OK, so I lied. I said I would post pictures, but the truth is, I always forget that we have a camera until it's too late. Maybe you'll see pictures in my next blog, but I'm not making any promises.
For work, I had to go to Savannah, GA from Thursday-Sunday. I had some time on Thursday and Friday, so dragged Corey and Griffin with me so I could spend time with them. The original plan was for us to drive separately, arrive around 1 pm or so on Thursday, relax for an hour or two, walk around the city, and go out to eat for a nice, casual meal. On Friday, the plan was for Corey to leave around 2-3 pm to head back to Atlanta.
Now, here's what REALLY happened:
It all started out going pretty well. I left at 9:30 instead of 9:00 with Griffin, and Corey followed behind after dropping some books off at the library. A few hours into the trip, Griffin took a nap, so I turned the phone on vibrate, believing that I would hear it if it rang, but it wouldn't be so loud as to wake up Griffin.
When Corey didn't call at the agreed upon time, I looked down at my phone and saw that he was trying to call me. When I answered, the first thing he said was, "It's about time!" Next, "Didn't you get my messages!" Finally, "The car broke down about 20 minutes ago. I'm stuck on the side of the highway".
I quickly turned around, and drove the 50 miles back to pick up Corey. We then waited for the tow truck for almost an hour. After the 3rd time of them telling us they would be there soon, I finally said that I had a 16 month old in the car and didn't feel safe waiting at the side of the road. He said we could leave the keys in the car, and they would pick it up (We had nothing of value in the car, and weren't too worried about someone driving away, so we took him up on the offer).
We finally made it to Savannah in about 7 hours instead of 4 hours time. We went to a restaurant on the river walk later than planned, with Griffin in tow who was desperately tired since he didn't take a very long nap in the car and was ready to crash. We made it through appetizers, but the entree took forever to get to the table. Griffin decided it was fun to throw the food off the table, and in typical toddler fashion when tired, began moving, chattering, and yelling non-stop. We finally had to take turns bringing Griffin out of the restaurant so the other one was able to eat. He was so tired, that he wouldn't even eat anything, but wanted to chew on everything (I think he was teething). We finally resorted to letting him chew on the butter and sour cream containers. Every time he finally squeezed one open with his teeth, we took it away and gave him another. When they give you seven pats of butter for one baked potato, it felt good to know that none went to waste.
Oh, but the fun was just starting.
When we got back to the hotel, we realized that in the room next to us; with a door in the middle of the wall which made it easier to hear; was another toddler. Neither child wanted to sleep, and when one seemed to be about to nod off, the other would start talking or crying, and both would end up trying to talk to each other through the walls. Griffin did not go to bed until 2 hours after his bedtime, and only when I finally decided to let him scream until he went to sleep. Although he cried for 5 minutes before falling asleep, I think it was better than him forcing himself to stay up, and walking around the room crying because he was so tired.
When we woke up the next morning, I found out that Griffin only had one outfit left (Corey packed Griffin's clothes, lesson learned). They weren't supposed to get home until 6 pm that evening, with only one outfit left to get there. We drove to Target, as we needed other supplies. In the middle of our visit, Griffin did number 2 so badly that it leaked out the back and got all over his last outfit. Luckily, we were at Target, so bought a new outfit, as he got his #2 all over the place.
Back at the hotel, the plan was for Corey to leave around 2 pm with my car, pick up the Gallant at the auto shop halfway to Atlanta, leave my car in their parking lot, and have a co-worker drop me off at the auto shop on the way back home today to pick up my car.
This also turned out as too good to be true. The timing belt was shattered although I had it changed a few years ago. The auto shop said it should be easy to fix, but we finally learned on Saturday that there are also some bent pistons, and the cost of fixing the car could easily be more than the Blue Book Value of the car. The most likely conclusion is that we'll scrap the car, pay the costs of the repair and tow, and start saving money for a new car.
Lessons I've learned from our trip:
1. Never, ever forget the camera.
2. Mitsubishi Gallants are the worst cars ever. Never buy one of these things, they are very unreliable. In August, we had put a whole bunch of money into the car, believing that would help extend the life of the car for a few more years. I should have known better, as everyone I know with a Gallant sold it because they had so many problems.
3. Even with all the stuff that happened, I'm still glad I got to spend time with Corey and Griffin.
4. We need to find a used car at an inexpensive price, as we just bought a newer car last May, and don't have much money left.
Oh, one quick story to share. Today, Griffin followed me into the bathroom. As usual, I shared with him that Griffin goes potty in his diaper, but mommy and daddy go potty on the toilet. He then grunted really loud, like he usually does when we ask him if he's going poopy. To me, it was a very clear indication that he understood you can poop in the toilet. My first thought was one of excitement that he understood the concept. I then began to wonder where he learned that grunting really loud was associated with #2 on the toilet. Hmmm.......
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