Sometimes it's just one of those days

I had a perfect plan for my drive north... leave Cornwall at 6am, explore the Plymouth area for about an hour to stretch my legs and see where my ancestors departed on the Mayflower, drive to Bristol to have a leisurely lunch with a co-worker and stretch my legs again. Finally make my way to my final destination in the Peak District by 6pm, well in advance of dinner. Total drive time 6 hours. Total time on the road 12 hours or less. It was the perfect plan so of course it didn't go at all as I expected.

I got off to a beautiful start, waking up without an alarm and off on the road about an hour after sunrise. I was warned about the traffic on the long weekend so I was happy to be getting ahead of it. And if I'm going to spend a weekend day driving, I like to feel like I'm enjoying the trip. 

I arrived in Plymouth before people even started to stir. I easily found parking and located the port where the Mayflower departed almost exactly 400 years ago. I was surprised to see how many other expeditions also departed from here - I should have realized it would have been the perfect place for the colonizing expeditions to leave. Plaques commemorated trips to New Zealand, Newfoundland, Roanoke and of course the Mayflower. It was also the place that the first transatlantic flight concluded on May 31, 1919 when a seaplane arrived from the U.S. I enjoyed a baked treat from a bakery that has existed since 1597 (that's more than 175 years older than the U.S. Constitution)!

Plymouth Harbor Marina

I was back on the road by 9:30am and feeling very smug as I watched all the traffic on its way into Cornwall for the long weekend and school holiday break. But there was a new clicking sound coming from my car. As a new car, this seemed odd, but I did a visual check of the tires and couldn't see anything wrong so got back on my way. I had been on the road for an hour, was now in the middle of a motorway and something came out of the tire and I immediately got a notification that I had low pressure. I pulled over as best as possible on the side of the road to inspect it. For the first time in my life, I had a flat tire.

Fortunately for me, my dad made sure my sister and I knew how to change a tire from the time we were young. Unfortunately for me,  the rental car didn't include a spare tire (apparently people were stealing them). Fortunately for me, because of the lack of a spare and other concerns I got the full coverage insurance (which doubled the cost of my rental) and it included tire repair and tow. Unfortunately for me, it was a holiday weekend and things were busy with so many on the road. Where does this leave me? Standing on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck enjoying the rare bit of sun. 

The tow truck showed up just over an hour later and due to Covid I wasn't allowed to ride in the cab of the tow truck, meaning I was strapped into the passenger seat of my car and then it was hoisted up behind the truck. Once I got past the terrifying aspect of it, it became a fun ride! Until you careen around the roundabouts and wonder if the wheel locks will continue to hold.

The rest of the my day went downhill from there. If you think it's hard to get a tire changed and make things happen in the U.S., try doing it in another country where you don't know the right people to call, the right things to fight for and the shops all close at 12p or 5p on a Saturday. The rest of my day went a little like this:

• 12:15p. Arrive at the tire repair shop. They didn't know I was coming and didn't have space to fix the tire.
• Ask them to take a look anyway. They didn't have the tire size because it's on a 2021 vehicle.
• Repair shop calls around to others. No one has the tire and recommend the dealer.
• Dealer isn't open. Doesn't return my voicemail.
• Call AA (same as AAA in the States). They say they can take me and the car to the nearest Avis.
• Avis customer service only accepts calls Mon through Friday from 8a - 5pm. 
• With the help of AA, we discover the Avis isn't open in Exeter (where I was stranded). Avis isn't open in Bristol (where I was planning to go for lunch).
• The only Avis I can reach is back at Heathrow airport (3 hours away). Avis confirms that if I can get myself there, I can get a new car. But I need to bring my current car with me. 
• Cancel all plans for lunch in Bristol. No chance of making it any time soon.
• 1:00p. Call AA back. They are willing to tow my car all the way to Heathrow. 
• But I'm at the back of the queue on a busy holiday weekend. It's 1p and I have a 3-hour wait for a new tow truck. I plead to get moved up slightly to a 2-hour wait.
• I re-confirm that I will need to go with the vehicle.
• A van shows up. I can't ride in the car this time. I can't ride in the van. 
• More calls to AA. They will send a taxi.
• A call to Avis, can I part with the car if it is on tow. Confirmed. I can ride in the taxi.
• Transfer all belongings (which has exploded from the two checked bags and two carry-ons that I started with) to the taxi.
• 7:30p arrive at the Avis facility at Heathrow. 
• New car provided. Upgraded to an automatic for my trouble. But same vehicle. Praying I don't have another flat in my future.
• 8:00p quickly pick up McDonald's to-go and get on the road.
• 11:00p finally pull into the drive at a friend's house in Matlock. Exhausted but happy to have the day behind me.
• 11:03p relax with a gin and tonic and good company for a re-telling of the ordeal, safely in the comfort of an arm chair

No one on the road when I left at 6am

Lessons learned: Be ready for the unexpected (I'm going to call it preparedness instead of greed as to why I splurged on the second baked good that morning - it came in really handy as my only lunch). Don't stress about what you can't change but don't give up on the things that you can (throughout the day, I was generally in good spirits). And always opt for the full coverage insurance in England (despite getting towed twice, a three-hour taxi ride and a new rental - I didn't have to pay for a thing).