An Unexpected Detour

June 7, 2013

We rose and broke camp quickly, since we had an appointment to get an alignment before leaving for the next spot. The beautifully organized trailer of the day before now resembled a homeless encampment, with towels and clothing strewn around, and dirty dishes next to the potted artificial tree.

Then we got to the alignment place and had to drop the trailer so our car could go inside. Suddenly, instead of an appendage, the trailer became our new home. The amount of elegance depletion was directly proportional to the amount of time we waited. And waited. And waited.

There was no shortage of bedding to lay on, no shortage of beverages, no shortage of cream puffs for Damon, and no shortage of naps for anyone who wanted one.

Besides not making it to West Yellowstone in time for lunch, it was rather worrisome because we all know that Time = $ and Time in an Auto Shop = Lots of $. Sadly, by the time we finished, our cushion, and most of our budget, were gone. Still, we were very grateful that God allowed us the chance to get a repair under our own steam, and not breaking down by the side of the road.

We did some fast refiguring and brainstorming, and somehow it worked. We left Billings on our whittled-way-down-but-totally-fun workation.

 

A couple miles up the road, the car was handling so beautifully that Jack was able to notice that there was a problem with one of the trailer tires. Another fast re-figuring, and a spare trailer tire added itself to the damage report. More whittling. But at least we got Taco Bell.

We arrived in West Yellowstone shortly after 7 and began throwing the camp together in a big hurry. As big as the hurry was, I still made time to cut Electro-Boy’s wild hair.

It was pretty well dark by the time we got to eat our supper of BBQ’d veggie corn dogs and corn on the cob. The corn dogs were an experiment. We wrapped them in foil before putting them on the grill, and cooked them just like the corn. They were spectacular, though the sticks burnt to a crisp.

We had to take extra precautions, since we were in Bear Country. “Devon, no food in the tent,” I called sweetly, as Devon prepared to take his dessert to bed with him. I don’t care what anyone else says, the placid expression on my face couldn’t have resembled a snarl.

“I’m taking my dessert to bed,” Jack gloated.

“Just be sure to put the wrappers in the car before you go to sleep,” I kindly reminded him.

And we all went to sleep.