Adventure Number 3,427.35

I think it is safe to say we are not done making lemonade just yet!!

So first a little background info.....we have been in Billings since last Saturday....Eric had to work in Denver all week...so we all drove up here - Eric flew to Denver and back out of Billings so I would not have to spend the week alone caring for the kids and could enjoy some great help from family!

So today we decided to head back to Rapid City....to have the weekend at home before the start of another busy week of work, school, chemo, and all the "others" that come with our week. We had a slow start out of Billings today - just had some errands to run and getting everything packed up after 7 days here is a "feat" in and of itself.

So finally at 2:30 we were on the road. Going back to Rapid City - we have our choice of 2 routes - Interstate 90 or Hwy 212...we usually take Hwy 212 - because it usually proves to be about an hour faster, traffic is minimal even though it's a 2 lane highway - the drawbacks though are no cell phone service for a good portion of the way and not a lot of places to stop.

Off we went....at Crow Agency - we got off the Interstate and headed onto the highway.....we made it whopping 10 miles down the highway and our car starting vibrating (FYI - we just purchased a used Suburban in Dec - ya know - to haul ALL our kids!)....so we quick pull over and sure enough - we blew a tire and now have a very lovely flat on the front passenger side! Of course I start panicking - "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO" - Eric the rational one - "WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE A TIRE" - mind you, had I been alone - I would be in full out tears by now - I don't know how to change a tire....and to add fuel to the fire - of course we have no cell phone service.

So the process begins.....we now have to get the jack out - (thankfully it was not buried under our 27 bags but rather on the side in a compartment toward the back) - Eric knows exactly what he is doing with the help of the vehicle book and the instructions on the "jack" kit....remember I would still be crying! We get the jack under the car (in we of course I mean Eric - I had nothing to do with it)....get it up....but just can't get it up high enough to get the tire off (we were on a slant on the side of the road). Kids screaming, crying, antsy all the while in the car and wanting out of their car seats....and me standing practically on the roof of the car hoping for one wee little bit of cell service to get through to my parents we need some help! Thankfully they were on there way out of town shortly anyways - kind of headed in the same direction as us...So I figured if we could just reach them...they could detour and give us some help. I did manage to get through after about 98 different tries...basically to yell into the phone in hopes that they would hear something that we could use there help....they heard us and of course were on there way....

So at this point we are in need of a board or something to place under the jack to get it up just a little higher....Eric is such a genius....and definitely has the mind of an engineer....of course he is on the hunt for anything in the car that could just give the jack that little boost it needs....and of course he finds it. My mother knows how much my kids love, love, love to write on paper and she just so happened to give us a huge stack of little note pads she can no longer use at the shop.....so under the car they go....and yep - worked like a charm - flat tire off - new tire on - flat tire put back under rear of car - we are ready to go!

OR SO WE THINK! I go to start up the car to get some heat going - BATTERY IS DEAD! - You've got to be kidding! We did not have anything running in the car at all during this time (but had already had a bad run in with the battery once before and probably should have replaced it then). Oh happy day....thankfully we still had help on the way...because of course we had no signal to call and tell them we had the new tire on. So we got the cables out - set them on the hood and waited. Thankfully some nice lady came along and offered to "jump" us before our help even arrived...it took a bit but we got the "burb" going....and now I am happy to report - we are BACK safely in Billings....it was just getting too late to even think about continuing on - the kids had had it......

And tomorrow we'll be getting a new battery and new tires before we begin our journey again! Stay tuned.....the adventure just never ends!