SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — Steve Barker tries again to start his car, and as it fails to turn over, he crumbles in exasperation.
It's yet another speed bump on his road home.
"It's out of gas," he says dejectedly.
This is just the latest problem Steve and his girlfriend Amanda have endured over the past few weeks.
The couple drove up from southern California for a low-cost vacation.
During a kayaking trip in Skagit County, they capsized 200 yards from shore and nearly drowned.
Steve was eventually rescued by Swinomish tribal police.
His body temperature had dropped to 89 degrees.
"I wouldn't have lasted much longer out there," Steve told KING 5 at the time.
Believe it or not, that wasn't the worst of it.
After being rescued, the couple realized everything in their pockets was at the bottom of the bay, but Steve kept things in perspective.
"I was just happy to be alive. I really was," he says. "I was thankful and grateful no one else got hurt."
Still, with no money, no credit cards, no phones or IDs, they've been stuck in Skagit County for the better part of a month.
They've been living in campgrounds and eating from food banks. The couple pawned what they could of their belongings in order to get new keys for the car and buy a cheap phone.
"I thought maybe some of our friends could help us out, but they don't have any money either. We're all kinda broke," says Steve. "We've never been in this kind of situation before, not ever," says Steve.
The situation is dire. Steve and Amanda worry if they'll ever get home.
If they do make it, they worry about what awaits.
A month without work when you're living paycheck to paycheck can be disastrous. Amanda fears she'll lose her caregiver job and possibly even their place to live.
"We're in a deep hole right now," she says, tears streaming down her face. "I mean, it just...it really devastated us."
"We're hoping one of our friends can put us up for a while but I don't know how long that's gonna last," adds Steve. "We might become homeless down there. I don't know."
As luck would have it, the couple's car broke down right outside a casino. The staff there helped Steve and Amanda with 5 gallons of gas and a jump.
"That feels a lot better," says Steve. "A quarter tank of gas will at least get us off the side of the road."
With that, Steve and Amanda point their car southbound down Interstate 5 and head for California.
They've got 1,300 miles to go.
What lies ahead is anybody's guess.
"Hopefully, everything works out," says Steve. "God willing it will."