Home at Last!

Our drive from Florida to Atlanta was pretty uneventful. We ended up getting rain in Chattanooga and tried to make it as close to Nashville as possible but glad we stopped when we did because we learned they were turning people around not too much further down the road from where we were due to flooding. The next morning we thought we would need to backtrack to I-75 due to flood conditions and the TN highway patrol saying that travel was "not recommended", but when we went down to the lobby for breakfast the word was that the highways were clear. We took our chances and continued on through Nashville and had no problems. We could see where the highway had been flooded and a few of the exit ramps were closed, but we were able to keep on truckin'.

After we went through Indianapolis we noticed a very scary thunderstorm quickly approaching from the west. I called Aaron and had him check the radar and he said north of Ft. Wayne looked good. So despite the requests for a dinner stop, I put the pedal to the medal and we hauled you-know-what towards Ft. Wayne. Meanwhile, Mom decided to charge her cell phone and opened the center console to plug it in. Something went terribly wrong and next thing she knows there are sparks and flames flying! Mom is like "you need to pull over!" I'm all, "at the next exit?" and she replied "Now!" The flames had extinguished by the time I pulled over, but the outlet was still sparking. Very scary since I had about 50 paper napkins in my center console! Mom realized there were some metal parts that had fallen out of the cell phone charger and were stuck inside the outlet hole and tried to use my metal tweezers to get it out. We were concerned about an electrical shock and also messing with sparks/fire while my three kids sat strapped in their car seats nearby and we didn't really want them to get out of the car on the highway, so we left it alone and continued on. As long as we weren't messing with it, it didn't spark. So I pushed on and we drove to Coldwater and stopped at the Walmart there for some tools to help remove the fuse/metal parts from the outlet. Mom was able to remove the fuse, but one of the metal pieces had melted inside and we weren't able to remove it.

While shopping around Walmart Jacob was able to spot the 2 or 3 toys we don't already own. And he wanted them. He wanted them bad. He cried and screamed throughout the entire store, complete with laying down on the floor crying. Luckily for me he doesn't like to be left alone, so as long as I got a few steps away he would pick himself up and follow along. We finally made it back to the car and strapped the boys in for just one more hour in the car.

As I began driving on the on ramp to get back on the highway, Jacob decides to throw up. I quickly pull over and try to open the automatic door for mom to jump in the back and help him out. Instead, I open the tightly packed trunk. Mom helps Jacob get cleaned up and then at the request of Jacob she rides the rest of the trip sitting on the floor in the back of the van. I push the button to close the trunk and continue on. About 15 minutes later mom asked me if I had checked to make sure nothing fell out of the trunk... my response? Nope, and I'm not going back if we did lose something!! So far it appears as though we have everything...

When we finally arrived in Lansing we got a hotel and things started going better for us as we got upgraded to a beautiful, large suite. I ran to a nearby restaurant and picked up some take out mexican food and we called it a night.

The following morning I took off on my own to visit my good friend (and cousin) Charissa and her new baby Owen. It was fun to catch up and get some newborn snuggles in, but we had a doctor appointment for Austin later that afternoon so I said goodbye and headed back for the family. I'm glad I left when I did because when I checked my messages I learned the doctor appointment was 45 minutes earlier than I thought! We hit the road once again and drove without stopping straight to the doctor appointment, only 1 minute late!

And now we are back to the daily grind!