We headed out of Swansea, with one more reminder from Tom to stop in a half hour or so to make sure the trailer was doing okay. We went for about 45 minutes and pulled into a gas station to check it out. It was a good thing we did! It turns out that the shock springs on the trailer had broken and the fenders were riding right on the tires!! This was wearing away at the tires, plus it was wearing a hole in the top of the fender. The wear spot on the top of the fender was so hot that Tim burned his hand.
We pulled the boat around to the back of the gas station and Tim decided to take the fenders off. Unfortunately, we didn't have any tools. Even more unfortunately, neither did the gas station. One of the employees had a few tools in his car, but they were all really crappy and did not get the job down. We had to unhook the trailer and drive to the nearest Home Depot, which was about 20 minutes away. We drove there, Tim bought the tools he needed, and we headed back to the gas station.
At this point we decided that it probably was not a good idea to be bringing the boat and trailer home because another four hours and who knows what could go wrong. So Tim called his dad to get a truck and come up and meet us, to tow the boat and trailer back to Swansea. In the meantime, he used his new tools to easily remove the fenders from the trailer.
We went into the gas station, which luckily had a Subway and Dunkin Donuts, to have some lunch around 2pm. Tim's parents showed up not too long after and they hooked the trailer up to their truck. We all left the gas station around 3pm - Tim's parents towing the trailer back to Swansea, and us just in our car heading home.
We were very close to the Mass Pike so we just jumped on it. Big mistake! From one exit to the next, about four miles, it took us 45 minutes of stop and go traffic. Doh, we forgot about Fourth of July traffic! We exited at the next exit and started driving on a road that parallels the Mass Pike. Mileage-wise it was longer and there were a lot more traffic lights, but the traffic itself was much less.
We thought that we were on our way, but then Cam and Leah decided to put on a show. Leah started crying hysterically because she was hungry, and Cam decided he REALLY had to go to the bathroom. Not two minutes after we got off the Mass Pike, we were stopped at a Wendy's for bathrooms and food. A half hour later, we were on our way.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and we only ended up stopping two more times - once for dinner and once for a diaper change. We got home around 9pm. The whole trip, from start to finish, took us 10 hours... twice what it normally takes!!
Although it was a long day, it did show us what amazing travelers our kids are. Despite the heat (oh yea, the temperatures hovered between 93 - 99 degrees that day!) and extremely long amount of time in the car, they were both amazing. Leah slept or sat happily in her seat (when she wasn't crying because she was hungry) and Cameron played with his toys, read his books and looked out the window. We were so proud of both of them for being so good. They were certainly better behaved than Mama and Daddy, who were frustrated and exasperated with the whole situation!!
So that was our adventure home... hopefully the next car trip won't be nearly as exciting!!
2 comments:
What you really need is a dog like Corky. Every time we drove up to the cottage when we were little (with anywhere from 4 - 6 kids plus adults, one dog, and multiple cats) I got stuck riding in the back of the station wagon with Corky. I actually liked it because I didn't have to wear a seat belt and I could lie down and sleep. Corky never failed to through up sometime during the trip and I was always the one to clean it up. Having a dog like Corky would have added a little more spice to your trip!
I meant to say "throw up"
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