I wasn't even supposed to go (my mom and I were staying home to unpack more boxes) but two days before the boys were leaving I suddenly decided I'd really like to go help out at our booth and see Texas again. So on Friday we packed up our old suburban and trailer, and headed to the Mother Earth News Fair in Texas...
It's been three years since we've been back to our home state and everything looks so different! We all took a gazillion pictures, of course...
Everything went well on the way (except for leaving an hour late, our kombucha exploding on us *THREE* times, telemarketers calling me literally every seven minutes, and waiting nearly half an hour to find the letter "Q" so we could finish the alphabet game) and we got everything set up in the expo center just before they closed down for the night. Just as we pulled into the hotel parking lot, though, my mom noticed smoke coming out of our car. We all jumped out (just earlier that day we had seen the remains of an eighteen wheeler that had caught on fire and that image was still a little too fresh in everyone's memory) , Dad checked the problem and we found out our brakes were glowing red! It's a miracle we made it to the hotel and the car didn't catch on fire while were on the highway! We let them cool down and spent the night calling around for mechanic references. I made some Tuna Tare-Tare for dinner and we tried to relax somewhat...but we were all pretty stressed out.
Early the next morning Mom drove Dad and the boys to the expo (veeerrryyy slowly) and then headed to the mechanic while I stayed behind in the hotel room and put together a lunch to bring everyone when she got back. Several hours later the car still wasn't fixed, so a dear friend of my mom's gave her a ride back to the hotel, picked me up, and then brought me over to the expo to help the boys out. When I got there I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of old friends had dropped by to keep us company! We hadn't seen them in a while so it was great to catch up and it definitely helped us keep our mind off our tired feet (we didn't bring chairs and the expo floor was concrete)... plus it made our booth look a lot more inviting with all the laughter and smiles going around =)!
Our booth turned out beautifully thanks to the talent of my artistic brothers =). The expo didn't end until seven P.M., and we had a lot of business, so we were all pretty worn out by the end of the day. I love going to shows like these and actually getting to meet our customers! Several of the other vendors came by to chat and exchange information about our products, too, so we really enjoyed ourselves. Mom picked us up when the car was (FINALLY) working again, with the cheerful news that one of our tires had something wrong with it and could very well fall off while we were driving home the next day. We decided to risk it and started back home early Sunday morning. As soon as we got on the freeway, we started hearing a grinding noise...which gradually grew louder and louder, then other various noises began to alert us that something was NOT RIGHT. By sheer Providence, this all happened right as we reached a small town and pulled into a hotel parking lot, but since it was Sunday, all the mechanics in town were closed...it was straight out of an Andy Griffith episode! The staff at the hotel were really sweet and found us a room, so we unloaded the car and prepared to spend an extra night away from home. We were really disappointed, though, because we were unable to make it to Mass in Irving like we had planned...After about an hour of being in the hotel room, Dad came in and said he was pretty sure he had fixed the car! Thankfully, the hotel gave us a refund for the room, so we re-loaded the car and got back on the road...annnddd right as we left town, the noises started all over again. The next town with a mechanic who was open was thirty miles away, so we just kept driving and praying rosaries until we got there...I don't think we went over forty-five mph the whole way. While the car was being repaired a second time, the boys and I walked around the shopping center by the mechanic (I nearly bought myself a pair of gold earrings, but my inner Dave Ramsey voice reminded me that I really didn't need them, I was just buying them to make myself feel better =)) until our poor feet were even more sore . By the time the suburban was back to driving condition, we were all tired and REALLY HUNGRY, so when another old friend wanted to meet us at Chipotle for dinner, we said "yes, please, as soon as possible!" This particular friend happens to be a very talented photographer(as well as a hilarious and beautiful lady) so after we scarfed down our burrito bowls as politely and quickly as possible, we all headed outside for a quick, but fun photo shoot. It was drizzling and getting dark, but we all couldn't stop giggling (or at least I couldn't; my brothers were more of just laughing =p).
After our goodbyes, we got back on the road once more...and this time we made it all the way home without further problems. Our animals were all very happy to see us and we were glad to finally be able to sleep in our own beds again.
This week we'll be busy moving the rest of our stuff from the rent-house, packing all the orders we got while we were gone, repairing some more plumbing damage, and I'm going to start working on a bridal shower I'm hosting for a friend who's getting married after Easter. I have to say, even though the trip WAS a lot of fun, there really is no place like home! =)
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