Coming Home is Not as Much Fun as Driving Up

Phew! The driving up North seemed like a whole lot more fun than it has been driving back South again. For one thing, the driving was split between 2 days and not done in one shot like we're doing now. Next, we are frustrated and disappointed right now, but more on that later. Third, we didn't have numerous delays or any break-downs. I'll elaborate further:

We had expected to spend at least another day in D.C. than we did. Little did we know that the Pope would be visiting D.C. at the exact time we were. It caused for some added traffic and city chaos. That was fine, since we (the kids and I) were using the Metro subway system to get around, and we simply avoided the crowded areas. But when we scooted out of D.C. to head North, the Pope followed us up there. (Just kidding. I know he had his own agenda, but it sounded good, right?) Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

We went to N.J. to meet with a potential client. He wanted to see us, and we had an appointment set with him verbally via the telephone. We got up there and had to kill time the rest of the day (Wed.), waiting for the apt. on Thurs., at which time he was too busy to see hubby right then. So we waited around, and waited around some more. We literally walked the local mall ALL day, thinking this guy would call us back, since that's what he said. We're pretty honest people, and maybe a little gullible too, that people will tell you the way it is, and not what you want to hear. Because he kept saying he wanted to see Ch, we spent the night again, only to call him this morning, and he couldn't see us (with no explanation as to why not). What's most upsetting is that he knows we drove a long way just to see him. Second on the list of upsetting was the 2 entire days wasted twiddling our thumbs while we could have been sight-seeing, but oh, well.

So now, it's Friday, and time to come home. We were "SO close, so close and yet so far...." (can you hear the music?) to the Statue of Liberty, but found out the Pope had made his way up to New York City. The news stations were all talking about how the entire city would be in absolute grid-lock from extra traffic. People all over the city were taking a sick day to avoid the traffic. (People in D.C. did the same.) That's when Ch made the decision to skip New York entirely and just head home. It was probably a good idea anyway. He's pretty let-down right now because of the waste of time and money with the trip extension for nothing. But driving home today has not been easy. We had to drive back through D.C. and the traffic was pretty bad because everybody is leaving that was there to see the Pope in the first place. Traffic was at a stand-still everywhere we turned. Oh, well. No harm in taking a little extra time getting home. We'd get home sooner or later, right? Until "Blam!!!"

That's when we got a flat tire on our rental van. Luckily, we were pretty near an exit, and hobbled in to a truck stop. Yep, total flat. The closest tire-fix-it-place was 14 miles away. Lucky for me, hubby is handy. (Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for sending me a handy-man for a husband.) The kids helped too. The boys held tools and managed the air hose and water hose to check for leaks. B saved the day by providing soap to check for residual leaks. She had saved a sample of shampoo from our last motel. What did I do? Cheer lead, pick up trash, and document the whole thing. We had to go to 3 truck stops to get the stuff to fix the flat. But it's fixed, and we continue to drive. Thank you, Jesus! We're safe and sound, and "on the road again". (Again, I wish I could put musical notes in the text. It would help support the "mood".)
So, all in all, it was an interesting trip. Hubby ended up with a productive first half of a business trip. The kids and I ended up with 1 1/2 days of sight-seeing, and we saw a LOT in that day and a half! And we all got a lot of family together time. That in itself is priceless in today's busy world. And yes, I know we all got to work on building up our patience levels and flexibility requirements when plans go awry. I do not regret this trip in the least. I'm just trying not to focus on the "could-have-beens" and the "what-ifs".