Travelling took a long time this year. We left early on Wednesday morning. The kids had their bags packed the night before (very unusual for our kids) and we actually got out of the house when we thought we would. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Then headed back out up I-75 toward Atlanta.
We made good time until we were about 30 miles south of Atlanta. At that point traffic came to a stand still. Then the van's check engine light came on. Fortunately we were near and exit and some kind fellow travellers let me get from the left lane to the center to the right to get to the exit. We stopped and used some of last years McDonalds gift certificates for lunch. Carla and the boys went in and I got gas and checked the engine (what little I know about engines). Everything looked okay. It had oil, was not overheating, and plenty of other fluids. So I decide we would be good to Hermitage and I would get it check on Friday.
The stand still was cause by an accident that was about 17 miles up the road. Two tracker trailers had flipped over and were completely blocking the road. A man local to the area was sitting in his car outside the window letting his Macaw (a beautiful big blue bird) stretch its wings on the side mirror. He was giving directions to get around the accident by going through Experiment, GA. We took the detour and it was a bit longer as we had to travel on roads with red lights. Finally getting back onto I-75 just north of the accident. And we were on our way again.
North of Atlanta traffic stopped again. Carla's iPhone with the traffic map showed it was moving slow for the next 20 miles or so. We inched along. An accident somewhere ahead of us. We never did see it. We finally got passed that and we were making good time again.
We stopped in Dalton, GA at the Starbucks for some coffee and a snack. We usually only stop twice to eat but this trip was taking longer than normal. I called my dad and told him where we were. Then on the road again.
Chattanooga saw more traffic on I-24. Once past the I-24/I-59 fork we started moving along again. All the while keeping an eye on the check engine light. Finally over the mountain and into Hermitage around 8:00 PM central time. Fourteen hours give or take.
I was extremely tired and had a couple sandwiches, a cup of tea, and some water while we chatted with my parents about the events of today (all mentioned above).
We were pleasantly surprise by the request of my dad that he needed our assistance to get his DSL modem working. They have come out of the age of dial up to DSL. Carla and I would tackle that in the morning. It was late and bed was calling this very, very tired driver.
Thanksgiving day had us up early as usual. After breakfast Carla and I started on the DSL setup. Extremely easy as the cd that came with it gave very detailed step by step instructions. The DSL modem had wireless as well so we were able to get all four of our laptops up and running on it as well. This was good news as the boys would not have to fight over grandpa's computer to get online.
Maura is online and loving it.
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| From Thanksgiving |
Joan arrived with Maura and the house got extremely noisy for a short time. The turkey was in the oven smelling wonderful. We watched a little bit of the parades and prepared to eat. I was ready to eat.
The table was packed with food (I don't believe anyone took a photo of the table with all the food on it this year). We all took our places at the table. Oddly enough, I was on the side next to the kitchen and was expecting to have to get up and get stuff but I was never asked and I didn't volunteer. Family chit chat and the occasional "Jean-Luc! Chew with your mouth closed" comments from everyone around the table.
After lunch we watched some football and moved into the dining room for a game of Trivial Pursuit (Millennium edition). Finally a game we could play and actually answer some questions. The 20th Anniversary edition is hard (in our opinion) only being able to answer correctly maybe 1 in 10 questions. We liked playing this one and played a second game.
Friday I took the van to Advanced Auto Parts to see if they could check the van's computer for the check engine failure. I took Anton along with me. The lady at the store hooked up her little device and told me it was a dealer factory code and she wouldn't be able to help. I thanked her and moved the van about 40 feet to the Goodyear/Gemini store. They were able to get it in right away and told me I needed a new IAC motor. Something that helps with the car idling. And I needed to have the fuel system cleaned. I told them to go ahead and fix it. Anton and I walked down to the gas station and got something to drink. Then back to wait on the van. They have a nice waiting area with a TV and we settled in to Sportscenter. I was expecting to be there most of the day but I was surprised about 45 minutes later with "Mr Steinmetz your van is ready.". I paid the $411 and headed back to the house.
Carla and grandma went with Joan, Maura, and Chris for "Black Friday" shopping. I was lucky enough to have to get the van fixed. Yeah me. Of course, I spent more money than they did.
Grandpa took Jean-Luc to the hobby store to get some supplies for build a model of Fort Ticonderoga (a project for school). Grandpa was happy to help. Jean-Luc has a picture of us painting it when we got home on his blog.
More games were played, tv watched, food eaten. A good time had by all.
Saturday was grandma's birthday. Chris and I went with grandma to church to help swap out the books in the pews. That was an easy task with six of us working. It was done in no time. Grandpa was helping JL with more Fort Tic stuff. Joan brought over a cake for the birthday party. It was good cake. After church we all went to the Daily Buffet for dinner. I think JL would have been banned from the all you can eat buffet if we hadn't stopped him. The Steinmetzs headed back to their home and the Quinns headed to theirs after saying goodbye.
Sunday morning we were up early and out the door and on our way back home. It rained all the way from Hermitage to Daytona Beach. Traffic was slow twice. Once going around Macon and then again heading into Tifton. Three lanes of traffic going down to two lanes. We made it home in about 14 hours again.
It is good to be home.
The table was packed with food (I don't believe anyone took a photo of the table with all the food on it this year). We all took our places at the table. Oddly enough, I was on the side next to the kitchen and was expecting to have to get up and get stuff but I was never asked and I didn't volunteer. Family chit chat and the occasional "Jean-Luc! Chew with your mouth closed" comments from everyone around the table.
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| From Thanksgiving |
After lunch we watched some football and moved into the dining room for a game of Trivial Pursuit (Millennium edition). Finally a game we could play and actually answer some questions. The 20th Anniversary edition is hard (in our opinion) only being able to answer correctly maybe 1 in 10 questions. We liked playing this one and played a second game.
Friday I took the van to Advanced Auto Parts to see if they could check the van's computer for the check engine failure. I took Anton along with me. The lady at the store hooked up her little device and told me it was a dealer factory code and she wouldn't be able to help. I thanked her and moved the van about 40 feet to the Goodyear/Gemini store. They were able to get it in right away and told me I needed a new IAC motor. Something that helps with the car idling. And I needed to have the fuel system cleaned. I told them to go ahead and fix it. Anton and I walked down to the gas station and got something to drink. Then back to wait on the van. They have a nice waiting area with a TV and we settled in to Sportscenter. I was expecting to be there most of the day but I was surprised about 45 minutes later with "Mr Steinmetz your van is ready.". I paid the $411 and headed back to the house.
Carla and grandma went with Joan, Maura, and Chris for "Black Friday" shopping. I was lucky enough to have to get the van fixed. Yeah me. Of course, I spent more money than they did.
Grandpa took Jean-Luc to the hobby store to get some supplies for build a model of Fort Ticonderoga (a project for school). Grandpa was happy to help. Jean-Luc has a picture of us painting it when we got home on his blog.
More games were played, tv watched, food eaten. A good time had by all.
Saturday was grandma's birthday. Chris and I went with grandma to church to help swap out the books in the pews. That was an easy task with six of us working. It was done in no time. Grandpa was helping JL with more Fort Tic stuff. Joan brought over a cake for the birthday party. It was good cake. After church we all went to the Daily Buffet for dinner. I think JL would have been banned from the all you can eat buffet if we hadn't stopped him. The Steinmetzs headed back to their home and the Quinns headed to theirs after saying goodbye.
Sunday morning we were up early and out the door and on our way back home. It rained all the way from Hermitage to Daytona Beach. Traffic was slow twice. Once going around Macon and then again heading into Tifton. Three lanes of traffic going down to two lanes. We made it home in about 14 hours again.
It is good to be home.
1 comment:
We had a great time. And it should have read... "Carla did the Snoopy dance when we found out about the new DSL modem!" Thankfully, no kids fighting about getting online this year.
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