The first day of traveling went pretty well. We tried to keep a consistent schedule of driving for three hours and then stopping to feed the babies and let them get out and play. We drove through Minnesota, Iowa and into Missouri to wrap up our first day of traveling. Our problems were few but the problems we did have were huge.
At the end of the first day the air conditioning on the suburban started acting a little funny. By a little funny I mean that it was blowing in the back of the vehicle but not in the front. As long as the babies were cool I figured I could sweat it out. However as we started our descent into the hot and humid south my tolerance for back and butt sweat was quickly diminishing. I had been sweating for an hour or so before I called my dad and asked for some help.
I was told that I needed to change the fuse for the blowers and that this should hopefully fix the problem. We pulled over for dinner and because I didn't have any spare fuses in the car, I stole one from the back wiper and it worked! I couldn't have been more happy with the results; we could now make it to Nashville the next day in a nice air conditioned vehicle! So we continued on our way and stopped at about 11:00 pm on the border of Kentucky and stayed the night in a stinky room (supposedly non-smoking) that was overpriced but happened to be one of very few rooms to be had.
The next morning we woke up, at breakfast, loaded up and headed out. The air conditioning worked until we got out of the hotel parking lot which was so very nice. Since it was early in the morning and only 80 degrees I figured we could make it to Nashville and things would be okay. As the minutes passed the temperature quickly increased and I couldn't make the babies sweat it out. It turns out that I am a caring mother after all. So I called Sterling and told him that we needed to pull over in the next town and find a place to get the air conditioning fixed.
Paducah Kentucky, home of the largest quilt show in the United States was where we stopped. My mother and sister were happy to know that it is so close to Nashville because now they can attend the infamous show. Anyway, back to me and my sob story. The first place we went to said that they could get the truck in to be looked at in two days. Oh great, just what I wanted to be stranded in this town for two days...no thank you! Luckily the man was very nice and suggested a friend of his and even offered to call the guy and ask let him know we were on our way.
I was a little skeptical about this "let me call my friend" business but I agreed and headed over to his buddy's shop. I was worried that we were going to be charged an outrageous amount of money to fix the AC but we needed it fixed and this was our only option. When we arrived at the new mechanic's shop I felt a little comforted because right on the lawn was a large stone with the Ten Commandments engraved upon it. I figured if nothing else hopefully this guy keeps the Thou Shalt Not Lie commandment and tells us what is actually wrong.
He was very honest and we walked out of there 1 1/2 hours later and $450 dollars poorer but we had air conditioning. So our journey continued, we made it to Nashville, moved into our house and began a life in Tennessee. You should know however that the air conditioning went out the following weekend and living without it is just NOT an option.
You will be happy to know that is has now been repaired and we hope that it lasts this time. The point of this entire story is to let you all know that we now live in Nashville. We finally live in a city that has some appeal to it so please come and visit!
