My Crazy Trip to Missouri!

   I recently took a week long vacation to Missouri that was apparently cursed from the beginning!  Here is the story…..

     It all began the day before we were to leave.  We head out to run some last minute errands and when we parked the car and shifted into park – the car stayed in reverse.  The gear shift cable snapped.  So under the car we go to shift the transmission manually.  We take it straight to the dealership’s service station and they can’t take it for five more days.  So we buy the needed part and head somewhere else.  Fixed, problem solved, and we’re off the next day!

     Five hours into the ten hour drive, we stop for gas and a bathroom break.  We pull up to the pump and shift the car to park and ……. YES, you’ve got it, the car stays in drive!  The cable snapped again!  Anger with the mechanics that fixed it flare!  But there is nothing that can be done at that moment and with me in the car are 3 dogs, an 11 year old and a 4 year old!  Must maintain control right!  So we determine to keep going and never switch the car off. 

    Within 5 minutes of getting back on the road, one of the dogs begins getting car sick (I assume from all the excitement from the car trouble).   For the next 3 hours, the dog continues to be sick!  Hold it together – there are kids in the car!  So we make it to our family’s house and think the worst is over!  The next day, the car goes to “the car doctor” as the four year old calls it and is repaired.  Time to relax and have fun!  Plans for the next day – waterpark!

      But,…………………………mother nature had another idea!  We wake up early the next morning to a terrible storm.  Panels from the fence are flying away, trampolines are in the streets, trees are disappearing out of front yards!  It’s a tornado – a small one but that’s enough for someone terrified of storms!  Waterpark cancelled, man contacted to repair the fence and another called to repair the A/C that also went out during the storm!  Hold it together – there are kids in the house!

     So finally, we get a few consecutive days of fun and enjoyment!  We made it to the waterpark and I lathered the kids in sunscreen and had a blast on the slides and in the wavepool.  Unfortunately, I totally forgot the sunscreen for myself and by 4:00 that afternoon, I was PURPLE!  Stupid me, right?!  At least it wasn’t the kids!  We wrap up the end of the vacation pleased with the fun we have all had despite the rocky start.  And are soon to start packing up for the long drive home.  The night before we pull out for that drive, we get a phone call from the friend checking our mail.  She had walked into our house only to find it a blistering 95 degrees!  Our A/C is broken!  Hold it together – there are kids around!  After spending many frantic hours on the phone to make sure the A/C will be repaired the next day, we load up and head home. 

       Whew!  It’d been a rough one, but all is well, right?!  WRONG!  Remember I said I’m terrified of storms?  Oh yea, there’s another one on the way home.  The emergency signal cut into the radio station – flash flood warning – we’re headed straight for it.  I’m sorta freakin out on the inside but have to hold it together – kids are in the car!  Water washes across the road and we can’t see anything.  There is no shoulder to pull off on, no town, no nothing.  Just a water filled road and trees!  Hold it together……..

………………kids are in the car!

Today, I think back over this and laugh.  I know in many years, the kids will only remember the waterslides, petting the stingrays, and riding the rollercoaster.  But I will never forget the craziness that this particular vacation brought with it and can only hope that next year’s is much calmer!

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~ by jenspencilings on August 13, 2010.