I kept an eye on the needle, wondering what to do. I tried slowing the car down, but that didn’t really help either. I was on a flat stretch of highway, and I started looking for a safe place to pull off where I could hopefully let the car cool off, before continuing on our journey.

Right when I spotted a turn off, three lights flashed on over the dashboard. I pulled off immediately, and as I pulled off, white clouds billowed from the hood. I was freaking out, afraid the car would explode or catch fire. Maybe that was an overreaction.

But here was my thought process:

• I am not prepared for this-what do I do?
• My car recently went in for service, so this shouldn’t be happening!
• What an inconvenience! But not only for me. When the car wouldn’t start again, my family had to get a car to pick us up-bailing me out was probably the last thing they wanted to do for their day.
• You may have heard about it, but if you have not, a lady recently lost twelve of her dogs in an RV fire. I cannot begin to imagine how she must have felt or how scary that would be. (Sidenote: While the emotional loss is devastating, you can help contribute to the material restoration-find out more here). 

So I jumped out of the car and leashed the dogs hastily, practically dragging them all from the car as I grabbed my phone and ID and put some distance between the car and me and the dogs.

When the car had stopped expelling white from the hood, I tied two of the dogs to a cattle guard post away from the road, put the others in a down stay, and cautiously went and took out the owners manual. Then I called my family to ask them what to do. The car wouldn’t start either. My uncle told me that Honda’s have a safety feature where they shut down to prevent more damage being done which is wonderful. A towtruck had to come get the car and take it to an auto shop. Luckily I was in an area where I had at least some cell phone service, or this would have been a different story.

The dogs were troopers. It was a hot day (which is why we were going to play in water to enjoy the hot day). We walked around a little, but then decided to stay put in the shade. I had brought some drinking water and a dog bowl, so I poured water in the bowl and on them to help them stay cool.They didn’t seem to mind what was going on-they just seemed to think it was a grand ol’ adventure!

You probably have seen on Facebook or Instagram that we have some friends staying with us (in addition to Lacey the foster), so it was a little crazy to have this happen with all the dogs.

But it was their calmness and can-do attitude about the event that really got me thinking. They stayed so positive and thought it was just another adventure. They weren’t too fazed or super stressed-they were just happy to be out. While it kinda sucked that this happened, it was definitely a learning experience. And that’s just how it should be looked at-as a learning experience. The dogs stayed positive and found the good in the outing, so why shouldn’t I?

Here are some pictures from the outing: