Heading West - Days Two and Three

We were up with the sun on Day Two. The kids had a quick breakfast while we packed up and unhooked our water and electric from the campsite. After a short chat with the KOA owners we filled our cups with fresh coffee and left the sweet smelling pines. We had made plans to stop in Mobile, Alabama to tour the U.S.S. Alabama. We needed these little side trip because we didn’t want to spend all day, everyday, just driving. With four kids, my mother, a Doberman named Angel and a cat named Stormy we needed to stop quite often. After touring the decommissioned naval ship and WWII era submarine, we did our best to get out of Alabama. It wasn't that we didn't like the state but there was a swampy, gassy smell to which our noses just could not aclimate. We stopped for lunch at a Wendy's but not one had an appetite with the sulfer smell burning their noses. How did the residents deal with this day after day?


As our trip headed northwest on day three, we drove through Oklahoma. About mid-day we encountered a wind storm that shook the van and caused the Airstream to shimmy and shake. My mother told the kids to sit tight and be quiet as we tried to find somewhere to pull off and wait out the wind. Next thing we knew along with the rocking and rolling we had hard, fast drumming. The awning which had been rolled up tight in its frame unfurled and started flapping against the side of the trailer. With no other option we pulled off to the side of the road to try and find a way to remedy our chaos. Neither mom nor I could reach the top of the Airstream so we had to come up with a plan to gain some height. Angel’s food was being transported in a galvanized metal garbage can so we grabbed it and the swivel chair from inside and with the help of the kids holding us steady mom and I climbed up on the chair/garbage can and rolled up the awning. Our next problem was how to secure the awning so it didn’t blow open again. My mother sent Chuckie to find the duct tape under the sink and said to me “You dad always said that duct tape has 1,001 uses. This will become 1,002.” We got back on the road laughing and shaking our heads in disbelief over what had just happened. When we finally spied a rest area, the wind had stopped but we needed to make a pit stop anyway. The rest area was quite full and all the pull-throughs were occupied. The kids kept insisting that they had to “go” so I had to figure out where to put the long rig. I pulled over near the 18-wheelers and saw one spot that would require backing in. As I got out to sum up the situation a trucker jumped out of his rig, strutted over and said, “Hey, little lady, ya need me to park that for ya?” He chuckled and winked at two other truckers standing nearby. That was all I needed after the experience on the highway so I told mom to take the kids to the restrooms and I jumped in the driver’s seat and somehow, and I truly don’t know how, I backed that rig into the long parking spot. It took a few tries and quite a bit of jockeying but as the truckers laughed their heads off at what they had just witnessed, I strutted to the restroom with a promise to myself to learn how to park that rig on a dime.