I absolutely love AAA and just wanted to hop on to extol its amazingness. I cannot think of another club I’ve joined that has been even remotely as useful.

As a kid I remember my mom going to the AAA office and getting our “Triptik” – anyone else remember those? Ok, so for you youngins – back in the days of paper maps, you’d get this booklet made with fold out maps for each day’s journey including places to stop, road construction, available hotels, restaurants, etc. All of which give a AAA discount of course.

I loved those triptiks because it meant we were heading out for an adventure. It felt like we had the inside scoop to all the fun along the way. And that was just one of the perks of being a member. Roadside assistance was the other big one for our family. With four daughters, my dad rested more easily knowing help was just a phone call away if any of us found ourselves in a pickle.

When John and I got married my parents started giving us an annual membership each Christmas. Being that John really likes older BMW’s it usually paid for itself within the first few months of the year.

When our daughter’s car got a flat in the school parking lot, she called the number and within 20 minutes it was fixed and ready to roll.

Most recently another one of her car’s tires blew out as she was driving on the highway. She safely got it off to the side of the road and again, within the hour it was towed to a tire shop to be fixed.

When you call the assistance number the operator asks if you are hurt, if you are safe, and just makes you feel like it’s all going to be ok. They will tow your car, change your tire, even bring you fuel if, like in one of the aforementioned Bimmers, your gas gauge doesn’t work and you find yourself on empty in the middle of nowhere.

And what I love is that the operators are always friendly. Even if they think I am an imbecile for getting myself into the situation, you’d never know it. They act as if it’s totally normal to not know for sure if my car actually has a spare tire. You may think I’m kidding but I’m truly trying to think right now if I know where mine would be and I’m at a loss. I know it SHOULD – does that count?

God bless AAA and the kind poker-faced folks on the other end of the line.

Who else has been bailed out by AAA?