Ever since leaving our northern camp this month, we have had an adventure after an other. And not necessarily the fun type.
Our first adventure was picking up bulk chicken I had ordered. It worked out such, it needed to be picked up on our way out of state. We were given up one hour on one day to pick it up off the truck in Lewiston, Maine, and with everything that had to be done that day, we made it to the truck with two minutes to spare.
But made it! Woohoo!
We placed the box of pre-paid 40 lbs of fresh chicken breast on the seat
behind driver (only available spot in our fully loaded Suburban), and
drove to the next stop we had (with 10 minutes to spare this time).
Then stopped to unload everything at the Captain's parents place. We
discovered the box of chicken, which had been in a soft cooler, had
leaked chicken juice all over the seat. Yuck. Well, we cleaned it up,
opened up the box (where chicken breast had gone loose from their
plastic bags), and separated the chicken, and froze it in ziplock bags.
And thought that was that.
Our second adventure was Saturday morning when the Captain took our Suburban to a local chain car service and parts place to change our snow tires to regular tires. It had taken a while, but the Captain came back eventually, and we unloaded the snow tires, and reloaded the car with our luggage.
Except the Captain's dad realized the tires were not right. They had not been torqued, we were charged for items we never got, and possibly other things were wrong, too. Ask the Captain.
Sooo, back to the car place we go. We did get good customer service, and our money was refunded.
We continue on to New Hampshire, and on the way the Captain realizes the tires need to be balanced. We stop at Sears, and fortunately they were able to balance the tires right away (and tell us the last place hadn't balanced them at all!).
We had a chance to meet some friends at the mall, and the Captain also made a work stop.
Our third adventure was having to go to Boston on Friday. Yes,
the-city-is-in-lock-down-Friday. We drove by signs on the highway:
"Avoid Boston area". But we had to go. Mr. T was flying into Boston the
day the second Boston Marathon bomber suspect was being man-hunted, and
the city was in lock-down mode. We kept checking online to see if the
airport was still open, and it was. We were able to pick up Mr. T
without any problems. (Thank You, God!)
On our way out of town we did get lost in the city, and ended up in Cambridge, one the locations we really didn't want to go into. At least it wasn't Watertown!
Our fourth adventure happened the next day. We stayed over at our friends' house near Hartford, Connecticut. We had a wonderful visit, but finally had to leave as we had a particular time we needed to be at the RV storage unit where the Mothership awaited us.
As we opened up the car doors to pack up our stuff, the most horrendous smell assaulted our senses. The reeking smell came from the seat behind the driver... Yes - the chicken juice had gone bad inside the seat and/or rug.
With windows down we drove to the nearest store where we picked up baking soda, cleaning supplies, and air re-fresheners. The Captain scrubbed for a good thirty minutes the seat and floor, making the chicken smell only faint, and the cleaner smell strong. To make matters worse, the air conditioner in the vehicle was not working.
But we had no extra time to work on it then, we needed to get to the RV storage. The owner comes from an hour away, and if we missed our date, we'd have to wait several days for the next chance.
We make it to the RV storage with about 15-20 minutes to spare. Yes, we like to live on the edge!!! (Not.)
Our fifth adventure awaits us. The Mothership actually starts right away, which sometimes is not given after sitting in storage for a while.
The problem was there had been a party in our motorhome. A mouse party! Disgusting, but we needed to leave the storage unit, and drive to our friends' house about an hour away. There, we took inventory.
It was far worse than we thought at first. The mice had gotten into everything. And I mean every place. The Captain and I started working on spring cleaning. And scrubbing the Suburban some more, too. Hours later we were clean enough to crash, and three of us slept in the RV, while four older kids slept with their friends in the house.
The next morning's update: the car smelled just as bad as Saturday morning. The Mothership needed some more cleaning. So after church we continue working.
Now, Tuesday morning, we are 99% done.
The plan had been to continue our road trip this morning, but because of all this, and some work issues, we might be staying an extra day or two before getting on the road again. The Captain and our friend M is in charge of the plans, and they have been changing on a regular basis ;-)
There are no complaints from the kids, they are having a blast with their friends. And while my friend S and I are cooking and cleaning the kitchen, we are having a sweet time of fellowship, too.
So, despite our not-so-fun-adventures of the last few days, it is good to be on the road again.
There. The other side of our fun adventures.
Aren't you glad to be home now?
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Meillä on ollut kaikenlaisia seikkailuja Mainestä lähdön jälkeen. Aikataulu on ollut tiukka joka päivä, ja on pitänyt jännittää ehdimmekö seuraavaan paikkaan ajoissa. Ostin ison pakkauksen kanaa, ja pakkaus vuosi kananmehua auton istuimelle ja lattialle, niin että pari päivää myöhemmin auto alkoi haisemaan ihan järkyttävältä. Ja kun haimme asuntoauton, niin hiiret olivat mellastaneet siellä, ja sotku oli hurja. Pysähdyimme Pennsylvaniassa ystävien luona siivoamaan molempia ajoneuvoja. Niin, ja perjantaina, kun Boston oli suljettu miesjahdin takia, meidän piti silti ajaa lentokentälle Mr. T:tä hakemaan.. Kaikki meni onneksi hyvin sillä reissulla, vaikka kaupungista poisajaessa eksyimme Cambridgeen. Onneksi ei sentään Watertowniin!
