I only say Part 1 because I am certain there will be more than one set of adventures. To date there have been several. Of course traveling in this manner (you can read about that here) means there is nothing but adventure- but there have been some moments where I just threw back my head and laughed at the irony, the craziness or just because I wasn't in the mood to rage.
There was that legendary first stop- you know, when we pulled into a grocery store parking lot and finally got to use the bathroom, walk the dogs and eat some food? That was almost 5 hrs into our first day of driving. I was ready to be out of the car and we walked the dogs and chatted and stretched- until one of the children pointed to one of the two Rubbermaid containers strapped securely with bungee cords to the rack on the bumper of the van. I looked to where she pointed and saw that the exhaust had melted an entire section of the container and exposed the small dollie in there. So, I shook my head, laughed at the craziness of it and unloaded the container and reworked the interior of the van to make the new items fit. Then, realizing we had no where to dispose of the container- since it was so big, my husband took out his pocket knife and cut it into little pieces so we could throw pieces away a little at a time at stops along the way.
Then there was the size of the room we stayed in. Believe me, I am not complaining- it ended up being more convenient and almost the same price as camping along the way and the animals could stay too so there is nothing to complain about. I was just surprised at how small the room was- impressively small- it was almost the same size as our tent but it had a bathroom- and the building offered a pool- hooray! So it was all bodies and two beds and animals.
We were startled but took in stride the wind gusts that played with us like we were a toy put there to entertain Nature and tried to avoid the semi-truck that bore down on us and honked, looking like it had attached itself to our bumper while I tried to move fast enough to get out of the way. They had some road rage issues and we avoided them like the plague after that.
Then there was the cat, crying balefully from the back of the car in her carrier where she sits between the children. She had been so quiet that we were concerned that she was wasting away or something but suddenly there was a faint, 'Rau, rau.” – She doesn't meow, she “rau”s.-- It got louder and louder and we told her how sweet she was and plied her with food and salami and nothing worked. We weren't sure what she needed and were about to get some more water for her when the smell hit us. It was just about then that the rauing got louder too as she smashed herself as firmly against the door as she could to escape the poo she had deposited in the corner of the tiny cat crate. Apparently, it was so rank that she was bent on escaping it too. No one blamed her.
Suddenly, we had to laugh because otherwise it would have been disaster. The windows went down, our heads went out them and we scanned the desolate landscape for an exit sign while gulping fresh air. Sure enough, as if the Universe knew it was coming (as I'm sure it did) there was a tiny sign and we turned off on an impossibly small road that quickly came to a “T”. If we turned left we went under the highway and to an undetermined destination. If we turned right, there was a sign that said “No services” and promptly- as in 10 ft-- dead-ended in the desert. I imagine there weren't any services there-- the sign was clearly redundant. We pulled into the desert and had the cat, the crate and ourselves cleaned up, aired out and back in the van in 10 minutes flat. Poor kitty shot back into her crate with joy, probably hoping to escape the hell we are putting her through.
We promised her mice at the end of this whole trip. As for me? Well, I'm having breakfast sausage- a lot of it- while the children eat chocolate and my husband hoarks down Mexican stuffed shells. But for now, we munch carrots and tell the animals that they are safe and loved and remind the children to be kind to each other while we listen to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and drive across this gigantic country.
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