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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Home...Safe and Sound!

It really was an "up there and back" trip. And for the first time, this one involved a relatively uneventful drive...Thank God! Here are some random things from the trip that I have to share...

1. Prior to leaving for the trip, we had new tires put on the van, the oil changed, and Chris put on new windshield wiper blades. The windshield wiper blades are always a must before a trip because of this experience. We lucked out though - no real rain to speak of this time. Which was a good thing. Chicago had disastrous storms on Friday during the day and they moved through Louisville (where we spent the night) around 6am Saturday morning. By the time we left around 8am, it was really just down to a drizzle. We were on I-65 when Chris turned on the wipers. They worked without a hitch for about 3 swipes before tangling into each other and threatening to fly off. It was terrifying. All I kept picturing in my head was the wiper flying off and creating this massive accident. So we exited, parked and Chris went about examining the wipers. After about 5 minutes out in the drizzle, he opened up the door to the van and said, "I need the chip clip."

Um, excuse me, what??? "The chip clip from your chex mix...I need it." Um, ok.

So Chris just out his trusty pocket knife, pulled the silver spring part from the chip clip and and proceeded to rig the blade onto the wiper arm. Then we crossed our fingers that we wouldn't actually have to use them before getting a replacement.

I told Chris that I felt like we were massive rednecks - driving around with our wiper chip clipped in place. He told me that he felt like MacGyver. Sure.

The bottom line was that it had to be replaced pronto because Chris feared pulling into my father's driveway with a chip clipped windshield wiper blade. He swore that my father would notice it and respond, "What the hell is that?" and then Chris would have to explain himself.

2. My stepmom does not know how to cook for a small group of people. Sunday we had a small party for Quinn's birthday and Ger cooked for 75. I am not kidding. And it comes out in courses like you wouldn't believe. First the antipasto trays - salamis and pepperonis, marinated artichokes, cheeses, olives. Veggie trays and dips. Then the main course - burgers, Italian sausage, Italian beef, and side dishes out the wazoo (including grilled potato wedges and pizza from the Italian store). And then dessert - at least 10 different choices. It was Heaven. Absolute Heaven. And then we had more for dinner. And then we ate it again on Monday and it was divine.

3. We drove home through the night last night and totally lucked out - no traffic, no construction, no rain. But it still took us 13 hours. At 4 am, Quinn was having a milk and cookies snack while watching the Wonder Pets and the girls were texting each other on their DS's in the back seat. I am really excited to see what tonight brings for us.

2 comments:

sharonp said...

Hell, you might as well travel during the day if the kids are going to be up at 3 am!

Allyson said...

Don't know what kind of wiper blades you bought but I HIGHLY recommend Rain-x Latitude. Best $32 I've ever spent on a car repair. Your windshield will be so clear EVERY TIME you turn them on! I don't mind driving in the rain now.