our first family vacatio (from ****)

[shoeboxlen]

I am typing this from myrtle beach SC. I loaded my wife 1 year old daughter and myself up in our expeditionand headed out 7:30 on saturday night to reach the resort we are staying at in the morning on sunday. I figured this would be a good idea as the baby would just sleep through the night in the truck. well we stopped in a rest area at around 3 am and a minivan pulled up next to use full of younger guys and knocked on my wifes window with a bs story about how their atm card wasnt working etc etc and could they get a couple bucks for gas to get home blah blah blah. Normally I would have told them to beat it but he was next to my wifes half opened window while she was changing the baby and I didnt want to chance any issues so I got out of the truck and walked over to him to get him away from the expedition and my wife and kid just in case rather me get mugged than her. I gave him 10 bucks told him it was all the I had and wished him luck and waited for the response. He took the 10 and thanked me and went on his way. Afterwards I felt kinda like a wus for giving him the 10 bucks but I figured I had to think of the girls first. that being done we decided to forget the nap we were planning and press on. so I drive on until about 7:30 am when we were about 30 minutes from the resort and the expeditions throttle stops responding then the engine dies I lose power steering etc etc. so I manually steer it into a houses driveway. I brought a craftsman mechanics toolset and my obdII scanner just in case. I try the scanner and no codes! so I figure clogged fuel filter. So I proceeded to wake up the poor old lady to find out if it there was a auto parts store nearby and a taxi. I figured it was a clogged fuel filter as the truck would try to restart but did not seem to be getting fuel. We were in the middle of nowhere. luckily the lady was very nice and callled her son in law who came right over gave me a lift to the local advanced auto about 20 minutes away where I picked up a new fuel filter and a ford preasure fitting tool. well the advanced auto guy proceeds to try to argue with me that I did not need a presure fitting tool for the filter etc etc. So I then told him I have not slept in over 24 hours and I have changed several of these in fords of similar years and pretty much told him I have forgotten more about cars than he knew went to the tool isle picked up the tool I needed and paid and headed back the family back at the old ladies house. I swapped the fuel filter out (of coarse got gas in my eye in the process.) turned the key and still would not start same problem. Great! I can here the fuel pump make noise so what gives! Well time to check the fuel rail. I pull the cap off the schrader valve and have someone stry to start it and barely any fuel deffinitly pump! or a seriously blocked line somewhere. So time to call AAA for a tow. 2 hours later they show up with a normal tow truck when I told AAA I needed a flat bed the truck is a AWD 4x4 expedition! still bring a regular tow truck. I said you cannot tow my truck with that it will mess up the transfer case. He then ties to argue with me that it wont hurt it etc etc. I still refuse and said ge the flatbed. he calls in the flat bed and anothe rhour later it arrives. I then have to get it towed 30 miles to a ford dealership who dont open until tuesday morning. The tow truck guy then brought us to the resort and brought or truck on to the dealer ship and dropped it off. Luckily the baby was great through the whole ordeal we changed her diapers fed her and played onthe ladys driveway while waiting and BSed with the ladies son in law. they were great people and made the ordeal alot less traumatizing. So we finally get to the resort and I unload the bags and stuff. when I open the hatch of the expedition while it is still on the flat bed a large heavy bag rolls out and nails me in the nuts and almost knocks me off the flat bed woohoo par for the course! I got to the desk and try to check in but they dont want to let us check in until 4. I then proceeded to tell them the abridged versioon of this story and they get us our room. great the story ends right .... wrong!
no rental car places are open until tuesday so we have no car luckily everything is walking distance more or less.
My wife and I are shot babys getting tired of being belted in so we get to the room and order a pizza and try to relax. well a few hourse go by we had some food baby is settling down and we hear someone trying to get in our door. we open the door and a older couple ask us why we are in their room! turns out they gave us the wrong room and they make us move to a room half the size. at this point I have no more fight in me i want a bed and thats about it. so we get in the smaller room and get the baby unpacked etc etc but the bed room is so small you can barely walk around the bed let alone get the pack and play in there for the baby to sleep in so the wife has to sleep on the couch on our vacation. but I say lets deal for the night and I will try to fix it in the morning. went to the desk this moring to try to get the bigger room and I am still getting the runaround on it 10 hours later so I am hoping it will get better soon.
But I have gotten online and went on expedia and booked a rental car to pick up tuesday in the morning and I will then be able to drive to the dealership they took the truck to and get that sorted out. I am going to leave the wife and kid at the resort so they can go on the beach and hopefuly enjoy our first family vacation...... while I get a taxi tot the airport to pick up a rental then drive to the place the truck is to see how bad the ford dealer will try to screw me on a fuel pump for our expedition.
I am thinking this trip is like a national lampoons vacation movie or something. Sory for the rant guys.

[dseale4888]

Wow!!! That is not a good start to a vacation. I hope it gets better for you on the rest of it.
I'm leaving for Lake George on Wednesday to go to the Adirondack Nationals with my wife. We'll come home Tuesday.
Again, I hope you get to enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Dave

[ProjX57]

What a nightmare...............................at least you are all together, and safe.
Hoping you have better luck on the return trip, and not to much wrong with the main ride......

[carls 56]

things will get better len. you will never forget your first family vacation. ....................hope it don't rain. have fun and stay safe

[chevman57]

Your vacation sounds a lot like why i don`t take one. All i can say is make the best out of a bad situation and try to keep the blood pressure down. Our Safari van at the time threw a belt on the side of the mountain going to Carlsbad caverns a few years back. Come to find out the idler pulley bearing had seized up. Found this out after a good samaritan carried me all the way back to town which wasn`t close at all. Then the A/C went out right before we headed back home. So see i totally understand how you feel. But like i said i did meet a very nice guy and his family in the process.
Terry

[bob p]

Len, sorry to hear about your wrecked vacation, but I am glad that somebody was there to help you.

Is there any chance you can get the rental car from one of the companies (like Enterprise) that will come to you and pick you up? That might save you a cab fare to the airport.

I ran into a stranded motorist on rural I-65 this weekend -- his situation was a lot like yours. I was admiring a big old 1970s Town Car and as I was following it, it blew out its radiator hose. As soon as I saw the smoke I hit the brakes because I knew what was coming next. His Lincoln was F.O.R.D. he was helpless to fix it. He was a Chicagoan stuck in a place where there was nothing to see in any direction but miles of Indiana cornfields... a cellular dead zone. He was out of his element and he would have been stranded a long time for what was a very simple problem.

I keep all kinds of stuff in my 1980s beater truck -- tools, water, oil, antifreeze, belts, etc. I've broken down more times than I care to remember. The only thing that we needed that I didn't have was a radiator hose for his Town Car.

We left his wife with the car and I drove him to the nearest town to buy a radiator hose, antifreeze and some hose clamps. Then we went back and I fixed his car in a couple of minutes. If I hadn't have helped him, they would have been stranded for hours, then they'd have to go to an auto shop, and their holiday weekend would have been ruined. Luckily, they only got delayed by an hour or two and they were back on the road.

He was very grateful for the help. He wanted to pay me, but I just I asked him to carry a basic toolkit and supplies in his trunk and to promise to help the next guy he saw stranded on the side of the road. I like to think that by helping somebody else now, maybe someone will be wiling to help me when the time comes. I'm glad that somebody was there for you.

[4door]

Sorry that happen, hope the rest of your vaca. will be better.
I broke down a couple of times, once at the chicago loop during rush hour, lost brakes & all most 1 wheel that B*ll tire didnt tighten well.

[shoeboxlen]

thanks guys. I am picking up the rental from an airport and they dont pick you up unfortunatly they have a regular enterprise that picks you up here but it would have cost me more for the car by the time I paid for the rental as their price was higher than the airport. hopefully tomorow will be a better day.

[56Mark]

I had a fuel pump go out on a Mercury in Myrtle Beach back in the mid 90's. The service at the Ford dealer there at the time was very good. I have a brother that lives about 15 miles from there and owns a business in North Myrtle. I will send you a PM with my phone number and if you get in a bind, maybe I can get him to help you out. He travels a lot sometimes and I don't know if he is there now or not.

I hate car trouble when I'm out of town...or anytime for that matter. Good luck with it.

[mrferrisjr]

Oh man. Not a good start to a vacation. One thing for sure is you'll have a story to tell the rest of your life...if that's any consolation. Good luck on the rest of your trip.