Bump in the Road

If you have followed my writing over the last few years, you will definitely know how much I adore travelling with my wife. It one of our all time favorite activities and a really good road trip is just about perfection to us. Now, I said "good road trip" but, as you will see, the events of any individual road trip are not the test of the merit of said trip. It is the moments stolen from the busy rat race of life, the laughs, the knowing looks, the gas station gourmet food......these are the true test of how great a trip is....not any unfortunate incidents that may befall you.

^{Image Source Pixabay}

I mentioned a few days ago to several of my Discord buddies that I was starting a week-long vacation to Gatlinburg, TN to enjoy the mountains for Christmas. Of course, that entrails about a 5 hour road trip from my home near Atlanta. So my wife and I hustled and bustled to get our two dogs and parrot to the kennel so they could enjoy a week of being pampered and then we set off on this mini adventure!

Everything was thrown in the car, oil check, tires kicked, and off we go......wait Cracker Barrel would be amazing right now! Detour! Ok for real this time....with a huge meal resting nicely in our bellies we struck out to see what the open road would have for us. No matter what time of day you try to get through Atlanta, just realize, it will be bad traffic. We skirted the man congestion by hitting the bypasses and soon we were north of Atlanta cruising down Interstate 75.

Now the usual road trip rituals could begin. We ate things that were bad for us. We laughed at each other until we couldn't breathe. We listened to some pretty strange podcasts (Hillbilly Horror Stories is our favorite!), we got into a mock argument about me being able to buy fossils at this huge knife store we visited the last time in Pigeon Forge, which led to the "quote of the trip" when my wife mentioned she was happy and why no one else could, in my pouting mood about being told I couldn't buy anymore fossils, I spouted, "Of course you're happy! Telling people what to do is the only thing that makes your little black heart beat!!!" Now, I absolutely adore my wife, but I adore trying to be a comedian just a little bit more and I often pop off anything I think will get a laugh. This one did not disappoint as I think she may have peed a little bit as she was cackling down the interstate!

So, as you can tell, we really love trips. We get about 15 miles from where we are staying and I absolutely could not hold my bladder anymore so I stopped at a gas station to enjoy their hospitality. I jumped back in the car and when I tried to back out it felt as if I was hitting a curb. I got out checked everything and it appeared clear. I tried backing out again with the same results. I get my wife to turn the wheel as I check the tires and I discover the right front tire is not turning with the steering wheel.....uh oh......that's not good! I lay on the wet, nasty, freezing parking lot to discover that the tie rod has snapped! Great, ruined trip, right? Miserable ending to a hard trip? Nope!!!!! We told the cashiers the car was broke and we would be back. I ordered an XL Uber and we loaded it down with our stuff. We had a very cool chat with the driver as he whisked us away to our condo. We ordered two large pizzas and gorged our day away. I took a really hot shower, watched some mindless Discovery shows and fell asleep.

Life is absolutely what you make it. We laughed and we loved and a messed up, rebellions, traitorous, tie rod was not going to change that! Today is a new day and we will deal with the car and I hope to meet some interesting people in the process. Merry Christmas and see you soon!!!!

Also posted on my Weku Account!

---

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://papacrusher.vornix.blog/2018/12/22/bump-in-the-road/

---

---

All photos and videos are my own creation unless otherwise noted.

---

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien