Thanksgiving Adventures

It's never to late to post a good tale, huh? Its been a while since we've updated, but the holidays have caught up with us. After an early Thanksgiving celebration in Utah, we headed to California for the Turkey feast with our great friends, the Bowles. And a great feast it was! We had such a good time cooking, laughing, staying up late, and even getting whooped playing Dr. Mario. The girls couldn't get enough of each other either. From the moment of arrival, they played and played. We are truly grateful to our hosts! They are beyond exceptional! It really was a dream vacation and we didn't want to leave, but of course it had to end. Well.......we thought it was at an end................but for some reason we soon found out that it was only the end of California, but not the end of our "vacation" if you dare call the rest of the story that.



Our transmission decided to go out in the Mojave Desert, about 90 miles south of Vegas. Anyone who has driven that stretch of I-15 knows that there is nothing out there. Well, luckily a tow truck was able to locate and haul all four of us to Vegas. Because it was Sunday, the auto shops were closed. The driver took us to The Plaza Station Hotel and our car to a local mechanic. In the morning, the mechanic told us that it would be done Wednesday so we decided to wait it out and try to enjoy the forced stay. The girls loved riding in the "big truck" and thought we were staying in "video game heaven" (aka the casinos). Thank goodness for their positive attitude because Mike and I were worried. Mike was missing work, we had no clean clothes, and we weren't sure what to do (well, besides jump on the hotel beds of course, that's a given).




Luckily our good friend Josie was able to meet us and enjoy some time together on the strip. We had fun at the M&M store and the MGM. We were lucky that the Lions were actually awake and walking around in their glass cage. The girls loved it! So, Wednesday came and the car wasn't done. Thursday came and the car still wasn't done. I was loosing my patience. To pass the time by we had visited the Las Vegas Temple, went to a Chocolate factory, and even went to a Mormon Fort museum. The mechanic offered to pay for our last night's hotel rate since it was their fault for being late. Finally on Friday, five days later, we were on the road again and the car was drivable. Not totally fixed, we discovered, as it tried to shift into overdrive. Should we turn back? I think not--no way--we were getting out of there even if we had to drive 55 miles/hour. I was never so grateful to see my own bed. It was divine to be home, even if we felt penniless.