knew I had little money, but was trying to come up with anything to compensate them for this labor. Zach told me to come to the shop.
My dad called to tell me he had wired me my christmas present early and there were $100 at the Western Union.
So I had 4 stops: gas station, a kind sir let me know I was spraying from below; Western Union, some issues with transfers; Autozone, grab that fuel pump for $30, ASR Truck shop! The brakes were wet and got squishy and we smoked half the way there.
We got in just in time for their lunch break, which gave the engine time to cool off some before they went at it. I had the priviledge of watching and doing my best to stay out of the way while being as helpful as possible and keeping the kids distracted. Actually the TV did that for me for the most part, and Zach, a truly kind human with a cool dog named Gracie, gave them some extra company when they could.
Within three hours (less time than the computer said, more than Marlo anticipated) they’d screwed the old one out and replaced the new one, figuring out what was spraying and remarking that it was the most amount they’d seen a pump spray outwards and still run without a hitch. I was mentally counting my dollars, hoping it’d only deplete our resources and not go too far above.
After the finished, they asked me how full my tank was, I said at a quarter after losing a quarter tank driving from the gas station to the shop. They filled my tank, and I bit at my nails… Then the owner (I really wish I’d caught his name, he did most of the work, I feel so rude right now…. shame…) told me he wished us a merry christmas from the whole crew and to get out to our travels.
I’ve been flabbergasted since. I just…. I wrote that top part pretty much right after, but I just couldn’t get anything straight in my head. I wrote a google review and of course blindly picked the wrong picture that I managed to get of the crew outside their shop with Matilda. I called my dad to share the great news and joy I’ve been feeling, even now, 36 or so hours later. So flabbergasted that it already feels longer off, and at the same time just happened. I don’t think there are words to express this gratitude. This feeling of being blessed. I just want to share this feeling as much as possible. Not just be the receiver of joy but also be capable of doling out blessings abundantly.
It’s a hard transition here, because I’m still so caught up with it in my head. Though, the day wasn’t over yet. The boys and I went back to Marlo’s for showers and then followed him to the park for the kids to play as the sun set. He really talked me up about vlogging, so maybe you’ll see me on the youtubes soon!
From the park, I took the kids to Del Taco, wanting to use the gift card we had been gifted last time we went and let the kids play in the play area while I could reply to Saliha. The gift card turned out to be empty 😦 oh well, money goes where it will.
This story is circular, because you leave me, right where you had found me, at the Lowes in Bullhead City.
Alas, the story of our day today is also exciting, and I shall type it up in the morning before the plans commence. I apparently sleep poorly next to traffic, so I stayed up late and got up early and consequently ignored a mild headache all day. So I’m tired and ready for bed.
Stay grateful. Have a good night. Loving you deeply.
Matilda the Bugus 