And So It Begins...

We are off! Well, sort of! Our 1:00 departure plan turned into 2:30, preceded by no less than 3 meltdowns from my sleep deprived, stressed out self. Tim throws the truck into drive and off we go....into a very solid tree branch! Ok, no problem, throw it into reverse and slam the branch back over the a/c and away we go.....

We happily turn onto Tudor Lane and neither of us see the sign saying the road is closed today. We turn the corner and oh crap! Tim gets to back out a 1/4 mile of curvy road.

Phew! Now we have the pleasure of making a hairpin turn onto 407 but luck is on our side! There are no cars coming so we jump on our opportunity and make our fast, very tight turn. And then the emergency brake cable pulls loose and our trailer tires lock up as we are trying to pull out of the oncoming traffic lane (picture the big rock truck coming). So we oh so gently...drag the trailer to the meager shoulder and Tim plays dodge cars and hops out and puts it back in. You may wonder how he knew so quickly about the brake cable...that is a whole other tale of last week, which was a "live and learn" experience that has already come in handy - note to self, we need a longer cable!!!

Ok! Away we go!!! We are "flying"! We are golden! We are over 2 hours into our trip....we are traveling on a "steep" Texas hill and....now we are shimmying! Now the truck is shaking and shimmying. Big time. And we have somehow entered a construction zone that is single lane, no shoulders and lasts FOREVER! For once in his life Tim has driven below the speed limit in a construction zone. The long line of trucks and cars behind us must have appreciated that.

Our trusty GPS guide (we have yet to name her) has told us there is a Love's Truck Stop just a mile and a half away. We love her! After navigating some back roads that are making us start to worry she announces we have arrived. We had arrived at a small town High School with a huge, deserted parking lot!!! Which is a wonderful thing to see when pulling a 40' trailer! So we stop and try and figure out what to do. It is now after 5 and there wasn't much help to be had but we finally determine it is a tire issue on our truck. And yes, I had 2 different places tell me last week my tires were fine. Fine if you like your tires to have dry rot.

Our luck continues because just 5 shaky miles down the road is an RV park! Here is Tim enjoying our view and the sunshine (105 degree sunshine). Just a shimmy down the road was Shooters Restaurant. The only sit down joint in town (cigarettes required but they let us stay) With a $9.95 16 oz New York Strip - the waitress informed us that the owner's of Shooters also own the meat company across street. Fresh Meat! Ok, it was crazy good along with everything else we ordered. Including Kylie's chocolate pie!

With 4 new tires on order for the morning we can't wait to see how our Adventure unfolds tomorrow! Our itinerary has us down for Carlsbad, NM tomorrow. That will be a 6 hour drive. Should we start making bets if we will make it?!