Yet Another Adventure!!!!!

We have had a trip to California planned since before Marvin's deployment. We have not been here to visit since Sam was 14 months old. Marvin and I have been itching to introduce our 3 youngest to his family, including their Lolo(Grandpa). We were very sad when they ALL came down with awful colds. I took them in to the doctor to see how sick they were. If we missed this trip it would be quite some time before we get another chance. So, I packed all the kids up the day before we were scheduled to leave and took every single one to the doctors office. The conclusion is that they had yucky snot and a bunch of ear infections. I am pleased to report that Josh and Abby's tubes are in great working order and so far no infections for them(but we got ear drops just in case). The doctor said to give the antibiotics a day to begin working and then we were free to go. So, we stayed home an extra day and instead of putting everyone to bed at home that night, we headed for their beds in the RV. We planned on driving until we couldn't stay awake any longer and then we would find a rest stop or Walmart and sleep. It started out great. We needed to fill up with water and so were aiming for a Flying J(the RV friendly truck stop) about an hour south of our house. The first problem was that our road shot us out too far south, so we had to turn around and go 10 miles north to get Flying J. When we got there, we realized that not all Flying Js are RV friendly! The only water came from a 3 foot hose. What's the problem? Well, the problem was that the water tank in the RV was about 7 feet from the crazy pump. So, my hero of a husband stood in the freezing cold and shot the water clear across the vast expanse. I glanced out the mirror and I had to laugh. Of course, I had to snap a picture and I will post it as soon as I find my USB cable! After an hour, and dry socks for my hero hubby, we were on our way FINALLY! It was going great. We were making great time and we had time to catch up. Around 1am, we noticed a spark in the rear view mirror. We watched for quite a bit but nothing more happened. Often times the chain on the dolly that pulls the van hits a high spot on the road and causes a quick spark. When there was no other sign of issues on the camera, we figured that must have been the issue and kept on going. About 30 minutes later, we passed a semi truck. That truck blinked his headlights to tell us something was off. We took the next exit to check things out. Marvin ran out real quick to check things out. He came back with a look of shock on his face. It seems that one of the straps that holds the tire on the dolly came off COMPLETELY and was blowing in the wind. The other had slipped all the way down in front of the tire. There was NOTHING holding our van on the dolly(except the angels that is!). We are not sure how long it was completely unsecured, but are so glad that trucker was where he was and that he was alert enough to see and to let us know. We kept looking at each other in awe. God is so awesome to have saved not only our vehicle, but to save the people that could have been hurt or killed on the road if the van fell off the dolly. We decided to stop at the next rest area, a little shook up and a whole lot tired. The whole time we were driving, the heater on the cab was blowing and blowing hot. When we stopped for the night, we turned on the generator and the furnace and fell into bed. early the next morning Same woke us up saying(and I quote), "Something is wrong with my bed, it is freezing!" The same boy that swears the blueberry muffin he ate made him sick with this yucky cold;). Turns out that although the fan was blowing, the furnace was not heating. So, we were all freezing early that morning. The good news is that we got up and out earlier than were expecting. The bad news is that our furnace was broken and it is COLD outside! We got here around dinner time to a house full of family(and I'm talking Filipino full!). The kids were shell shocked for quite a while. However, they warmed up and by bedtime(with a space heater in the RV), they were themselves(at least mostly!). We finally have heat once again as the furnace was fixed today by a local RV dealer. YEAH! I won't have to sleep in my coat tonight! Hopefully I'll find my USB cable in the morning and I will post pictures of our trip so far!