{repeat chorus} On the road again....

Ah! On the road again..... It has a sweet feeling to it! 💛 And so we continue to head East. Our next destination will be Frisco (Dallas), Texas. But this will be a two day trip so we'll stop somewhere in the middle to spend the night and get right back on the road in the morning.





















Let me be transparent here for a minute. There are normally 2 things I always bring way too much of, my husband would say 3 - but I am holding fast to just 2.

1) work-out clothes! I might overestimate my commitment level to rise before everyone else and squeeze in a quick work out in the mornings. lol However, this trip we will have a little reprieve from the tin can when we stay in a few hotels along the way where it's not fitting (literally) to bring the tin can {ie. NYC, Boston and others}. So I am DETERMINED to take advantage of those hotel fitness centers. But I'm also going to cut myself a little slack remembering that at times, when we are doing those touristy things, we do end up walking miles and miles some days, so that counts, right!?! But in all seriousness, I do love my workout time. It's my quiet me-time that definitely rejuvenates my being in so many ways! So when I can sneak it in, I will! ;)

2) books! I might overestimate my availability of free time to sit and indulge in a book! I mean you would think that with HOURS upon HOURS of time on the road, that I'd be able to cruise through stacks of books, right!?! Uh ya - NO! My time actually sitting in one place while we are cruising down the road, would probably average out to about 15 minutes a time. Up for this down, up for that, this person needs this help, that person needs more help, uh oh - disagreement (yes, we have those!), now everyone is hungry {again}, don't forget to feed the driver, help this person with bathroom duties {sometimes a precarious task while going down the road! :O}, reach this, pick up that, you get the point. I will say that it is much easier than it was 3 years ago when we still had TWO in diapers! lol And the older boys are a huge help too - but even at that - the so-called quiet sitting reading time I imagined, doesn't ever quite come to fruition like I dream. And so goes the same mantra as #1... when I can sneak it in, I will! ;)

In case you missed the play by play on Instagram, we did pass these signs as we meandered down the highway in between Arizona and Southern New Mexico. 

Okay, be careful, we got the message. 

Not that we knew a solution or what to do when you are practically driving a sail boat down the road, but okay - thanks for the warning {I guess?}.





















And then, this....

Huh, guess they were right! 😨 Thank you Jesus for protecting us as we measly drove along US Hwy Windstorm.

 Once we see the "WELCOME TO TEXAS" signs, we did do a little celebrating. However, if you've ever made this drive before, just because you enter Texas doesn't mean you are anywhere's near your destination. Unlike most states, entering the state means you could still have days of driving ahead of you! lol

Just a little mid-stop photo taking to celebrate little missy being able to come sit with me in the front seat.

We stopped for the night in the sprawling metropolis of Van Horn, Texas. See, right here....

Yep - I'm sure you know it! Right? 😜😜

The next morning, we rose, said goodbye and thanks to VanHorn, TX and mosied on our way through Texas some more, and some more and some more and some more.

And when in Texas, you have bug splat the size of Texas. We named them Burgs {aka. bird + bug}. Unfortunately, they met their demise on our windshield but I'm sure they lived a good life - really, they did!

I just KNEW you were dying {ha, ha, ha} to see a picture of burg splat, right!?! You're welcome!

And beyond shock of all shock, the driver decided to let me drive. Actually I started driving before the burg splat but after we washed burg away at our gas stop, I continued on in the captain's seat. I think he pretended to be asleep or something so the kids would fend for themselves but not sure how that worked out for him. Because once I'm in the driver's seat, I kind of tune out everything else {thus, the driver's motivation to do 90% of the driving! ;) }. So if I look serious here, it's because I really really am.

My focused composure might, just might have something to do with the fact that the driver let me take the helm through the Dallas/Fortworth freeway spaghetti bowl. Being the small town girl that I now claim to be, I admittedly was saying some serious prayers as I attempted to follow the phone map directions and drive us through something like THIS.... 😵😵😵

No big deal, right?

PS. The 3rd thing would be.... SHOES! But you can't fault a girl {and her daughter 😏} for that, right!?! Btw.... I'm pretty sure I've worn EVERY pair I brought.

PSS. If you read this far, you are a super hero! Let me know in the FB comments, if you did! I'd love to know!

Moving Along....

Hesitant? Nervous? Doubtful? YES, YES and YES! I was certainly leary that all of this was going to go down as planned. lol But to my utter shock & awe the part showed up to my aunt's front door! 👏 I couldn't believe it! But it did - I opened the package myself just to double check that the box wasn't full of candy wrappers or packing peanuts. Please join me in a round of applause for.....

We were grateful to have the extra time to spend with my aunt and in Arizona, so we took full advantage of it. My aunt is an amazing hair stylist and so she graciously used her magic scissors on a couple of the boys.

We then headed off to visit the Arizona Science Center. We purchased a membership to the Sunriver Nature Center before we left home because it includes a network of museums around the country that you can visit for free or greatly reduced cost. So off to the Arizona Science Center we go... {okay maybe because it's an air conditioned activity too.}

This particular example of the stomach and digestive system was especially entertaining, as you can hear! lol 😝

{see instagram or FB for technical explanation}

A stop over at one of our favorite road trip restaurants for a quick bite....

The kids don't get to see my aunt, their great aunt, very often but when they do, they have no problem jumping in where they left off last visit. We all 💗 Aunt Rose Marie greatly!

S'mores made this guy very happy & the rest of us very HOT! lol  Let's just say it doesn't cool down at night in Arizona, like it does so nicely in good ol' Central Oregon. ;)

And so you can see that we used every extra spare moment we had between the Arizona Science Center, a cool {literally} mall, going out to eat, swimming and s'mores!

WEDNESDAY MORNING ARRIVES!

This is the day that the amazing Orangewood RV is going to replace our slide motors and get us back on the road. Honestly, I had the same intention of dragging all of us into the repair center just to remind them of the {sweet} family they were doing this for - but I'd reach my limit on family participation of this sort because it required a wake up time of 7.30am. Ya - not happening!

So our amazing {handsome} driver buttons the tin can up while the rest of us are whipping the sleepies out of our eyes. He drops it off and calls me for a ride to pick him up while the tin can remains there. They were supposed to begin working on it about 9am and said it should only take a couple of hours but would nonetheless be for sure done by 4pm. Thus we had already planned on not leaving till Thursday morning, just to be safe! 

And wouldn't you know it, they called a few hours later and let us know she was done!!!! YAHOO! 👏 We (okay - I) thought that call would never come. So the driver went to pick her up and the service tech comes out to show him the newly repaired slide, he pushes the slide button and there she goes.... OUT and BACK IN - just like she's supposed to. Beautiful! The driver steps up to the plate and takes a swing at the exact same process... OUT 

                                 and

                                                    

                                                   NOT back in!!! 😭  {insert weeping & gnashing of teeth}

So the service tech steps back up and pushes the button and it comes back in for him! Ah - I see where this is going.... said service guy is now joining us on the remainder of the trip for his slide services! 

At any rate, this was as good as it was going to get so we drove the tin can back to my aunt's house. We celebrated Wednesday night going out to dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant! Thursday morning we kissed and hugged Aunt Rose Marie before she headed off to work and finished our loading up of the tin can. 

Until next time! 💛

The Standstill at Phoenix

By the grace of God through the help of Tim, we made it safely to Phoenix. We were thrilled to see my aunt Rose Marie and be able to spend some time with her. She has a lovely pool that made cooling off quite delightful! Everyone enjoyed the downtime to play and have fun!

In the meantime, we had already connected with an RV service repair company near my aunt's that would work on the ol' tin can. Because let me just tell you, we were NOT even going to attempt to finish this road trip with a slide that wouldn't work. That thing makes all the difference between sanity with 6 people in a cramped space and well... glorious hectic hair-pulling chaos. lol 😜

There are 2 hurdles to be jumped through:

1) SERVICE COMPANY SCHEDULE... They were expecting us the next morning, Monday. So despite all the grunts and sighs, we (okay - I) insisted on parading every single one of us in there at 8am! 😲 Yes, it was an obvious and outright attempt to encourage them to take pity on us. And despite all the previous companies we had talked to in between Barstow, CA and Phoenix, AZ, who were all booked out for months, Orangewood RV in Phoenix came through with shining colors saying they could fit us in on Wednesday morning!!!!!!! YAHOOO! 😃

2) PART... We did arrive with bad slide motor in hand to the RV service company and apparently that made them think we knew what we were doing. lol We were just trying to make the needed repair as obvious and easy for them as possible. But no, he scheduled the appointment for Wednesday morning and then sent US over to the parts counter to order the slide motor. Are you kidding me? I mean, this isn't just an inconsequential piece like a cabinet handle or shower hair trap 😉. But okay, we'll hope and pray the parts lady knows her stuff more than we do. So we ALL parade over to the other side of the store and meet Marg (real names are kept confidential - or unknown), raspy voice and all. And as it turns out, she DOES know what she's doing. Forgive me for making an incorrect assumption 30 seconds prior. Marg makes a few phone calls and looks a few things up on her computer while I try to keep the minions from tearing apart the store.

Slide motor in question! Not more than 7-8" in length.

"Hmmmm........." says Marg {BAD sign #1}

"It looks like everyone has them on back order {and I proceed to melt to the floor like the Wicked Witch}." {BAD obvious sign #2}

And as I'm trying NOT to get ahead of myself or take over for my husband, I start to ask.... 'how long are they backordered for?' But before I could get that all out...

Marg comments {somewhat under her breath}, "Let's try old faithful, just for the heck of it....

I mean, she's kidding, right? For a random RV part!?! I thought those kind of things only came out of some underground secret facility or China!?! But me, the average Joe {or Josephine} can just casually order one from Amazon?????? I've heard it ALL now! 😝  

Thus, Marg proceeds to pull up Amazon on her computer and wouldn't you know it, there lies the real part and even a generic of it too! Of course we'd rather go with the real part, I mean if we were at home, and had time to try out the generic, that might be a different story, but for now, the real part direct from the manufacturer it is.

But oh wait, it's not PRIME {amazon speak} and thus the delivery of said part is a little uncertain - NOT something that we need to mess around with right now - uncertainty that is. And so back to the generic part.... $100 less and it's PRIME! Yahoo! We'll take TWO - no seriously - TWO, can't hurt to have a back up in this situation.

No sense in Marg ordering it for us and then turning around and charging us for it. Thus I jumped on my phone {not literally} and began to place my order.

{side note: about that time, I receive a text from a dear friend that says

something about praying for us this morning. I read quickly and

returned my attention to the order at hand.}

I added the TWO slide motors to my cart and proceeded to 'check out.' To my utter shock and amazement, it gave me the option to UPGRADE to...

SAME DAY SHIPPING

not for $19.99 or $39.00 or $59.00 but for 

This small town girl thinks she must have missed some fine print somewhere which actually says the "FREE" part means giving up my first born or grocery budget for the next year but I couldn't find any such language. Did I fail to mention this all while walking out to said tin can - oh ya, this or that child insists on accompanying me - to obtain my credit card number. So no one get ran over in the parking lot, read fine print and it's 95* with 75% humidity = sweat factory, unlock tin can door, get credit card, relock tin can door, head back across parking lot making sure no one becomes road kill and somewhere along the way look for said 'fine print' and then hesitantly click "SUBMIT!"

HOLD BREATH..... I'm sure an alarm is going off somewhere stating I just attempted some high level security clearance Amazon purchase I was not authorized to partake in, but nope, nodda, nothing. Wait for my confirmation email and there it is, shipping terms listing a guaranteed delivery by 9pm TONIGHT!!!!!!!! WOW! I mean WOW, you guys, I'm just in shock. lol 

I share the good news, I mean we already thought one day shipping was a God-send (even for extra $) but this, THIS is way more than we expected. And so, we headed back to my aunt's in the tin can {AC full blast} and anxiously awaited this so-called 'same day delivery.' I'm sure the UPS truck will get run off the road or the part will accidentally get flown to Bulgaria instead, but whatever, we'll see if Amazon actually comes through like they said they would. 😵