The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

This traveling way of life has been a mixed experience for us. Especially this last week, let me break down for you.

THE GOOD

Getting to visit with friends who have truly been restorative to the soul.

THE BAD

Getting into a minor fender-bender with a questionable, sketchy couple who are apparently living out of their car.

THE UGLY

Finding out the morning we were trying to leave Chattanooga that one of our slides has a broken motor. It took 3 hours and $175  to manually shove back in.

That last one is still hanging over our heads and hopefully doesn't slide back out as we travel. We can't even begin to think about fixing it until we get to Texas.

So, back to The Good. 

Wednesday, we drove out to Sabrina & Allen's home nestled in the beautiful grassy hills of Ooltewah. Sabrina was cooking up a Mushroom Stout Pie in the kitchen while Daniel played with baby Mae.

 

We ate, laughed and reconnected.

Friday, we met Sabrina and Mae at the Tennessee Aquarium in Downtown Chattannooga. I think we've been to more aquariums this trip then ever before. This Aquarium was definitely impressive. 

I love the look of wonder when Daniel sees the exotic bird exhibit.

Sunday, we met Sabrina, Allen and Mae at The Chattanooga Choo-Choo just down the street from the aquarium to check out the old trains that have been turned into hotel rooms and cafes.

Caiden loved blowing bubbles at the "baby"

This was a cool diner

After letting the kids explore the trains, we invited everyone back to our RV park where I had ham and bean stew cooking in the crock pot. The men talked about their experiences in the Navy over Yuengling beer while sipping Scappa Scotch out of coffee mugs. And Sabrina and I compared notes about motherhood. It was an evening that we didn't want to end but it was the kids were tired so we arranged one last visit before we left town.

And now The Bad.

Wednesday morning, Dan set out to purchase a 50 AMP surge protector (to prevent any further electrical/appliance issues) but decided to pick up lunch before heading home. While coming out of the strip mall, he was cut off by one car which forced him to hit another car. Our truck had practically no damage and their car had a small dent. Everyone was ok until the cops came and suddenly the couple were hurt and their car was undrivable. The man was eventually hauled away by the ambulance. Unbelievable. 

Here is a picture of the tiny dent in our truck.

So, this is the third claim we've had in about three months. I sure hope our insurance doesn't drop us.

We had another wonderful visit with Sabrina, Allen and Mae on Tuesday evening and then on Wednesday, we got ready to drive towards Texas.

Finally, The Ugly.

We were almost ready to leave, all I had to do was bring in the slides and put the boys in the truck. Only, one of the boys slide-out wouldn't come in. Aghhhh! At this point I'm thinking we have some kind of voodoo curse over us because this just can't be happening. 

Dan calls the mobile rv repair guys and they arrive 30 minutes later. Apparently one of the 4 slide-out motors jammed up and prevented the slide from moving. It had to be removed with a hammer and a screw driver. Three hours later, the slide was successfully pushed in and we were on the road, hopefully towards greener pastures and better luck.

We stop in Mississippi and Louisiana before arriving in Longview, Texas. I'll keep you posted on our misadventures next week!