Clear Our Schedule!

Jill's Journal: Clear our schedule tomorrow, girls…we’ve got laundry to do!! Cautious optimism about circuit board #3 has given way to great celebration in the land, or at least in the fifth wheel. Currently, our second test load with the new circuit board is humming along smoothly, with no sign of any problems. I’ve never been so excited to do laundry!

And this means bigger things for us…Rob installed the washing machine, which meant the dryer could move out of our “living room” and be installed on top of the washing machine. The living room freed up means Rob can install the desk he built for his work. His desk being installed means the office equipment he has randomly interspersed throughout the fifth wheel can be properly contained and installed on top on the desk. And this means our launch (hopefully in the next 48-72 hours) can really, truly happen!!

Oh yes, there is great celebrating tonight, right after I go change the laundry.

A Good Day…and Tourist Practice!

Jill's Journal: It was a good day. Rob is benefitting from me keeping the girls out of his hair and is making huge progress on his long list of projects. I’m thinking our “launch day” will be soon! Well, maybe – the circuit board for the washing machine finally arrived, two days behind schedule, and it has a whole different set of problems than the first. Perhaps if we married the two circuit boards, we might have one good washing machine? I’ve told Rob he’s been too nice in his calls to this maker-of-washing-machines-for-RVs-and-yachts…I’m ready to pounce of them. I’m a mother with three young children (translation: LOTS of laundry) who bought a way-too-expensive, especially-for-an-RV washing machine because no matter how hard I could try, I’m just not a Laundromat kind of gal. And I’m taking the inconvenience they’re causing very, very personally. Rob thinks it’s better he deal with them because one can catch more bees with honey than anger. I know he’s right, but here's my confession of the day: I am having a hard time restraining myself!

(As my dear Dad pointed out today on the phone, this delay in our plans is minor in the scheme of things. Better to have everything fixed and all the kinks worked out here rather than in some crazy little town where we can’t find a hardware store. I know, I know...)

So, while we’re still in Lexington, I decided to practice being a tourist right here at home today. I’ve always heard about a little side-of-the-road diner in Midway, Kentucky, called Wallace Station, but had never eaten there. Unsuspectingly, the girls and I headed there for lunch. Holy crap. Un-be-live-able. I had some chipotle/avacado/turkey/pepper jack creation and no other sandwich will ever measure up. Why have I never eaten there before? It’s so good that apparently Wallace Station will be featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network next Monday, the 28th. We have a t.v. but no television service, so I’m hoping to re-live the sandwich by catching the episode somewhere online. And I just may have to drag Rob to Wallace Station on our way out of town. Yum.

While still in a delicious food-induced euphoria, the girls and I then headed to Frankfort to take in some of the sights of the capitol. We went first to the quaint historic district and enjoyed the grounds of the Old Capitol building, in use since 1830 and now a museum. We happened to walk across the spot where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot on the way to his inauguration in 1900. Erika was fascinated because it happened on her birthday (albeit a little more than a century earlier) and I was fascinated because one of the first books I ever helped edit was strangely not about horses, but about Goebel’s assassination.

We then took a short jaunt over to the current Capitol with the intent of taking a tour, but either the heat or Father’s Day got the best of them and they had closed early. Beautiful grounds, however, and the girls especially enjoyed a giant floral clock with a surrounding fountain (shown in the top picture).

They were eager to get home and spend what was left of Father's Day with their Daddy, so we did just that. The happy little girl squeals from an impromptu running-thru-sprinklers session capped a super day. I think we're cut out for this tourist thing!

I did learn something very, very valuable today: when it’s 94 degrees Fahrenheit and so humid you can cut it with a knife, you can never have too much water along. The jug of water I brought wasn’t nearly enough and we stopped on the way back to Lexington to buy a couple more litters, which were quickly inhaled. These little girls play hard and one in particular definitely subscribes to the theory of “Why walk when you can run?”, so overheating could easily be an issue. I’ll be more careful to have a plentiful water supply in the future.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Jill's Journal: Sometimes you’ve just got to have a sense of humor. We haven’t gotten very far in our journey and are still stuck in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Our brand-spanking-new fifth wheel has now had nearly every major system replaced. One thing after another has broken, malfunctioned, or has simply had an attitude. We’ve flooded the plumbing and the girls’ rooms and bathroom not once, but twice today (compliments of the new, but non-working washing machine), we’ve cooked all the electronics due to a wiring error, we’ve had a leak in the roof, etc., etc., etc. Those are the big things. The little things include a broken shelf in the refrigerator and a screen door that’s already ripped. Cosmetically, somehow the girls have already managed to color on the floor and stain the couch with a marker. We figure all we need to do is blow a tire and the challenges will be complete!

Yes, we’ve been frustrated and yes, we’re itching to get on the road, but at least we’re still laughing...or have reached the punchy laughing point after a few tears and possibly a few curse words. Our new circuit board for the washing machine is supposed to arrive by the end of the week. Our insurance has promised to reimburse us for the few thousand dollars in repairs. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise (again!), we’ll finally be on our way this weekend!

Settling In

Jill's Journal: Happily, we are settling into the fifth wheel nicely. The girls are enjoying their new space and love their bunk beds. The place is sparkling clean thanks to an insane amount of bleach and elbow grease. Everything is unpacked and in its place. And life is good!

Of course, we haven’t moved an inch yet since we have several things to wrap up this week in Lexington. But, with two very smooth nights and days of “camping” under our belts, we’re feeling pretty good about the future. And I must confess: we’re not really camping. Sure, space inside is at a premium. But with 1 1/2 bathrooms, a separate master bedroom, a four-bunk bedroom for the girls on the complete other end of the trailer, a decent-sized kitchen, a living room bigger than a New York studio, and even a washer and dryer ready to be installed, we could definitely have it a lot worse. It really is a “house on wheels,” as the girls call it.

The 36 hours before we officially moved in were filled with drama. The closing date on our house got pushed back for the fourth (or was it fifth?) time. We underestimated how much we had yet to do to finish moving out (doesn’t that always happen?). And some improper wiring leading to the RV blew out everything that was plugged in: our new refrigerator, microwave/convection oven, entertainment system, etc. Even little things like an alarm clock and drill were completely decimated.

But that was then and this is now. The good news is that we really did close on our house on Friday morning and managed to finish our move-out with minutes to spare! It was bittersweet to hand those keys over. It’s the only home all three of our little girls have ever known. Victoria was even born there, literally, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts.

More good news: although we do have to replace all those expensive appliances without ever having gotten a chance to use them, at least they can be replaced. It’s just time and money (and a few gray hairs). And if that’s the biggest hiccup we have on our journey, we’re doing just fine.

And one more blessing I have to mention: good friends. One of the hardest decisions we had to make was what to do with our cat, who has been a part of our family for 15 years and has seen other pets come and go. But my dear friend Roberta ended up making it easy for us. She willingly opened up her home and welcomed our old gray kitty on Friday. Roberta’s home is an earthly version of cat heaven…once our cat acclimates, I have a feeling she’ll wonder what kind of purgatory she was in with us for the last 15 years!