Home for the 4th...Yeah!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Dang it's good to be home to celebrate and relax.

Poor Daisy still isn't sure if we're home for good yet. Yesterday morning after we caught a few hours of snoozin' time, Bob and I got up to unload the RV. Daisy couldn't figure out if we were simply re-stocking and heading out again or here at home for good. In the end, she decided that the best places for her to be were either in the RV or in a direct path between the garage and the RV. One thing was certain though: if that thing pulled out, she was going to be in it!!

Funny dog...so much like a kid, just not wanting to miss out on any of the fun! Speaking of fun...read the next blog about Cowboys!

Becky

We're Home!

Moments after my last post we learned that our Cozy Den was ready to roll. Bob and I picked it up and by 4:22 p.m. we were on the road. At 4:30 a.m we drove into our driveway.

It's now 11:45 a.m. and Bob left 15 minutes ago to return the RV, which Nadya has said is no longer cozy. So we cannot call it our Cozy Den...it's too empty, "too still."

Watch the blog for a few more updates.

Ciao,
Becky

Update on Patience...

I've been told that I need to update the story...so sorry for leaving you all hanging with us in the Tin Box. It is Tuesday morning, July 1st, and we remain in Springfield.

As for our Cozy Den, she has had a variety of folks looking under her skirt and here's the report. The Brake Guys on Monday concluded in mid afternoon that the brakes were fine, but that the rear transmission needed work and that we should take it to the Ford Dealer in town. Bob then had a rather funny (Bob may only find the humor sometime next year I think...) conversation with a Cruise America guy with whom he had not yet had any dialogue. This rather myopic fellow--who evidently could only focus on the possibility of being screeched at by the next family in line for The Cozy Den--informed Bob in no uncertain terms that we were violating our lease because we did not have the RV back in Milwaukee on Monday, as agreed. I didn't actually hear the conversation myself, but Bob indicated that it included something to the effect that if you want your *&!!@# RV, then come get it and us too. Somewhere along the way during the conversation, this chap realized the error of his ways and decided that the best way to get this RV back to Milwaukee was to actually help us. So Mr. Myopic called the Ford Dealer.

Upon our arrival at the Ford dealer (which services RVs as well as regular cars) a very nice fellow named Ron told us he'd look at it right away to determine what we were dealing with...thank you Mr Myopic! After about 2 hours, Ron informed us that the transmission is fine, but that the emergency brake had siezed up and was causing the problem. (Kind of goofy that the Brake guy didn't figure this out....) As of this morning, Bob has just gotten off of the phone with Ron again who confirmed his absolute certainty that it is a brake problem. The latest estimate for completion of the under-Cozy's-skirt-work is tomorrow perhaps as early as 1 pm, but not later than the end of the day. What I can tell you is that Bob is itching to get home so badly that when Cozy's work is complete, we will be blasting off like a rocket ship. I expect we will be doing a drive similar to the one we did across The Loneliest Road in America...not stopping, except for gas!!

So that's the update on Cozy, as for the rest of us, here's the report. While Cozy has had men looking up her skirts, we've been finding fun. On Saturday, we rented a car (which Bob replaced on Sunday with an SUV--deduct the smoke smell...add space for Daisy) so that we'd have some wheels to go exploring. Sunday afternoon the Tenges clan, Tanya and her two boys (Sasha, 7, and Andrew, 4) drove to Branson so that the kiddos could play at a go-cart place. They all had a blast and we had fun watching them play. Sveta and Nadya even did a 'rock-shot-from-a-slingshot' immitation when they (twice) went on a ride that let them drop suspended from a cable from a 100 foot crane. They LOVED it!!!! Check out these video clips....




Yesterday we met Tanya, Andrew and the little boy, Tyler, for whom she has been a nanny, at a local park that has a very fun water 'river' with sprays that spike up in the air that the kids can play in. Daisy even joined in the fun. While Bob and Daisy were sitting at the Ford dealer, I took the kids to a book store. Bribery is always useful.

As for today, once I finish this post, I will be taking the kids to Springfield's Discovery Center and then back to the water river. Bob will be holding down the post here with Daisy...and waiting.

So that's about it for now. I keep intending to update the blog about the parts of the trip that we did before we broke down...perhaps on our marathon drive back home....

Bye for now,
Becky

On the Road Again!! (by Daisy and Nadya)

Hi! Daisy here (with some key boarding and translation assistance by Nadya!)

I was soooo worried when the Cozy Den was taken away from us last Saturday and it disappeared from the drive-way of this lady Tanya. I didn’t know what to do. The Cozy Den was gone, and it is now my second home! I have spent my days looking at the birds at Tanya’s house. Mom says they're parakeets. They are so colorful. And they make weird noises. They are very small. They hop around on little bars instead of flying. They have wings. Why don’t they just use them? Anyway, we have been stuck at the cool house and it is very fun to walk around and see new places and smell new things. I spend my nights on the basement of Tanya’s house with the rest of my pack. But not Sveta. She sleeps up-stairs in the boys’ rooms and I wish I could sleep with her too. Nadya, mom, dad, and I sleep in the basement altogether on a row, each in our own space. I think it is cool how we all sleep together and I like it. Except for Sveta. She still slept with the boys. I guess they just needed some company while they slept. It is very cozy in the basement. First dad, then me, then mom, then Nadya. Daddy pets me while he goes to sleep. I am very pampered. I get chicken in my diner! Mom and Dad buy me toys like they have every dollar in the world to spend on me! Off topic. Mommy and Daddy took the Cozy Den in to the repair shop and got it fixed. It must have been a big problem, because it took 2 days to fix it! To you, that is only 2 days. But to a dog, that is like eternity!!!!!!!!!! I wanted the Cozy den back as soon as possible so I did stuff to pass the time.

Woof for now (and thanks Nayda for typing up my blog entry!)
Daisy

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.

Chasing Chickens

On Friday June 27th, we were in Branson, Missouri for a one night stand of checking out Branson before stopping in the next morning for a quick (we thought) hello to Tanya and then the final leg of our trip home.

We stayed in a pretty nice KOA that offered shuttle service anywhere you wanted to go in town. Looking over the various offerings (about 150!) of live shows, we settled on Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede complete with horses (yeah said the girls), racing pigs, racing ostriches and several other entertaining show memories. When we checked in to pick up our 'Will Call' tickets and the nice lady suggested that we ask our server if the girls could participate in the great 'Chicken Chase'. As you can see from the photos here, the girls got to chase the chickens...encouraging the Feathered Foot Racers to dash quickly across the arena to a finish line about 20 yards away. Alas our two little girls and their chickens lost the race to two much shorter Chicken Encouragers. I think the short kids had the edge because they didn't have to bend over to clap their hands behind the chickens' buns. Being not much taller than the chickens, the other two kiddos simply had to run upright behind the chickens clapping their little hands. The Tenges girls had loads of fun and now have a wonderful memory nonetheless. They even walked away with a chicken chasing medal!!

One thing in Oklahoma...

On Thursday morning, June 26th we happily departed our KOA in Amarillo, Texas (hot, dry, dusty, windy...sounds like I'm describing a Santa Ana wind in California, except that I'm describing Amarillo and everything you can see--and stuff you can't--for hundreds of miles in every direction). Our destination that evening was Joplin, Missouri--the fourth largest city in Missouri, judging by the map--by way of the rest of Texas and all of Oklahoma on Interstate 40, essentially the old Route 66.

Since there was nothinnnngggg to see for miles around, the girls spent the day catching up on their scrap books. At one point in the scrap booking activities, I took a break as Master Taper and sat in the co-pilot seat to keep Bob company. It was during that short interlude, just west of Oklahoma City, that I saw a bill board sign for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We decided that we'd stop there for our only non-driving adventure of the day. What a GREAT stop it was!! This museum is AMAZING and it is humongous, but not overwhelming. They have cowboy and western art; saddle, bridle, clothing, and barbed wire collections; western genre movies through history; a children's interactive area; a western town recreation from the turn of the century; a lovely restaurant; and on, and on, and on. The facility is gorgeous, NO expense having been spared for any aspect of it, including the exterior decor of the building.

I'm not sure what else there is to see in Oklahoma City, but even if there were nothing, this place could keep a person happily entertained for a couple of days, at least! So cowboy and horsey nuts, head to Oklahoma City and check it out!

Becky