I'm not quite sure where to begin because a picture,
above, is worth at least 100 words. So... we were
driving down the road on our way home from the
beach and all of a sudden the car seemed to...um...
lose a WHEEL?! Yeah, well, the kids looked out the window
and there the wheel (and part of the axle) was, bouncing
down the highway.
Luckily, we were all fine. Artie stopped the car. We found
the wheel in a nearby ditch and a really nice Touristo
van driver stopped to help us. He called the police and
a tow truck and we were actually back on the road in
about an hour.
The police were very helpful and happy that there was not
an "accident" so they didn't need to do any paperwork.
The tow truck driver put the car on his flatbed with everyone
in the car expect Artie and me. We rode in the cab to a town
about 10 minutes away. Everyone except Artie piled into a
taxi and rode for about 1 1/2 hours to get home. Artie stayed with
the car and took it to the garage back in Santa Elena.
We were very lucky that it was not serious. No one was hurt
and the car needed some work, but it wasn't even too bad.
The cost: Taxi home- $60. Tow truck ride for the car- $160.
Cost of a new axle- $200. Total repair costs including labor
and the axle- $600.
Pretty amazing.
The mechanic washed the car, inside and out too, a bonus!



Artie rolling the wheel back to the car.



The police, our helpful Touristo driver and some
of us...



The car up on the flatbed, full of people!