Tuesday, June 7, 2011

We blew out a flip flop...

Day 10: Monday, June 6, 2011 & Day 11: Tuesday, June 7, 2011
We blew out a flip flop...

On the road once again, we exhausted Andrew with a morning of playing with his buddy Jake and a trip through some confusing Indiana road work before doing a quick but fabulous lunch stop at the Italia Mia Ristorante in Westfield, Indiana. The entire family had a love affair with the garlic knots before stuffing their faces further with a selection of pizza, calzone, and lasagna. Is this Indiana or Italy?

We were headed just north of South Bend, IN to Vandalia MI – home of the world famous MImmy and Pippy (Mark's Grandma and Grandpa) - when all of a sudden there was a big BANG that shook the RV and brought things to a screeching halt outside of the Marlin Mobile Home Park in Niles, Michigan.

Mark, Eagle Scout through and through, sprung into action. AAA RV assistance went about the business of finding a tow truck big enough to tow our rig. In the meantime, Mimmy came to pick up April and Andrew to get them to her house full of food and creature comforts. Mark was left behind to sweat it out and bond with the tow truck driver.

Seems that we had blown a rear driver side tire - causing a wave of destruction that ripped through the rear of the RV and left us (literally) dripping shit all over the side of the road. Oh, and a steel band ripped through our fuel fill line (is that a big deal?).

Mother trucker.

Long story short..... our rig ended up at a semi truck repair shop that put us back together with band aids and bubble gum just to get us closer to Winnebago country (Iowa) where parts are more accessible. To speed up the repair, Mark and Pippy drove all over Michigan to find parts and tires and such. At one point Mark had to take a piece of our fuel filler line to a muffler shop to get it "repaired".

--------------------------------

Mark: "How did it go?"

Muffler Guy: "Well, I'm sweating like a son of a *****. S*** its hot out here. But I tell ya' what was really hot, was that tubing. I heated it up like a mother ******* and it just popped open. We got a couple ******* holes in it, but I welded 'em shut. She's ain't pretty, but the **** should work."

Mark: "Wow, that sounds great, what do I owe ya?"

Muffler Guy: "Don't worry about it, **** that was fun"

--------------------------------

Fancy.

Mimmy, April, and Andrew hung around the house, made soup, watered flowers, and played with the dog, Freddie. When Mark and Pippy finally arrived home, Mimmy greeted him with a much-needed box of wine. Way to go, Super Dad! You've earned your chilled Merlot!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Snarfs and Snoozes

While driving the 1772 miles home from Bar Harbor, April looked and Mark and said... "What should we call our last blog of the summer?&...