We never made it to Vegas. 30 minutes outside of Ontario this happened:
We didn't get in an accident or anything. We were just driving along on our merry way when the car started to slow down. At first we thought it was a flat tire cause we heard a popping noise when the car started to slow down. We tried to pull over, but the car wouldn't move. Then the hood popped open and flames started coming out of the front passenger side of the hood. We all got out of the car and ran to the side of the freeway. Some truck drivers stopped and called 911 for us. The CHP and the local fire and police departments came out too. They were all super nice and very accomodating to us. They really did all that they could to help us out. They called rental car companies for us and gave us rides.
Thankfully everyone got out safe AND it was a rental car, so nothing was lost. We got all of our stuff out safely, too. Unfortunately our trip got ruined. We were stuck in Hesperia with no car and all the local rental companies were closed. We have a friend that lives in San Bernardino and we called him to pick us up. We spent the night at his house and he drove us home the next day. According to the CHP on site, Chrysler jeeps are prone to catching on fire. Keep that in mind if you ever plan on purchasing one or if you're renting a car and they try to give you one - don't take it! The car we had was a Patriot and we were told by the company that it was only 4 months old. So a brand new car caught on fire for no apparent reason. This was NOT good times.
