An Unexpected Bill Comes Knocking At Our Door

We got an unpleasant surprise this morning. Veronica went out the door to head to work. The next thing I know she is back inside telling me that the car would not start.
So I go outside and tried to get it started.
The only thing that I could muster out of the thing was a constant clicking sound.I had Veronica get in the car, put it in neutral while I pushed the darn thing out of our carport/garage area.
I am not sure who got the worse end of getting the RAV moved.
Veronica had no power steering nor any brakes while she was trying to maneuver the vehicle to a safe area and I had to push it around.
Luckily, neither one of us injured ourselves getting the vehicle where it needed to go.
To be quite honest.....while pushing the vehicle, I was waiting to hear that familiar "pop" that usually occurs when my back goes out.
Thankfully that did not happen. Especially this close to our vacation happening.
I ended up getting a AAA tow truck service to come fetch the vehicle. Only cost us $6 to tow it about 7 miles or so.
Just got a call from the local AAA approved automobile service center.
As it turns out, the alternator went out on the vehicle. This would be the 2nd time we have had to replace the alternator on this RAV.
The mechanic told me that the heat really wreaks havoc on the electrical system of these vehicles.
I figured that while the vehicle was in the shop, I would go ahead and get some other maintenance done.
We were planning on getting the maintenance done after we returned from our vacation but this was as good a time as any, especially since the vehicle was already there in the shop.
The estimate for the new alternator and all of the other maintenance that I wanted done came to just North of $500.00
I really can't complain too much.....well actually I guess that I could but who would listen.
Our 2000 Toyota RAV4 is paid off and only has approximately 62,000 miles on it.
With proper maintenance and a little luck, this vehicle will last us for quite some time  in the future.
I am hoping that this will be the last unexpected bill to show up between now and the start of our vacation.