Started out this morning just outside of St. Louis (west). We enjoyed the families we met last night at the pool. They were just coming back from vacationing in Traverse City, MI and were headed to OK.
Hutch joined us all for some breakfast at the hotel before taking off:
We made a quick stop in a Fireworks store before leaving MO -- made a few purchases, those that know about the 4th of July party, will more than likely see the results of that stop :)
Our trip through St. Louis was uneventful - although the never-ending construction was troublesome.
We got to Troy, IL and made a pit stop to pick up some milk and to switch our Redbox videos -- ohhhh - side note: for those that don't know this, you can rent Redbox videos and return them at any Redbox. We spent the week, renting in one state and returning in another.
Anyway, this is where the "little bust" appears. We came out of McDonald's and smelled burning antifreeze - ugh! One pop of the hood told me that something was wrong. Sure enough, we had blown our heater hose. A quick call home confirmed the findings as we were trying to figure out the next step, two gentlemen walked up.
Both were truckers and just taking a rest. Without hesitation they came to help. Between the three of us, we had enough tools and knowledge to make the hose work, just a little shorter. During this time a third gentleman walked up --- he was a Union Welder from West Virginia, only work he could find was in IL.
After a quick test, we called it good. We all parted ways with just thank you's and handshakes -- as though we were in the witness protection program, no names were ever exchanged.
We do live in a wonderful country and there are wonderful people out there! These gentlemen did not have to give up part of their Sunday and stand out in the heat to help us, but they did.
We drove off to the north, hoping to get closer to MI. A fly-by lunch and off we were again. The visible signs of flooding in IL were very apparent - crops underwater :(
Hutch decided to stay in this leg of the trip due to the rain. As the rain continued, our windshield wipers did not -- yes that's right, they quit in a downpour. All we could do is look at each other and laugh, BIG BELLY LAUGH.
Stopped for a quick break near a Bass Pro Shop - Hutch decided to take a little ride
We got to Michigan and we were never so glad to see a "Welcome to..." sign in our lives!
Almost home and back off road we go! First at 11:30pm, come upon a Amish buggy in the middle of the road -- luckily for us they had reflectors, otherwise we would not be publishing tonight. Shortly afterwards, we hit a SKUNK -- OMG, the smell!!!!!!!
But despite it all and because of it all - we made it home.
738 miles today and lots of hours -- time for good night, job search continues tomorrow..stay tuned.
G'Night.
No comments:
Post a Comment