Patience....

...is a virtue learned by experience and practice when you actually have to demonstrate it. And, it seems that the lesson of Patience is to be learned in Springfield Missouri. It is Saturday evening, June 28 and we arrived here in Springfield today at around 9:30 AM after our stay last night in Branson, MO.

It's about a 40 mile drive between Branson and Springfield. At about mile 7 or so on our route, Bob indicated that he was pretty sure that he had not driven in worse rain. It was pounding, pouring, pummeling...and blowing...just as it had been since some time during the night. I would agree with Bob's assessment that it was raining very, very hard. And, I would add that despite that fact that it actually was raining very hard, it seemed to be raining even harder. This perception of it being worse that it already actually was occurred because this hard rain was pummeling the Cozy Den (now also known as The Tin Box) in which we found ourselves rattling (literally) down the road.

Here's what you should do if you want to know what the rain sounded like. Shrink yourself down to Christmas cookie size. Then have someone you know and love (and who will take you out at the end of this little experience) place you into the Christmas cookie tin and then take you outside to a play ground that has pea gravel. Before having placed you into the tin, you should have given this loved one the instruction that once they had arrived at said play ground, they should set the tin down and begin throwing handfuls of pea gravel at the Christmas cookie tin.

If you don't actually want to go to all of that 'Christmas Cookie Tin' experience nonsense, perhaps you can just imagine what it sounded like. Now that you've got that sound in your head, you should know that at about mile 25 or so on our 40 mile journey to Springfield (where we were thrilled to be visiting our long time friend and the girls' former nanny, Tanya, and her family) some new sounds were added to the pea gravel pounding. So, to your pea gravel din, begin adding some high-pitched rattles and whines...and a few 'pop-ish' bangs here and there.
These really did not sound normal...ok...duh. And they did not sound like the pea gravel.... But all the gauges seemed fine...and kept seeming fine. The ragged ride was becoming a bit concerning though. We discussed whether to stop, but every mile we kept on was another mile closer to Tanya's home. If we were going to be stranded, I wanted to be stuck at her house. So when Bob asked me "Do you think we should we stop?", I'm pretty certain that if we actually owned the Cozy Den (now aka The Rattly, Shaky, Pea Gravely Tin Box), I would have given it a more considered answer than the "No...Keep Going" order that I gave.

When we got to about mile 38 of our 40 mile journey, we had to stop at a stop light. It was then that we became aware of the burned rubber smell...at which point I said: "Hmmm...do you think we blew one of the four tires in the back?" Bob said he didn't think so and that it sure didn't drive like it. But, then again...at the slower speeds, it sure seemed to drive really 'gimpy'...so maybe we did blow a tire.

Well anyway, we made it to Tanya's house. (Thank you God.) Where upon Bob could find no visible explanation for the sounds, the smell or the odd driving sensations. And so the calls and assessments began.

After lots of holding and lots of dialogues, here's the bottom line: This being a Saturday, there are no service guys working until Monday (although a very nice RV repair guy did assess that it was probably a wheel baring--not great--or a baring in the rear drive train--worse). Cruise America looked for another RV anywhere within 200 miles--none. Bob called every rental car company in Springfield--no cars of any kind available for one-way trips to Milwaukee. (We would have needed two SUVs or Minivans to haul all of ourselves and our stuff home.) And so, the nice RV repair guy and his team will begin the actual assessment of the dilemma being suffered by our Cozy Den at 8 AM Monday morning. (As a side note, I'm pretty sure Bob has a new name for it now...but this being a family blog, you'll have to get that from him via another source.) If they can quickly assess the dilemma and it is a problem they can fix quickly and they can get the parts on Monday, then we will be on our way again Monday afternoon. If either of these 'ands' are not attainable, then it is unclear when exactly we will be home...because, of course, going into the fourth of July weekend there are no cars or RVs available anywhere near Springfield, MO.

Let's just say that some of the folks in our Cozy Den party are feeling a bit more aggravation about our predicament than others. It's tough to program yourself to be ok with 20-ish days in 250 square feet and then to find out it's going to be longer.... It's tough to have your expectations messed with.... It's tough to be in a situation that you can't control.... It's tough not knowing what the outcome will be....

On the other hand, we are getting some lovely quality time with Tanya, her sister Alyona, and her wonderful boys, Sasha and Andrew. For those of you who know the White family, Abe is not here as he is currently traveling for his new job in Chicago...they are all moving back closer to us!!

And on the other, other hand, this could have happened as we were pulling into Amarillo a few nights ago (YUK!) or as we were pulling into Joplin, Missouri (YUK!) the night before last or even in the middle of the all night drive The Loneliest Road in America across Nevada.

So, anyway...I hope you've gotten a good chuckle at the expense of the Tenges clan. And now the fee I'll exact for the humor are your prayers for patience, good humor and a speedy fix to our--not-so-faithful-anymore--Cozy Den.