the trip toto took to kansas... (part 3)

we were about 18 miles away from the hotel. it was nearing 10pm and we were driving through the mountains and many of the roads were under construction. we had switched up the driving situation again. dad, andrew, and lucy were rolling in the truck, and the rest of us were in the van. i was beginning to mentally prepare my "hotel to-do list" so that we could efficiently and swiftly get everyone settled. we had reserved a-joining rooms. when we travel i am a bit OCD about having all the bags in certain places so that we don't have unload an entire vehicle for just a few things. i always pack hotel bags separately so i don't run into that night-mere. in the eight years of road tripping, i have to admit i have mastered the packing! :)

anywho, i thought that we would forge ahead the 18 miles and let andrew and dad come through the construction at their own pace. then we could arrive, check-in, unload, and wha-la,  we could get a good nights rest.

 we were 8 miles from the hotel and my cell phone rang. it was andrew. no biggie, i thought he was calling to clarify the hotel name or something. he says, "well, the adventure is not over yet....." my heart sunk. "what's wrong?" i begged. " we are all ok first of all... the back wheel on the car carrier has caught fire... dad put it out with the fire extinguisher in the truck... and we are pulled over on the highway. the fire was close enough to the gas tank on the honda that i pulled lucy out of the truck in case the car had burst into flames." long pause. me, "WHAT??!!!" andrew repeats story. at this point we are pulling up to the hotel, mark and i are trying to talk about what in the world we need to do, check in, and unload 3 children who are on the verge of melt down. mind you it's still 95 degrees outside and every movement produces buckets of sweat.

the trailer, that was on the highway, needed to be picked up by penske, but the trailer had to be empty. penske also needed to deliver a new trailer to our hotel. the van, that was on the trailer, needed to be left on the side of the highway in order to be picked up by progressive and delivered to the hotel... you can only imagine the telephone tag that therefore ensued. everyone was MORE than happy to do their share of the picking up and delivering. however, the pick up times were for 2:30 am and the drop off times were for 5:30am. it's now passed 11pm. dad, andrew, and lucy are still on the side of the highway. lucy peacefully sleeping in her uncle's arms. mark has unloaded the van, and i have 3 clean, sleeping children. he leaves to go back to the highway and send dad and lucy home. while he and andrew stay and figure out what to do. i have since convinced progressive that there was NO WAY we would waiting on them for the next 3 1/2 hours on the highway, but that they could tow the van without us being there. i told them the key would be under a tire. they obliged. however, in order to deliver the van they needed a signature. penske was going to pick up the trailer and deliver the new one to the hotel... however, they also needed a signature. also, penske chose this opportunity to inform us for the FIRST time that the car on the carrier HAD to be empty. no exceptions. more on this later.

this is also a good time to inform you that your car insurance does not cover you when you are driving a moving truck. you must purchase additional insurance (which we did) ALSO, your tenant insurance does not cover the cargo you are moving. you must purchase additional insurance (which we did) ALSO, your car insurance does not cover damage to equipment you rent from said rental company. you must purchase additional insurance (which we did) *sigh*

dad and lucy arrived at the hotel around 12:45 am. they went to sleep. dad woke up at 8am the next morning to start looking an additional vehicle to carry all the things that were in the van that was on the carrier. in excess of 1,000 pounds.

andrew and mark arrived at 2am. andrew went to sleep to only wake up again at 5:30a and sign in the new trailer.

mark went to sleep around 4am after signing in the van. only to wake up at 10am and join dad and i in the search an additional vehicle.


i slept on and off from 3am to 8am. listening for progressive and penske to call, AND i was listening for the whimpers of small children whom were all beginning to run raging fevers...