Ice Cream and Alternators

So, as you all know, yesterday was my birthday, so in celebration of that some friends and I went to Culver's for some ice cream. My friends Joy and Joelle willingly agreed to provide transportation for all 8 of us. I decided to ride in Joy's car. Well, we are driving along and as we are nearing our destination Joy's radio stops working (which if you don't know, that's a big deal for us). So we were all very confused and sad. About 20 seconds later, all the dash lights start to dim and flash. It then occurred to us that we should probably pull over and check her battery. So, we pulled over in a quaint little neighborhood and pop the hood. The two "northwoods" girls, Elie and I, get out to do a little battery inspection. After examining our patient we found that the diagnoses was clear. No corrosion or connection problems. Huh, weird. So, we tell Joy to start the car up again. She does so, and everything seems to be okay. So, off we go. After driving about 4 minutes, it happens again. This time Elie calls her dad for a little more knowledgeable input. He says that is most likely her alternator is bad. Which, if you don't know, the alternator is the thing that keeps the battery charged, so we were on the right track thinking it was the battery. He tells us that we won't have much "juice" left, but we should be able to make it back to school. After, we enjoy our pleasurable frozen treats we set off again hoping to make it back. The car started just fine and the radio was working again. However, after driving for about 8 minutes the radio stops working, the lights start freaking out, and the vehicle now has a weird sort of jerk to it. We all decide that we should probably pull over now. Unfortunately, the car dies about 100 yards from the street we were going to pull off on and we were forced to stop in a turning lane. By this time, it is dark out and we are a car stuck in a turning lane with no lights. Luckily Joelle was able to put her hazards on so that vehicles could see that they needed to move over or not use the turning lane if they were planning on it. I decided that I did not want to be sitting in the car and figured it would be safer outside away from the car. Joy's dad tells her to call AAA to get roadside assistance. AAA told her that they would be able to get there in about an hour to help us get the car moved and to give us a ride back. Well, Joelle found a better option and called her boyfriend Marquise and he agreed to come and jump her car and give us a ride back. So, we sit tight and wait. While waiting Elie and I agree that we should push Joy's car to the street that we planned on pulling over on so that it wasn't sitting in the turning lane because that was dangerous. With Joelle's car behind us with hazards on, the two "northwoods" girls again take action and start pushing. As we are shoving this car, we look at each other and Elie says, "Just like old times, huh?" We both laugh and I agree, "Yep, feels like we're back home!" Finally, we get the car to safety. Now, we can sit in both cars, and wait for Marquise. It should've only taken Marquise about 10 minutes to get to us, so after about a 1/2 hour we all begin wondering where he is. Then we find out Joelle had given him wrong directions which gave us all a good laugh. By the time he arrives there are 8 girls who badly have to piddle, 4 who are cold, and one who is a little crabby bacause she now has a car which doesn't work. However, we are all glad to see our Knight in Iron Armour come to save us. Marquise brought his cousin with and they set to work getting the jumper cables hooked up. After a successful jump, they get the car running and Marquise decides to drive Joy's car incase it happens again. So, off we go! I rode in Joy's car along with Marquise, Kristin, and Katie and we all start singing and dancing to some good tunes curtosy of Marquise. However, our fun was about to end because about 6 minutes later, our little Ford starts to die...again. "Oh no...oh no...oh no!" Marquise could not belive it would die so soon. But, indeed it did. So, we pull over and try again. Another successful jump and we turn around to get back on the highway, after driving about 50 yards it dies. So, we jump it again, this time we leave the cables on a little longer to let the battery charge a little longer. After about 10 minutes, we decide to try again. Off we go, tunes 'n all......for about 5 minutes. We pull over again, and try jumping it with Joelle's car this time so that it would ruin Marquise's battery. Joelle's car wasn't working however, and we switch back to Marquise's. To our surprise this did not work either. We come to the conclusion that Joy's battery is dead. So, we push the car into a litte spot by a power box and leave it. Kristin, Katie and I pile into Joelle's car and drive the last 5 minutes back to school. The whole ordeal took about 3 hours in total, but I still had fun and it added a great adventure to my birthday party.