Thanksgiving Vacation

We had planned a trip to Seattle for Thanksgiving and didn't really think about changing plans even though the weather looked bad. ( yes, that was foreshadowing...) So we took off Monday morning. We had planned to go up through Lewiston and Brian was going to work there that afternoon, so hotel would have been paid for, but the main highway looked bad so we decided to go through Oregon instead.

We got about five hours Into the drive and the roads were pretty bad so we decided to stop in Kennewick for the afternoon/night. We found a hotel and schlepped the ridiculous amount of stuff through the snow to our room. We got the kids settled in and watched the snow continue to fall. Somehow I had managed to pack snow boots for faith but not the boys. Gloves only for Tanner and no winter coat for myself. Driving was out the question as everyone was sliding like crazy so we bundled up best we could and headed out to Red Robin for dinner- only a three minute walk away. The kids were in hotel room heaven with a unlimited tv and a video games and everyone was In good spirits, if still a bit worried about the driving ahead for the next day.

We slept like rocks and headed out in

the 15 degree weather and icy roads. About a half mile down the freeway the suburban died, it just stopped...in traffic. Brian got it to the edge of the road and tried to restart it to no avail. Well, a bummer for sure ( The week before we had put almost two grand into the car during its 120,000 mile "check up") but luckily we were on a populated road with good cell service so we called USAA roadside help. Hmmmmm. Well the first time I called I got a message telling me to a call back when the weather was better. Let's just say that a car that is totally dead gets really cold really fast in 15 degree weather. Waiting and calling back later was NOT an option.

Our next option was 911 or a cab. Luckily we had great cell service and wifi and by the time I called USAA back and got ahold of someone Brian had located a garage to get towed to. I was able to quickly convince the USAA operator that no, we could not wait four hours for a tow and she kindy arranged a tow truck and a cab which both arrived within 30 minutes, during which time the kids snuggled under their blankets and coats and my toes froze. So, we piled everyone into a cab with carseats and headed to Firestone to await our car, which, we were told, MIGHT get looked at that day.

So, an hour later we called the cab company back and they picked us up with all of our crap and brought us back to the same hotel to wait, now carless, until they could determine cause of problem and fix it. More video games! More tv! More family time In a 14 x14 space! The kids were troopers and we managed to get everyone over to the neighboring mall to get food and invest in snow boots for whatever lay ahead. That joke we had made the night before about spending t-day in Kennewick wasn't really funny anymore as the snow just continued to fall.

We actually had a lot of fun in the hotel - I think Faith will always remember getting the "ticklecups" from laughing so hard- but it was a bit stressful trying to decide if we should carry on to Seattle or go home if, and when, our car was fixed. We got news about 7pm that car was done (1300 dollars later) and we decided to wait till morning to decide which direction to go. Against Brian's better judgment we carried on and made lots of kids (ours and Lisa's) very happy, as well as the adults.

We arrived in Seattle just about 52 hours after we had set out from Boise. A few lessons learned: when traveling in weather that is at all questionable always pack snow gear for everyone, never underestimate the power of video games and portable DVD players, and attitude truly is everything