Roadtrip from Hell

Oh man. Two weeks ago our little family left early morning for our road trip to Utah. Several months ago an acquaintance (she's in our stake and we played on a city league VB team together two years ago), asked if anyone would be willing to drive out with her and her three kids in exchange for a free ride.

 Life lesson 457: There is no such thing as a free ride.

Starting out and naive.

Things were going pretty well.  The kids were well behaved. Going through their surprises and presents like crazy, but they were good. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop where we about melted into puddles. The temperature was supposed to hit 100° in Lafayette that day and we were all glad to be heading to cooler temps without the humidity.

It took only a few minutes for the red faces and sweat curls to appear during lunch at the rest stop

Stopped again in the early afternoon at another rest stop. Chris drove and I was in the passenger's seat while Jessica was in the back with the kids. The A/C was blowing in hot humid air after the rest stop, but I turned it off and back on and things were good. We passed an electronic billboard that said the temp was 94° with a heat index of 104°. Ewww.

Then, as we were coming up on Omaha the A/C stopped working. First it was coolish but humid. Then it was hot and humid. And all sorts of miserable. Poor little ones in their carseats were being steamed like carrots. We pulled off and there wasn't any coolant in the car. We ran the little ones in the C-Store and bought some coolant. Chris filled it up and we loaded back in the van (no quick process with 4 little ones). I turned on the heater and the temperature dropped like a brick. A/C restored! Hallelujah!

Jessica wanted to get things checked, just for sure. As we were driving to get it checked the van lost power and died in an intersection. Some nice men hopped out and helped Jessica and Chris push while I steered us into a parking stall. The car started so we drove over to a Walmart where we died for good.

I don't want to relive the FOUR hours we spent in Walmart (my own personal hell), but a lot of it was spent trying to figure out what was wrong with the van, what to do, gathering what we needed out, wondering how quickly we'd make it back on the road. A lot of it I got the kids while Chris and Jessica dealt with those details. When we realized we weren't making it to North Platte, NE where we had hotel reservations we canceled those and got a hotel room in Omaha. At the closest hotel. Since you know, we didn't have a car. When we'd grabbed our bags from the van before it was towed we didn't know how long we'd be there. We were all hopeful it would only be a few hours, but grabbed stuff for overnight. If only we'd grabbed our swimming suits! We lived for a couple of hours out of shopping carts full of our luggage, bags and carseats in the McDonalds in Walmart.

Life lesson 895: Don't laugh at others. One day, you just might be The People of Walmart.

We got a couple taxis called and made our way to the hotel (we had the worst cabbie in history and Jessica had the best). The hotel wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst, either. Got two cribs for the two littles who didn't want to sleep in them. Millie ended up spending the night with us. In our full bed. Cozy. (And miserable.)

The shop called in the morning and said the van should be done in four hours. It needed a new water pump. We were excited to be on the road about noon. Jessica got check-out extended until noon. And then the van wasn't done yet. So we moved to the lobby (they wouldn't push back our check-out time any more).

Long story short, the fix-it time kept getting pushed back. Sometimes we'd hear from the shop, but most of the time we just kept waiting and waiting. It took all I had to be somewhat positive. I tried so hard, but it was frustrating. Each of the adults had some moments where we could be fun and keep the kids entertained. We had some dance parties in side hallway, some games, lunch and treats, but there was a huge portion of frustration and annoyance. (Maybe mostly from me? But I don't think so.)

Life in the Lobby. It looks nice enough, but it was hot and the floors were filthy. Filthy floors = filthy kids.

Finally, a little after 4:00 the shop called Jessica to say the van was done and they'd come pick her up. When I got a text from her saying it would be at least 15 more minutes before it was done, I thought I might lose it! But [mostly] kept my cool and it all worked out.

The most frustrating part of this was not knowing when it would be finished. If we'd known from the beginning that it was going to take so long we would have gone to the Omaha Zoo (it's supposed to be a pretty good zoo). But instead we just kept thinking it would be done any minute. That is a state of agony.

We loaded that van as quickly as we could and got on the road. It was disheartening to realize it had been a full 24 hours. So when we drove past North Platte at about 9:00, we all recognized that we should have been there the night before. Spent the night in Laramie, then headed out. Made it to Ogden the next afternoon where we met up with my Mom, Nikkala and Gracie at Target. After a little shopping, huge ice cream bars at Costco, we were on our way.

Finally.

The Suburban had some struggles starting, then Mom said it wasn't responding well. The battery indicator was at zero and we were losing power. I diagnosed it as the alternator, a call to Dad confirmed and we got off the freeway and parked it in the shade with the semis at Flying J in Willard. Nik couldn't get in touch with Chod, Tameka and Ty didn't have a car big enough to fit us. Nik and I took the babes inside and hung out watching the NCAA lacrosse championship game in the truckers lounge.

Nikkala's phone was lighting up like a switchboard. But with all the calling, Tameka made a connection that my Aunt Kathy, Uncle Bret and Baylee were driving home from SLC and just about 15 miles before Willard. They came and rescued Nik, the babes and me and made a detour through Logan to drop us off.

Ty got an alternator (it was about 4:30 on a Saturday), my mom had tools in the Suburban and he came and had it switched out in thirteen minutes. Chris and my mom timed him.

So, a day and a few hours later than planned, we made it to Logan! Sweet relief.

And looking back, it's funny to see how blessed we were. What if Jessica had been by herself? What if we had broken down in the middle of nowhere, not the middle of Omaha? The Robins just happened to be headed our way and Tameka had called Katelin and found it out?

We may have been the joke of the trip; no one wanted to let us in their cars, but we made it and no other cars broke down on the trip.

The flights home were uneventful and reminded me why air travel is my preferred method of travel.