The first time I ever rented a car was in Philadelphia when I was nineteen years old. I know what you're thinking, "Isn't the minimum age 25 to rent a car from most companies?" The answer to that is yes. But when two cute girls approach you, one with an awesome fake, age limitations become a non-issue.
While we were in California, I rented quite a few vehicles for the business. Delivery trucks had been ordered, but were taking longer than expected, and product needed to make its way into stores. Originally, we rented one box truck, and one Saturn Vue. I drove the box truck around for a couple of days, and we loaded up the Vue for the driver working the San Jose area.
After Aaron had been working up in the Sacramento/Reno/Lake Tahoe area for only a day, I got the call that they needed more product up there. Because J, one of the other drivers, was responsible for the lower Sacramento area, we decided that I would take over the Vue for the next couple of days, drive extra product up to the boys, and would meet J up there to clean all the stores in the area that she hadn't made it to yet. This was a fantastic game plan.
After working my area all day on Wednesday, I loaded up the Vue with product for the boys. The mid-sized SUV was so weighed down, that I would have probably popped a wheelie driving out of the parking lot if I wasn't on a downhill slope. Needless to say, I picked up some items from the hotel, and headed out towards Sacramento.
I didn't know the exact location I was driving to when I got on the freeway. Aaron had not decided on a hotel yet, but it would be somewhere in Sacramento, we figured by the time I got close he would be settled, and let me know. I was chatting with my mom for a while, when I noticed that my battery on my cell phone was starting to get low, so I found my car charger and plugged it into the rental car's power outlet. Around this same time, Aaron called to let me know the hotel and exit to take. Then, my cell phone beeped the 'low battery' beep. I looked at the car charger and noticed that it wasn't lit up. I looked for another outlet, but had no luck. Awesome. I don't know where I am, and now my only form of communication and navigation is dying. Since my mom was still on the phone, I asked her to Google the location Aaron had given me. She read me the basic directions and I made notes, just in case my phone didn't make it all the way. We hung up so that I could save battery, and I continued on.
My phone died. A two hour drive turned into a four hour drive. My mom, bless her heart, had given me directions to the wrong Hilton Garden Inn. I got off the freeway in the UC Davis area about four times, trying to get back to the freeway I thought I was supposed to be on. I was near meltdown, when I finally saw the exit that Aaron had told me to take three hours prior. I didn't get to the hotel until 11:00pm, and when I got there, the hotel clerk thought I was some crazy girl, and wouldn't give me a key, or let me go up to the room until he talked to Aaron. When I finally got to sleep that night, I had to wake up four hours later.
Oh Saturn Vue rental car, how I loathe thee and your non-working power outlet.
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