RV, The Movie, Part 2……..Continued

I can’t believe that anything else could possibly go wrong, you say?  Think again!  Read on for the story of the ride home!

Saturday, October 8^th:

Kevin awoke to a start as he looked out the bedroom window and saw snow on the ground.  We had not planned on driving the RV in the mountains in the snow!  This was one of the earliest winter snowstorms they had had out there in a long time.  Of course we timed it just right!  We quickly loaded up the kids and headed out the door.  I can’t tell you how hard it was for us to close to door to our condo that last time and know that we would never go back in again.  It makes me cry even now, writing about it.  Eliana and I cried on and off for most of that morning.  It will be different and somehow strange to go back there to ski and not stay in our condo.  We just have to trust that God has something even better planned for us ahead.  So, having thought that all of the “hard parts” of our trip were behind us, we started out for home.  We didn’t get any further than Vail (20 minutes) when we saw signs saying that the Chain Laws were in effect for Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel.  We pulled off the interstate immediately to assess what to do.  The bus was included in the list of vehicles requiring chains.  As we tried to solve Situation #11, we talked to a person at the local Napa Auto Parts store on the phone.  He said that we had 2 choices.  Either to try without chains since technically RVs aren’t included in the chain law (but since our RV is more a bus than a camper we weren’t sure about that option) or he could sell us chains and help Kevin put them on.  While Kevin was deciding what to do and looking online at video cams of the interstate ahead, I drove the Suburban to look for better parking for the coach.  When I pulled into an apartment complex to turn around, I came within inches of having a pickup truck loaded with wood and other supplies in the bed back up right into my front fender.  I couldn’t back up fast enough because I was on a downward slope and would slide a little into him.  So I laid on my horn as hard as I could and held my breath.  Luckily, they saw me just in time and that accident, Situation #12, was averted.  Whew!  By now Kevin had made the decision to be safe rather than sorry and we were going to get the chains on the coach.  As we were on the way to the store, the snow stopped for a little while so I checked the Colorado DOT mobile website again.  They had lifted the Chain Laws so we got out of Dodge before it started snowing again.  They were predicting up to 8 inches of snow throughout the day.  As we headed east on I-70 toward Denver we were traveling slowly, but steadily.  The RV was handling fine.

As I was following behind in the Suburban, I suddenly heard a loud flapping/bumping type sound coming from the back of my car.  Situation #13 had only waited a brief 20 minutes to arrive!  I pulled over to the side of the road, called Kevin to tell him that I had stopped to see what was going on, and told him to keep going.  He had the harder driving job and needed to keep moving.  As I went around the side of my Burb, I could hear a loud hissing sound and knew that I had a tire leaking air quickly.  I couldn’t see anything in the tire initially but knew it was leaking.  There was an area ½ mile ahead for trucks to put their chains on so I slowly drove up there to be a little further off the road.  When I parked there and went to look, I saw a large (3-4 inches long) S-hook sticking out of the inside of my tire.  I was toast and all alone in the snow between Vail and Vail Pass.  I called Kevin to tell him about the problem and told him to keep going, I would call AAA.  We just needed to get the RV out of the mountains before we were completely stuck there.  He reluctantly agreed and I called AAA.  The AAA operator was nice, but informed me that I had been dropped from Kevin’s AAA plan.  Situation #14 was already forming.  Kevin’s coverage had technically expired on October 1^st but it was listed as “pending”, awaiting renewal.  She said that they would cover the call if Kevin were present with me.  Of course I had just sent him on ahead so he wasn’t at the car with me.  I tried to convince her that he was on the trip with me, just not in my car….no luck.  I had to decide if I wanted to have him come back to me (it wouldn’t have been easy since there were not very many exits to get on and off of the interstate in that part of the state) or if I wanted to pay cash for it.  I opted to just pay for it so Kevin wouldn’t have to come back.  So I waited there in my car for an hour until the tow truck arrived.  That was a long hour there by myself.  Luckily I had cell phone coverage, plenty of gas, and a Starbuck’s coffee that I hadn’t had time to drink yet!  Finally the tow truck arrived with a very nice man who easily and quickly changed my tire.  We decided to put the damaged tire inside the Burb instead of restoring it underneath and I would stop in Frisco to get it fixed and put back on before I continued through the mountains. 

Why did I pick Frisco, you ask?  Because while I was sitting waiting for the tow truck, Kevin called and informed me that he had to pull off again due to Chain Laws being re-instituted for the Eisenhower Tunnel area ahead.  Situation # 15 hadn’t even let Situation # 14 get resolved before it appeared in our day!  So, to close out #14, when the tow truck driver finished and came to my window, he told me that there was no charge. AAA would cover it.  I was so happy for his show of kindness to me that I could’ve kissed him…..but since I had never seen him before, I opted for an enthusiastic hand shake instead! I thanked him profusely for coming to my aid, and headed off down the road to Frisco.  In Frisco, Kevin and the kids had found a great little deli where they were enjoying a hot bowl of chili and chatting with the owner.  Sounded so good to me!  The deli owner convinced Kevin that people were overreacting by issuing the Chain order because it was the first snow.  He showed Kevin live video of the roads and they appeared to be clear.  Kevin, becoming impatient by now, was convinced to forge ahead.  The owner was able to give me directions on how to get to a tire center to see about getting my tires fixed.  I drove past the deli (wishing I could stop in for a bowl of chili) and straight to the tire store.  I was told that they MIGHT be able to get my tire fixed that day in the next 4 hours.  They were swamped because of the snow today and all the people wanting new tires on their cars….just my bad luck in timing my flat with the first major snow of the season in Colorado!  Situation # 16 had presented itself already.  We had to decide if we wanted to wait all day to get the tire fixed, or if we thought the spare would be fine to make it home.  Luckily the spare tire was a “regular” tire and not a “donut” so we decided to push on and stop further down the road and hope for a shorter wait time for a repair.  Kevin had already gone on to the interstate by then so I headed that way too.  When I was on the entrance ramp to the interstate, I saw that the interstate was a parking lot! 

The “situations” just kept on coming as Situation #17 was at hand!  As I sat at the start of the interstate, I spoke to Kevin on the phone.  There was a jack-knifed truck ahead and the road was closed until they could clean it up.  He recommended that since I was still next to the entrance ramp that I should get off of the interstate and go around Lake Dillon and over to Silverthorne to catch the interstate there.  It looked simple on the map.  There were dozens of cars backing up, turning around, and going the wrong way back UP the entrance ramp off of the interstate.  I joined them and carefully made my way off the interstate.  I started on my way around the lake.  It all went well and the road was good until I had to travel on a mountain road around the last side of the lake.  This road was snow covered, steep, no guardrails in spots, and I was gripping my steering wheel.  I was so glad that Kevin had not tried this in the RV….it would have been a disaster.  I’m sure this road is beautiful in good weather, but the beauty was lost on me this time with my nervousness.  I finally came to the intersection with Hwy 6, a major road.  That is where I made a fatefully bad decision and brought Situation #18 into play.  I should have turned left (or west) onto Hwy 6 to rejoin I-70.  But that seemed counterintuitive to me since we were ultimately trying to get east.  So I turned right onto Hwy 6 thinking I was going the right direction.  This took me through Loveland Pass!  I knew that I was not in a good place when I rarely saw a car, had no cell service, no guardrails, snow packed roads, only one really good driving lane down the middle of the road, and was passing ski resorts that were deserted.  I passed the turn for Breckenridge, went past Keystone, A-Basin, and Loveland ski resorts.  They were all empty and I felt very isolated.  I prayed A LOT during that slow and long drive.  I prayed for Kevin and his safety in the RV with the kids.  I prayed for my safety, driving on my spare tire with no other “spare” in case of an emergency.  I prayed for the weather to clear a little.  I got cell service only occasionally for a brief period of time.  During one of those calls, I found that Kevin and the kids were moving again on I-70.  I was anxious to rejoin them on the interstate, crowded and slowed as it may be.  Finally, I reached the top of Loveland Pass and the Continental Divide….it really brought home to me how far out of the way I had travelled on that road!  I saw many big rigs and a big rig tow truck up there….not very encouraging.  I ventured the rest of the way down very slowly and eventually made it back to I-70.  I could finally loosen the grip on my steering wheel ever so slightly again. All those years of driving in snow and ice in South Dakota prepared me well for what I had to drive in on this day!

Once I was back on the interstate I called Kevin to see how he was faring.  He had a harrowing experience as well; we will call it Situation # 19, as he was going up the steep grade approaching the Eisenhower Tunnel.  There was a reason they were recommending chains for all large vehicles.  As Kevin was going up the mountain his wheels were spinning, he had no traction, and was only able to go about 3 mph.  He was sliding sideways, sweating bullets while the kids are in the back of the coach fighting over a toy, completely oblivious to the fact that they are on the brink of going over the side of the mountain.  To make matters worse, he was in the center lane.  If he moved over to the right lane, he would’ve run into deeper slush and most likely stopped. Then, he would have stopped all traffic, been chastised severely by a highway patrolman, and most likely needed a tow up the mountain.  He just kept going, slipping and sliding away, slowly getting up the mountain.  Then he had to go DOWN the other side!  As he was heading down a 6% grade (very steep), his “check antilock brakes” light stayed on so he was forced to pull off an exit as soon as he possibly could, to deal with Situation # 20.  It would be disastrous thing to be without brakes at this point….those Runaway Truck ramps would leave a lot of gravel in your shorts if you had to use them!  Fortunately, Kevin was able to call a technician at Prevost and they talked him through how to make sure the braked were working properly and how to make the light go off.  We just needed to be safe at this point and we definitely wanted to be sure that the brakes on the RV were working before we went down any further.  Back on track now, we made our way safely down to Denver.  What should have been a 2-hour trip under normal circumstances, ended up taking us 7 hours! 

Shortly after getting to town, we decided to reconnect the Suburban to the RV so we could all be together again.  Kevin exited and started looking for a good parking lot to hook up.  Thinking that he had found a fairly empty parking lot with a wide entrance, he pulled in.  Just when we think we can let down our guards after our harrowing mountain experiences, Situation #21 hits us hard!  As Kevin was turning in the parking lot and trying to avoid a curb and pole, I see from behind him that he isn’t going to make it.  Despite my honking, it was too late and he cuts the turn too close and hits the pole and curb hard.  Fortunately, nobody inside the coach was hurt, but the same couldn’t be said for the coach.  There was significant damage to one of the storage bay doors and some damage to the exhaust pipe for the furnace and Aquahot systems under the bus.  It will be a very expensive repair for sure, but the silver lining is that we were still able to drive it home.  I asked Kevin if we should just stop there and call it a day…we both were spent….but he said no, we needed to keep going.  The flat farmland of Eastern Colorado and Kansas never looked more beautiful to us than it did after our treachery in the mountains! 

We kept driving until we reached the same Oasis in Colby, Kansas that we had stopped at in the windstorm on the drive out to Colorado.  We needed fuel and Kevin was brave enough to pull up to the same pump that sprayed diesel fuel all over him before.  This time the fueling process was much less eventful and actually something very good came out of this stop.  Kevin realized when he went in to leave a credit card for the gas today that he had forgotten his credit card there the first time we were there.  In all of the excitement and his rush to get cleaned up after the dramatic diesel spill, he forgot to pick up his card from the cashier.  Fortunately, they had it and he got it back…a pleasant surprise on a trip filled with things NOT going the way we wanted them to go!  We were able to drive until about midnight before we were too tired to continue.  After consulting the “Next Exit” and finding the closest Cracker Barrel, we parked and slept for the night.  We needed the break!

Sunday, Oct. 9^th:

On Sunday we awoke to a gorgeous, sunny day.  We had made it to Junction City, KS the night before so we had about 9 hours or so to go to get home.  Our goal this day was to get home safely without any more “Situations”.  We made it to St. Louis by noon and were able to get tickets up to the top of the Arch.  It was a fun activity on a trip filled with tough moments that came in what seemed like a “one after another” fashion.  We owed it to the kids to do one thing that was fun and seemed like “vacation”.  It was a breathtaking view at the top of the arch and definitely worth the stop.  It was actually hot in St. Louis, temps in the 80’s…a stark contrast to the snowstorm we were in yesterday in Colorado!  It feels great to be back in the warm sunshine again. 

On the road back to Indiana we encountered another situation, Situation # 22. While driving through central Illinois a rock flew up and hit our windshield.  Of course it made a big chip that left a “shatter” mark.  Now we have one on both sides of the windshield, each directly in the sight line of the driver and the passenger.  Will we ever catch a break on our way home?  I guess we will just have a very long list of repairs for the shop when we finally get the bus home.  We decided shortly after that to at least get the bus washed.  We could barely see through all of the squashed bugs on the windshield and the outside was so dirty and grimy that we didn’t want to touch it.  We pulled into a “Truck-o-matic” wash where a couple of nice kids hand washed the bus.  They did a great job and even “played” with Eliana and Christian by spraying soap and water on them through the windows.  Kevin stepped out of the RV at the end to tip them and on his way back in got doused with the final spray of the bus.  He got cleaned off a little bit and we all got a chuckle out of it!  The rest of the drive went fine.  Construction slowed us down quite a bit, but relatively speaking, that is NOT a “situation”!  We pulled up to our house and made an “all hands on deck” call to Cole, Caleb, and Grammo.  We all worked like a finely tuned assembly line in unloading the RV and the Suburban.  When we were done with that, Kevin, Christian, Dakota (our dog….she would NOT be left behind this time!), and I took off to drop the RV off at the shop for repairs.  We finally got home for good at around 11:00 PM.  We were all thoroughly exhausted and Christian was sacked out in the back seat of the car with Dakota.  As we crawled into bed after a nice hot shower, we went to sleep dreaming about our next trip…in 5 days!  Whew!

Nighty Night!

I guess that I can cross “truck driver” and  “bus driver” off of my list of potential careers for the future!

RV, The Movie, Part 2?

OK so this blog isn’t necessarily about my next steps in finding my “future” path.  It is more of an example, a funny one, of how life can throw twists and turns, detours, roadblocks, and snowstorms into the path that you are on while going through life!  This story is just too unbelievable not to share so grab a beverage and a snack, pull up a comfy chair, and enjoy my misadventures! 

Wednesday, Oct.  5^th:

We left Indianapolis for Beaver Creek, CO on our maiden voyage in our new RV to collect our belongings from our ski condo (we were selling it).  Kevin, my husband, took the RV to work in the afternoon to expedite our departure after I picked the kids up from school.  On the way to his office, while he was driving on the interstate, the refrigerator door flew open and bottles of water flew out everywhere.  That was RV Orientation Lesson #1…we needed to find a way to secure the refrigerator doors while we were on the road.  After I arrived with Eliana and Christian, Kevin got the Suburban hooked up behind the bus.  We looked a little like a train going down the road, but we hit the road…so very slowly.  By this time it was rush hour in Indianapolis and it took us over an hour to get out of Carmel and the north side of Indianapolis.   We should’ve known better!  When we finally made it to I-70, which we would drive from Indiana all the way out to Colorado, we were greeted with lots of construction and Kevin had to practice his “driving the RV in narrowed lanes” for long distances, Lesson #2. 

We needed to stop for gas in Illinois so we pulled in to a truck stop for our first fuel up.  Kevin was answering all of the many questions/prompts that the pump was asking him before it would dispense his diesel.  He did well answering the first 10 questions, but then came to a question he didn’t know how to answer.  The pump asked him if he wanted “Tractor” diesel, “Reefer” diesel, or both. Huh?  He wasn’t’ driving a tractor and he wasn’t smoking any reefer, so how is a man supposed to know how to answer that one?  He had to put his tail between his legs, go to the trucker filling up next to him, and ask him which kind we needed.  It was the Tractor diesel.  Lesson #3 learned. 

We drove all the way to Columbia, Missouri the first day and found ourselves a nice Cracker Barrel where we could park overnight.  We took the sage advice of fellow RV travelers and brought along the book, “the Next Exit”.  It is a MUST for long-distance traveling, especially with an RV.  It allows us to look down the road for truck stops, rest areas, dumping stations, and most importantly, Wal-Mart or Cracker Barrel parking lots (these 2 businesses are “friendly” to letting RV’s park in their parking lots overnight).  Day #1 ends without too much drama.

Thursday, Oct. 6^th:

Kevin awoke bright and early….before the sun….and started up the RV to head out.  Of course, with the engine being right next to the bed, I was also up bright and early!  No worries though, travelling in the coach allowed me to make coffee for us and warm up some pumpkin muffins for breakfast…yummy!  I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to travelling long distances in a car again, I think to myself.  But stay tuned…that attitude may have some qualifications attached to it by the end of the trip.  This was set up to be a long day of driving so I wanted to get the TV and DVD player up and working in the back for the kids.  We decided to start with watching movies first since it seemed like it should be the simplest thing to do since the TV and DVD player were already installed.  Unfortunately, the kids and I couldn’t figure out how to get the movie to play on the TV!  We gave up briefly, but the competitive side of me wouldn’t surrender to an old DVD/VCR player….we don’t even watch VHS tapes any more for Pete’s sake!  I finally decided to try the fancy AMX remote control that controls the audio/video/blinds/lights in the entire coach.  Ta Da!  That worked to run the TV and DVD player!  We were in business.  I don’t know if my kids could ever drive across town without a movie playing, much less across several states!  Lesson #4 learned.  When the kids tired of movies, I decided to activate the DirecTV service.  I crossed my fingers as I inserted the new card and called to activate the service.  I have to be honest; I wasn’t very confidant that we would get satellite service out in the middle of Kansas.  At first we could see the DirecTV logo on the screen, but no channels.  Just my luck, I thought, it won’t work.  But again, I was determined not to be outsmarted by an electronic box so I began searching the drawers of the coach for the remote control.  I found it!  It was like a golden ticket.  Once I started using that remote to work the TV, we had channels galore.  WaLa, the kids had more options for entertainment!  Lesson #5 learned. 

About this time we needed to make another fuel stop.  We got out our trusty “the Next Exit” book and found an Oasis in the middle of nowhere, Kansas.  It even had palm trees…who knew they had the right soil to grow palm trees in Kansas!  Kevin happily nestled in among the semi trucks to the diesel pumps to fill up his tank.  He was excited to fill up from both sides of the coach.  While he was busy with the pumping, Eliana, Christian, and I ventured over to a playground at the Oasis (nice gas station, huh?).  They had fun playing, but we all were just about blown over by the high winds.  There were 40-50 mph winds that day, and with not much to break the wind along the interstate in Kansas, the coach was getting buffeted around pretty well.  We had to actively “walk” in order not to get pushed over walking around outside!  It was good exercise just walking against the wind.  After a short play break I took the kids inside to get treats for the road.  While we were in there, we saw Kevin walk in looking very unhappy.  He didn’t say a word to us; he just headed straight in to the restroom.  What had happened was that while he was pumping the gas and washing the windshield, he was keeping an eye on both pumps.  All of a sudden, he saw diesel fuel spewing from the side of the coach!  He runs to the first pump and shuts it off, but the other pump on the other side was still pumping.  It continued to spray fuel all over!  Even after he removed the nozzles from the tank and shut the pumps off, gas was still flowing.  He ran inside and had the attendant shut down the pump.  There were probably 20-30 gallons of diesel fuel on the ground by then.  The side of the coach was covered with it and he was covered with it.  Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy and relaxed at that Oasis!  Lesson #6….don’t fill up from both sides of the coach at the same time. 

So off we head down the road toward Colorado, only 50 miles to go.  We hadn’t gotten very far down the road when we heard a very loud banging on the driver’s side of the coach.  We pulled over right away, but couldn’t find anything that looked wrong.  We set out again, and this time when we heard the noise again, we figured out that it was the awnings banging against the side of the bus.  Even though the awnings were locked in place, the winds were so unbelievably strong that they were able to lift the awnings away from the bus enough to bang them around.  The only way to make it stop was to slow down to about 45 mph.  Lesson #7.  We all decided that only in Kansas, the home of “The Wizard of Oz”, would you have to try to drive in winds this strong.  We felt like Dorothy and Toto getting blown around out there!  We were on the lookout for that mean old Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys…perfect flying weather for them!  We slowly made our way down the interstate about 35 miles when suddenly we see lots of flashing lights and cars being shuttled off of the interstate.  We first thought it was an accident.  But we quickly learned that the interstate had been closed due to the high winds!  I have been affected by interstates closed for snow or ice before, but never wind…this was definitely a first!  We pulled in to a Wal-Mart parking lot, along with about 20 big rigs and other RVs and cars, to wait it out.  We checked the internet for weather and road conditions in Kansas and Colorado.  There were high wind advisories in effect for the part of Kansas we were in as well as for the Eastern part of Colorado.  The interstate in Colorado was open, but the 15 miles we had to go through in Kansas to get there were closed.  So close, but yet so far away!  We could almost smell the Colorado air, but we just couldn’t get there.  So, we did what anyone would do in this situation, we did a little Wal-Mart shopping…as much shopping as Kevin wants to do in a day, which is a very little.  We waited.  And we waited.  And the wind blew and blew and blew.  Now it was dinnertime so Eliana and I ventured out into the wind to search for a decent restaurant to eat at just to get out of the bus.  Nothing but fast food and a questionable Chinese restaurant were within walking distance of us (the last thing we needed was bad Chinese food sickness!).  So we just decided to return to Wal-Mart for a Rotisserie chicken and sides.  It was our first sit down meal in the RV and it was good!  And the best part was that now, after 4 hours of sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot, the interstate was finally opened again!  We were on the road lickety split!  We even came away with a souvenir from our stay in Goodland, Kansas…a tumbleweed that we chased down in the Wal-Mart parking lot.  Maybe it will make a nice little Christmas tree at home!  Situation # 8 dealt with and completed, check!  After being blown around for most of the day we were all getting pretty tired.  We decided to stop for the night just on the mountainside of Denver and get some sleep before heading into the mountains.  We found a trusty Wal-Mart (courtesy of our handy dandy book!) and settled in for some well deserved rest.

Friday, October 7^th:

We awoke to a crisp, cool, and clear Colorado morning.  It was beautiful!  Perfect for our maiden voyage into the mountains with the RV.  We decided that we didn’t want to tow the Suburban behind the bus up and down those steep grades so we unhooked the Burb.  I drove the Suburban behind the coach, watching and praying that all would go well for Kevin and the kids in there.  I was totally helpless to do anything from behind them.  Kevin handled the mountain grades like a pro!  We made it to Beaver Creek in good time and all in one piece.  We decided that we would stop at the rest area close by to dump our tanks and refill the water tank.  Should be quick and easy, right?  Not so fast!  Kevin was bent down to hook the hose up to the bus to empty the black (i.e. poop) tank and the gray (sink water) tank.  When he opened the cover to the bottom of the bus connection, it was like a scene right out of the movie “RV”.  Matter from the black tank sprayed all over his face, shirt, hands, pants, etc.  It was so disgusting!  We decided that it must have happened because of the pressure built up at altitude.  The problem that arose from this “explosion” was that the cover blew the little knob off under the bus that you attach the hose to in order to achieve a good seal when emptying the tanks.  That meant that Kevin had to hold the hose in place.  Every once in a while fluid would leak out around the edge and run down his arm.  Again, gross!  Meanwhile, we were also trying to fill the water tank.  It seemed like it was going well, but then it stopped filling before it was full.  Luckily, Kevin was smart and videotaped his RV orientation with the iPad so we had a video to watch to see what the problem was.  Alas, in this situation, the video was no help…Kristi had to step in to see that the valve was closed.  She is earning her stripes!  With all of the Situation # 9 drama behind us, we headed to the condo for showers! 

Once we were all clean, we started the process of packing up our personal belongings from our Beaver Creek home, aka the brown house.  We didn’t get too far when we found ourselves all in tears.  Kevin and I felt like we were making a terrible mistake by selling the condo.  Each and every thing that we were taking with us and leaving behind for the new owners had a story and memories attached to it.  We were reminded how it felt to sell our Brown County, Indiana property (which we had also loved very much) and it felt like we were ripping the band-aid off of that unhealed wound all over again.  We stopped packing right then and left to go up to the village for some lunch.  We needed to think and have a little physical space from the condo to do it.  We actually called our realtor, Amy, and told her that we changed our minds and didn’t want to sell.  We wanted to know if there was a way to get out of the contract.  She was surprised and had us call a real estate attorney.  After Kevin spoke to him and found out the implications of backing out on the sale, we knew that we were stuck.  We would be inviting a lawsuit if we pulled out now.  At that point we knew that the choice was out of our hands and we returned to, tearfully, finish packing.  Once we had the RV and the Suburban all loaded up, we went out for dinner.  We were so exhausted physically and emotionally that we all couldn’t wait to get back to the condo to sleep.  Situation #10 is put to rest.  Tomorrow would be here bright and early and we needed to head back to Indiana.

……..To Be Continued with the “Wild and Crazy” Journey back home to Indiana!

Back to the Future ... Oops! I mean, the present

As fall shows signs of coming soon, it makes me reflect on all that has happened this past year.  Like the falling leaves, happy memories of family vacations, fun in the sun, and just kickin’ back softly float down my memory lane.  It also reminds me that now my kids are back in the swing of school and I need to refocus my efforts on “getting my life back”.  I spent some time this summer really pondering where I want to go from here, where I want to spend my time this school year.  While I was considering where to contribute my time and talents suddenly, the “pause” button on my life was pushed!  My mother is not feeling well and requires extra care from me at the moment.  My kids are requiring a whole lot of my time in getting them to and from practices, games, and events.  The homework load is suffocating on occasion with three kids in school (I don’t remember doing so much homework when I was their age….back in the days of big, feathered hair and bell bottom pants). My husband helps as much as he can, but has many big commitments on his plate as well.  I realize that “getting my life back” means that, right now, I need to “get my reality under control”.  In trying to decipher where I am being called to go in my future, I suddenly realize that right now, I am called to be exactly where I am. In many ways that is a liberating feeling.  It is so refreshing to have permission to live in the “now”, to enjoy all that each day has to offer.  I now find myself laughing a lot during the day as I play “McDonald’s drive-thru”…complete with a microphone and cash register…with my 4 ½ year old son.  I cheer like a crazy mom at my boys’ football and soccer games.  I thoroughly enjoy watching my daughter practice her splits and dance steps in the living room.  I remind myself that I will only have my children for a very short amount of time and I don’t want to squander that time looking for the next big thing.  I want to live the life that I have been blessed with right now.  I want to see and experience the DETAILS of my life and etch them into my memory.  I want to help my family get healthy again and treasure the many joys, big and small, that are a part of my day, every day.  I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities that present a new challenge to me and stretch me to give more of myself, but I want to live out my motto of “life is short, so really LIVE it!”.  While looking to the future is good and inspires us to hope, I now see that living in the “now” can be the most amazing gift if we only stop to open the present.   

Empire State of Mind

“In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.  Now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you.  Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York”. - Lyrics by Alicia Keys  

My husband and I recently decided to take our kids on a very last minute trip to New York City.  They had never been to a city of that size before and we were excited to have them see and experience some of the BIG world outside of Indiana.  We all LOVED it!   The words above are some of the lyrics to Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind”.  They conjure up memories of the city and the pulsating life that exists there.  It does make you feel like you can do anything you can dream up as you walk the streets.  The millions of people all truly LIVING as they bike through Central Park, take in a Broadway show, revel in the lights of Times Square, admire in awe the Statue of Liberty and the freedom it represents.  They stand in reverence at Ground Zero while remembering those who lost their lives there.   They catch their favorite celebrities on the Today Show, Fox News, David Letterman Show, or Saturday Night Live.  Or if you are amazingly lucky, like we were, you could even be in the same hotel where the President of the United States is attending a fundraiser.  The security, Secret Service, and German Shepherd dogs let us know that we were in the presence of a very important VIP!  Over dinner on our last night in the city, my family tried to convince me that they knew exactly what I should do in the next phase of my life (“My Next Step toward Getting a Life!”).  They all want me to become the Indianapolis equivalent of Buddy, “The Cake Boss”!  My husband and 3 boys even took a taxi over to Hoboken, NJ to go to “Carlo’s Bakery”….home of the Cake Boss.  They intended to get me a T-shirt that said “Cake Boss” on it, but there was a 2-hour wait to get inside the bakery!  Pretty amazing, but the cakes we have watched Buddy and his staff make on TV have been unbelievable!  I have always made birthday cakes for all of my kids and enjoy making a cake that is extra special to them that particular year.  Some of them have been relatively simple, and others have been very complicated.  I LOVE the creativity that is involved and the details…I love details!   But, while I appreciated their confidence in my cake decorating abilities, I wasn’t convinced that I could have my own bakery.  I am not fast because the cake evolves as I go along and I continue to think of more and more “cool” things to do.  I don’t think my business could survive if I only completed one or two cakes a day.  Maybe someday I will have the time to devote to making fun cakes for others.  But for now, I will just enjoy making elaborate cakes for my 4 biggest and most enthusiastic customers….. my kids! 

A “Monster-ously” Happy 4th of July!

I love the Fourth of July!   I love that it is a holiday that brings our country together to celebrate the wonderful “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness” that we all enjoy as citizens of the United States of America.  Freedom Rocks!  The Fourth of July is always a vacation where we are with friends or family….or both.  This year we were home in Indianapolis with my mother, sister, brother-in-law, and their four kids.  The lake that we live on has a wonderful fireworks display every year that we watch from our boat.  They also started an annual boat parade and contest a few years ago.  We decided that to make this holiday everything it could possibly be, we would enter the boat parade for the first time.  The theme that the committee set for the parade this year was “M * A * S * H”.  We knew that everyone’s boats would be relatively similar, with a MASH tent and the cast of characters from the TV show.  Being the serious competitors that we are, we decided that we needed to do something unique to make our boat stand out from all of the rest for the judges.  We were “In it to win it”!  We had 8 kids on board (and a dog!) so knew that they would be the key.  After all, who can resist kids and dogs, right?  Since none of the kids in our group had ever seen the TV show, we decided to liven up the theme a little bit and do a “Monster M * A * S * H” song and dance routine.  The kids all wore camouflage, but had masks and furry gloves on.  My husband, Kevin, was “Hawkeye” and my poor brother-in-law, Tom, drew the short straw and had to be “Klinger” (He was the one who always dressed up like a woman!).  I was “Hot Lips”, my sister “Hot, Hot Lips”, and my mom “Really Hot Lips”.  Dakota, our dog, was in her Uncle Sam costume.  We decorated the boat with a camouflage tent, Red Cross, flags, bunting, MASH sign with arrows pointing to many different cities around the world, and even a latrine!  My husband created the latrine on the back of the pontoon that had a sign posted on it saying, “Officer’s Latrine:  All others use the lake!”.  There was even a roll of toilet paper attached!  We choreographed a dance for all of us to do to the “Monster Mash” song.  All of the other boats on the lake gave us honks of approval and thumbs up.  The judges even seemed to dance along to our dance.  In the end, despite some tough competition from other very well decorated boats, we pulled out a win in our Rookie season!  The kids’ screams of excitement made you wonder if we won the lottery or just the 3^rd Annual Boat Parade Contest.  In the end, it was a day of celebration, from morning until the fireworks finale in the middle of the lake as we “oohed and awwwed” from our award-winning boat.  My mom, sister, and I all had tears in our eyes as we reflected on the week of fun that will be forever in our hearts.  Family is special and time spent together is priceless.  Sometimes when we truly LIVE in the moments that we are in, we experience a joy that washes over us and lets us know that this is what is really important in life.