A Blizzard, A Flood and A Fire

When I thought about coming back to blogging, I was surprised to see that I hadn't posted since early September! 

There is so much to catch up on, but firstly,

Thank you for all the support in the hopes of making our trip possible. 

The trip took quite a different turn than we anticipated.  Want to see?

;-)

 

 

Here they are. Digging into the sticker books and school that

we had saved up and set aside for the trip.

 

About 4 hrs into the trip we hit a FREAK snow storm! 

Something about the cold and the change in altitude started playing havoc

with our transmission! 

It would backfire in rapid succession and then die.

We would sit on the side of the road and pray that it would

start up again.

Talk about HARROWING!

It died 4 or 5 times each time taking longer to start back up.

2 hours into Wyoming we made the AWFUL decision

to turn around and limp the RV homeward.

OH THE TEARS! 

We were all so desperately disappointed.

No wedding, no coast, no Aunts and Uncles and Big sisters.

 

Here's a little Wyoming landmark. :-D

 

We stayed in a hotel that first night.

With the snow and the tears, we decided a little change of

view was in order. 

LoLo and I enjoyed the waffle bar. :-D

 

 

 All packed up, vacation ready, but nowhere to go.

What's a family of 8 to do?

We started making our way home,

we decided to take our moving hotel to a few parks on the way.

 

This park is in Monument Park and we had SO MUCH FUN!

 

 

A little picnic table just outside our parking site was the best!

Al Fresco dining by tiki light!

 

 Anniversary pic.

Things are never boring with this handsome man of mine!

 

This RV park had a mini golf course!

OH GOSH, it was fun!!!

 

 

Have I mentioned how CLEAN our daddy is??

hahaha

Literally cleaning the pine tree needles off the "green".

 

Next stop, an RV park in Manitou Springs

 

After we got parked and settled, we busted out the cards!

Our favorite game is called, Hand and Foot.

Trey is a HAM!!!

hahahaha

 

Had we known what was ahead of us that night, we would

have gone to bed, and gotten a little sleep.

About 1am, Gabe got up to use the potty.

We evidently didn't talk enough about the importance

of flushing the RV potty properly.

1:10am, we were three inches deep in water,

Ohhhhhhhh, the fun! :-D

 

Next stop Woodland Park!

 

We didn't plan on eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL in the RV,

but our budget had other plans.

So, we asked the woman who ran the park where the closest

grocery store was.

Her words...

 "About 1/2 a mile up the hill, definitely within walking distance!"

buahahahahahahaha

 

Still walking 20min later.

 

Another 20min later. we're wearing out.

 

About 45 min later we found the store!

I won't lie. The idea of walking back nearly brought me to tears. ;-)

 

SOME of us got a ride back!

Lucky duck!

 

Foot washing.

Isn't he cute???

 

We LOVED this RV park, oh my goodness.

It was quiet and clean, and surrounded by trees!

And the weather, it was gorgeous during the day!

At night, we were reminded WE ARE IN THE MOUNTAINS!

Night 2 we decided to turn on the heater in the RV.

Within minutes the cab filled with smoke.

 FLAMES, literal FLAMES were shooting from the vents!

We turned the heaters off, and decided to huddle for warmth. :-D

We paid for another night at the park, and took the RV apart.

Actually, David took it apart. 

Pieces of vents and tubing were scattered everywhere.

The culprit?  Evidently a nest of some kind,

IN THE HEATER!

 

This slide was literally a LIFESAVER!

Isaiah would climb the ladder, and scream ALL THE WAY DOWN.

Then turn around and do it again, over and OVER, AND OVVVVERRRRR!

 

5 nights total on the road, and we exhausted our little nest egg, so we headed home.

A blizzard, A Flood and a Fire later.

 

We didn't make the wedding, or the coast.

Instead, we made memories.