DAY TWO: Albuquerque, NM to Austin, TX (just barely)
Day Two on the road went something like this: Late morning, lots of packing/repacking, breakfast with Ben, SHORT drive until major car breakdown near Roswell NM, lots of waiting, McDonald's eating, lots of discussing what to do, and finally an ALL NIGHT car drive half way through Texas.
"Let's be honest" {just for you, Michelle :)}, it was a real doozy. It's funnier to think back on that day and see how truly chaotic it was and I can even laugh a little to myself about what we went through. It definitely was NOT funny a month ago however.
"I think we are in New Mexico somewhere. But I can't be sure. Everything looks the same. I'm totally enchanted!" (J)
We started the morning trying to pack up the car {again}, and met up with my brother, Ben, for some breakfast at IHOP. It was so much fun even if the kids went semi-crazy in the restaurant. Then it was on to our final goodbyes. It was a little sad to think I won't see him until at least next summer, so I was really glad we were able to stop in NM and visit with him for a little bit. After a late morning breakfast we had tentatively made plans to try to make it to the caves by late afternoon. We had decided we would go slowly that day, relax and drive part way to our next destination: Austin TX. Then on Sunday we could arrive and visit my dad. Unfortunately, our plans changed much sooner than expected. We had stopped to let the kids have a break at a playground in a tiny town near Roswell, NM when our carefully constructed plans all fell apart. When we loaded up the kids and went to leave, we heard this horrible dropping sound under the hood and then the car made this really weird noise. When J opened up the hood and inspected, he figured out we had a defective radiator fan that was installed days before we left. Somehow one of the fan blades had broken. We ended up unloading the kids again and J headed down the street to talk to the local auto repair shop about possible parts, while me and the children enjoyed the local dog pound next to the park.
{remember how I said that we drove through the worst rainstorm ever on Day 1? Well it taught us one major point: Weather proof does not = Water proof. When we arrive at our hotel on day 1, all of the items that were in the large duffel bag on the top of the car were soaking wet. This included the pack and play, some food, and most notably the boys bag that had all of their clothes for the trip. I ended up having to choose the dryest items for them to wear on Day 2, but left these pants on our dashboard to attempt to air dry out for E. Luckily once we hit Austin, TX we were able to take the clothes to the laundromat at my dad's apartment complex to dry them}
Robby, Ben, Miss M, Eli and Jesse
{Brother Sissy photo-op}
Potty-stop on the side of the road (before our car break down)
Some of the beautiful scenery along the LONG stretch of highway in New Mexico
Me and Mr E---silly boy trying on Mom's sunglasses :)
We sooo wanted to stay at this motel, too bad it was closed.
My car mechanic: I felt so blessed to be married to a man that knows how to fix cars decently well. We would have wasted a lot more time and money if that wasn't the case....not to mention how hot he looks when he is sweating to death in humid, muggy weather as he rattles under the hood :)
It's okay we've got it under control...Robby and Eli are going to fix the car ASAP with tree branches!
.....and Jesse also has a screwdriver??
The tricky thing was that apparently the specific radiator fan we needed was not available in just any store. There were only a few at specific stores along our path AND it was already Saturday evening and most places were already closed. Over yummy {gag} McDonald's food, we discussed our options---we brought the kids there so that they would have a place to run around and play while we talked about "what to do"; instead the outside play area was closed off for the day due to rainy weather and the kids were in our face the entire time and made me way too insane for words. After many talks with friends who were car mechanics, parents, and the auto repair store, we finally made the decision to keep driving and hopefully make it closer to Austin, TX. Supposedly we would be able to drive with just the one fan hooked up for awhile, provided the engine didn't start overheating.
At midnight, during our gas, bathroom, food break we made the decision to try to drive all night long and possibly make it to Austin, TX by early morning. We probably looked like the funniest group rolling through in the middle of the night with our kids all WIDE awake. After eating some late night food, we ditched our cooler and much of our food {and no matter what J insists, he tossed R's monster truck toys, and some other items that I had fought tooth and nail to bring in the car} and reloaded up much lighter than before. The children enjoyed being at the trucker stop and waving to all the large semi-trucks as they pulled in and out of the gas station. Luckily this was about the last thing I remember on day TWO. I took my contacts out at the rest stop and lay back and slept on and off the next 5-6 hours. The next solid thing I remember, other than tossing and turning in the car, was bright light shining on me and getting ready to pull into Dad's apartment complex.
Robby, Maddie, Jesse and Eli at the rest stop
"Our Road Warriors"
Heavy duty packing/unpacking at the trucker stop.
There's nothing like seeing a little girl with pigtails in pajamas, waving to truck drivers at 2am!
Stay tuned for Day THREE :)
{M, Rubba and E, eating ice cream....thank you Grandpa!}
E with his delicious, dripping, sticky ice cream cone
Eli's "cheese" face
{Dad's fabulous balcony/porch at his apartment---he actually moved from this apartment complex only a few weeks after we visited}
