Our trip....(no pics yet, sorry)

[halfadozenofem]

Can't post the pics yet til I figure out how to get them onto this puter. Sigh....

Here goes....

We wanted to leave at 8pm Wed (12/3) night. BUT, the people we were bringing the van up for, weren't ready until about 11pm that night. So, we got a late start.  Finally on the road......we had to stop in Alexandria, La at around 2:30 as we were both exhausted. Found a hotel...at least we thought it was decent til we got to the room.  We paid $52.00 to sleep for 3 hrs in a room that had 2 dead roaches in the bathroom, and something growing on the vent of the heater.....but we were so exhausted. 

We started out fresh at 6am Thursday morning. (took 1/2 hr get all the kids up and potty and chg diapers) It was a loooooong drive the rest of the way. We didn't get to my MIL's in Denver until 4 am Friday morning. That is a loooong time to be in a vehicle. Really.

We got up Friday morning, and the kids were out the door in the snow that was already on the ground.  We visited with my MIL and FIL. That evening I was blessed to be able to go over to our very own MemawBrie's!!!!  Her and her hubby are so very sweet.  Her grandson was there too.  My kids had a blast in her playroom and she and I got to chat for a littel while (not enough time IMO, but next time we will stay longer!!) She has such a comforting hug!!!  For me, that was the highlight of my trip.

Saturday we took the kids up to Look Out Mountain...it was gorgeous....as were the homes that were built there!! Amazing view. We went to Buffalo Bill's museum and grave, that was really interesting!!! 

Saturday evening I got to meet the Hunny's step sisters.  They were great! And loved the kids. They kept telling the Hunny how proud they were of him.  Ate great food too!!  Then after they had all gone, my MIL and FIl did Christmas for our kids....they had such a blast. Really!

We got up Sunday and ate and got packed back up, and were ready to go at about noon. Gave all the kisses and hugs and thank you's and left.  We got about 3 hrs away, somewhere in Kansas and decided to stop at a Taco John's (my hunny's fave). We were going to go through the drive thru, but I had to tinkle and the girls did too, so I figured we would just go in and get the food while the Hunny stayed in the truck and changed diapers.  As I walked around the front of the truck I could smell coolant. So I looked under the front and there was something dripping.  The Hunny gets out and lo and behold, the water pump is leaking. 

So we made a decision to get back to my MIL's. My bff and her hubby (who happens to be my hunny's boss) could not understand why we chose to go back.  Our decision was based on a few things: 

1. what if we got to a parts store and they did not have the part? (we were in a part of Kansas that has NOTHING in the way of *towns* it is all fields and a few exits)

2. what if he didn't have all the tools with us to fix it?

3. it was 30 degrees outside and this is not a quick fix type job. It is normally about a 3 hr job. And he had to unhook the battery so we would be sitting in the truck~6 kids and me pg~ for about 3 hrs with no heat in a parking lot in Kansas.

4. what if we didn't have enough $$$ to get the part??

Anyhoo.....we went back to my MIL's thank God she was only 3 hrs away.  They helped us get the new pump that night, but it was dark by then, so we slept there. Hunny got up the next morning and went to go change it.  Turns out that it was a wise decision to go back.  It took him 4 hrs to do it. He couldn't break the fan away from the pump.  And when he drained everything...he only got a gallon out.....he put 3 1/2 gallons back in.

We were finally ready to go at noon. So we left again.  (the bff and boss still agravated that we chose to go back)  We drove all night. Switching up the whole way.  In OK, the fog was so bad that we ended up going 30 mph for about 3 hrs. Talk about creeping!  We got back into Louisiana, and were met with rain the WHOLE way.  But let me tell you....God was with us.

The back passenger side tire was not the greatest. Around Alexandria, we started feeling the truck vibrating really bad.  And we were hearing things hitting the underside of the truck. So Hunny pulled over to the shoulder to see what was up. There was no visible (at that point) damage or anything, but he had a feeling it was something with that tire. So we went to the next exit, so he ccould change it.  When we pulled off into the gas station I got out to look at it while he was getting the jack out.  OH MY GOSH. We should not have made it to the gas station. It was raining, and the roads were horrible.  What I saw took my breath away.  What was hidden from us on the shoulder of the road, was now clearly visible......the treads had come off of the tire, that was what we were hearing hitting the underside.  It was down to the bare metal.  Not only that, but the belts were separating....the tire's surface should have been flat all the way across....this one had a 2 inch ledge going down the middle of it.  It SHOULD have blown. But it didn't. I am so glad that God was with us.

So, the Hunny changed it and we went on our way....we finally made it home at 4 pm Tuesday.

So that's it. That was our trip. When the Hunny gets home I am going to see if he can help me get the pics downloaded to this puter....and I will update the journal with them. (if we can get it to work...if not you will hafta wait til my puter gets fixed....Sorry!!!)

Thank you for reading about our adventure!!!

[moomers]

Dec. 12, 2008 at 7:31 PM

Very fortunate for your sweet family.See,people should always go with there gut.I try to explain that to my husband all the time.It must have been so exciting to meet a fellow CM'er.I really enjoy MemawBrie--She's so spunky.I admire that about her.Glad you guys are home.

[Nanette77318]

Dec. 12, 2008 at 8:21 PM

Wow....talk about adventure!!!!! : )