We had a rough start on Thursday-my parents came to our house to help load up the top carrier we borrowed from the Moores. We got the car loaded up and started to pull out of the sub, but there was so much noise on the top of the car that we were sure something was wrong. We pulled over and checked it out, Eric and dad made some adjustments, and we tried it again. Still more noise, so we pulled over again to call Ron and ask what we were doing wrong. He said that it wouldn't be as noisy when it is full, and that it was the straps making the noise. Dad had the idea to use pool noodles to pad the straps, so we drove over to Toys R Us. While the guys went in, mom, Vivi, and I hung out in the car. Mom was turned to the side looking at Vivi and suddenly her neck started to hurt. By the time we got to Janelle and Ryan's house, her neck was really sore and she took an aleve while they packed their stuff in the car. By the time she was ready to get back in the car, it was almost 10pm, 2 hours after we planned to be on the road. So we piled in and got going.
About 5 minutes down the road, there were 2 cars pulled over on the side. As we drove up, the car in front did a u-turn right toward us! The car behind it had its lights on and the driver couldn't see us coming. I thought for sure we were going to hit her, but Eric was able to steer us out of the way, missing a big ditch and finally stopping in a driveway. It was pretty scary, and at this point so much had gone wrong we were wondering if we should even keep going.
We collected ourselves and got on the highway, and everything went smoothly until we stopped for gas in Indiana at about 4am. My mom's neck started to spasm and she couldn't move, so we changed our gps to find the nearest hospital and spent an hour or so there while they checked her out and gave her some good drugs. Luckily this was the time that Jenavieve woke up and ate and played a little, and she was ready for bed by the time we got back on the road.
We stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel in Illinois, and made it to the hotel in Eldon, MO a little after noon. We unpacked and relaxed a little and then spent the afternoon at my Great Aunt Selma's house. Uncle Bill and Aunt Selma's 3 children stopped by to visit.
Back at the hotel, we got our suits on and took Vivi to the pool for the first time. The water was cold, we didn't think she would like it but decided to try anyway. I was freezing-but Jenavieve loved it! It was very cute.
On Saturday, we went to the family reunion, which was fun. Good food, visiting with family, lots of pictures. A lot of people hadn't seen me since I was very little, so that was fun. We went back to the hotel for dinner, and then it started to storm so we spent the evening in the hotel playing games.
Sunday we packed up the car, checked out of the hotel, and drove out to the Ozarks to do some touristy stuff. It started to storm again so we headed to Ralph and Judy's house. They had gone through old pictures and gave my mom pictures of her mom and her siblings, and a letter that her mom wrote to Ralph's parents just weeks before she died, which was nice to read. They also had a family history written by an older relative. While my parents stayed and visited, the rest of us went to Staples to make copies of the book. Coincidentally (or not...it is Missouri afterall) we were assisted at Staples by the great granddaughter of the man who wrote the book- our 4th cousin. That was kind of cool.
We said goodbye to Ralph and Judy and headed over to Uncle Bill and Aunt Selma's again. They pulled out old pictures too, and let us take them home to make copies for ourselves. It was fun to see pictures of our older relatives when they were young. I don't have the pictures yet but when I get them I'll post them.
The ride home was very smooth, we stopped for gas when Vivi woke up to eat and hung out and played for awhile, and stopped for breakfast when it was time for her to wake up again. We made it home safe and sound (and tired!). It was a good trip, we're excited to go back.
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