Big Bucy Bonanza

This is the first I'm able to blog because this trip has been one challenge after another.  Let me explain.

We left Sunday at 815a which was an hour later than we wanted.  We spent all the time packing a bunch of food up, and then we went to MacDonald's for breakfast.  We just needed to get on the road instead of trying to make breakfast right off the bat.  Kevin drove the whole way.

We drove through West Virginia.  I haven't been there since my grandpa's funeral last year.  It was sad.  My mom has a tradition of singing "Almost Heaven, West Virginia" whenever we pass the sign.  I've kept this tradition up for my kids too, and I sang for my grandpa.  :( I was pretty sad.

We stopped to get gas in Ohio and make lunch for the kids.  We started up the generator, and I heated up food in the microwave.  Then I plugged in the toaster to heat up some waffles, and all the power went out.  We had flipped a switch on the generator.  We didn't know this, so Kevin checked all the fuses.  We opened all the windows, but it was HOT.  We went and asked other RVers at the stop if they knew what could be happening, but they didn't.  I tried another guy, and he said he would come check it out.  About that time, the salesman we bought the RV called Kevin back and told him how to fix it.  The guy, Brian, came over and troubleshooted with Kevin trying to get it fixed.  I wanted to ask his address and send him a thank you, but I was hot and irritable.  An hour later, we were on the road again.

We finally pulled into our Walmart destination in Terre Haute, Indiana.  We went to Terre Haute because Kevin's favorite movie is A Christmas Story, and in it they say, "The line's all the way down to Terre Haute."  That's it.  That's why we were in Terre Haute.  It was on the way to our destination anyway, but still, it's kind of like Kevin wanting to be in Sparta to watch the eclipse last year, just to say that he was in Sparta.  Men.

Anyway, we got settled in Walmart and hooked up to the portable generator.  We brought it along, so we could have AC while we slept and not have to worry about Carbon Monoxide.  We took the RV to Kaelyn's graduation and the alarm went off, and we had to get the kids up and open the windows.  So the portable generator was hooked up and ready to go with all the locks and chains so it didn't get stolen.  The kids and I went to shop for a couple things.  On the way out I asked management to make sure we could park there and they said, "no."  Ugh.  I told Kevin, who started to pack everything up, and walked down the line of stores trying to see if there was anyone to ask if we could stay in their parking lot instead.  Kevin started calling other businesses we could see around, and everyone was a no.  We packed up and called the other Walmart further down the road.  They were a yes, so we went and set everything back up again.  It was pretty late at night by the time everyone got their teeth brushed.  Kevin and I made it to bed around midnight.  I asked if the generator was far enough away, and he ensured it was, but I smelled gas.  Apparently the cans of gas for the portable generator had spilled in the storage bin right under our "room."  Kevin got worried the generator wasn't far enough away and got up to go get a carbon monoxide detector at Walmart.

He handed it to me when he got back, and I hit the test button on it, and it started the alarm.  We had to reset it and watch for the green light.  We finally saw it and went to bed.  Around 330a the generator ran out of gas, so Kevin got dressed and went to fill it.  Again, this is so we could have AC running cuz it's so hot at night.  We woke up at 640a.  I wouldn't let Kevin drive because he hadn't slept, so I took the wheel.

He had some coffee and rested a bit.  After about an hour, we stopped to get gas again.  Our fresh water had run out at this point, so we filled up on that also.  Then Kevin got back in the driver's seat, and we set off for Oklahoma.  Lunch went much easier on this trip because we pulled over to switch places, and Kevin was in charge of getting everyone lunch.  :) I drove for a couple hours and switched again.  Kevin got to drive through downtown St. Louis which was fine with me. 

We arrived in Oklahoma 530p their time and set up shop at the RV park.  

We took showers, well rinses, had dinner, and tried to figure out why the generator wasn't working again.  It shut off for no reason when we got here.  We are able to hook up to power, so it would only be a big deal for when we leave tomorrow.  Everyone went to sleep late again, but I think most of us slept.  I woke up hearing noises and thought someone was trying to steal something from the storage unit because I didn't know if Kevin had left it open.  I looked out the windows and didn't see anything, so I tried to go back to sleep.  While I'm sure that the big bed is the best place to sleep in the RV, it's still not all that comfortable.  We woke up around 630a.  Kevin called the generator people, and they basically said it's because it's too hot.  That's a lot of help.  NOT

We had a lazy breakfast and washed some clothes.  We're headed into town to see The Pioneer Woman's shop and have lunch.  Even though I'm AIP, I'm going to have some bacon and eggs and hope for the best.  I have to eat something from her shop.  I've followed her blog since Maria introduced it to me nine years ago.  Mars is pretty excited too because she loves The Pioneer Woman's kids.  Tomorrow we start our trip to Albuquerque.  

This was before we got on the road Sunday.

This was when we finally got into Terre Haute.  

Long day