The trip

We Made It!!!
After the vomiting episode, I decided it was best to wait a day and see how things turned out. I really was not willing to take that big of a chance on such a long trip. I never found out what made her sick, she was fine by the afternoon, but you never know when we may have a repeat appearance.
Anyway, we made it on the road on Saturday morning and have a very uneventful trip to H-town. Mom was out of town, so we stayed with Keri and Ryan. The kids were thrilled to have a slumber party with Evan and it was so nice to actually get to spend some time with them. We grilled out and Mamaw and Papaw came to visit. Aunt Kay (Keri) made homemade hot fudge sundae's (including homemade ice cream) and we pigged out. One mental note...don't feed a 3year old, 4 year old, and 5 year old hot fudge within 3 hours of bedtime. They were PSYCHO crazy. When they finally calmed down, we set up the good ol' air mattress in the living room floor and they finally got the slumber party they have been waiting for. They were all so cute. They were too excited to sleep, so they just laid there and giggled for about an hour. I finally went in and laid down with them to keep it quiet and they were out in SECONDS...literally, Kati was snoring in less than 20 seconds. They were so tired.
On Sunday morning, Keri made breakfast rings (not sure if this is the real name, but what our mom always called them) and we, once again, pigged out, then the girls and I got on the road when the Harbison's left for church.
I know...we skipped church...I think the Lord will forgive us this time:)

I used mom's Garmin (which I am in LOVE with, by the way) on the trip to Knox and so getting here was a breeze. I didn't even have to think about what way to go! About 10 minutes out from the base, though, my car decided to go into fits.
Every bell and whistle on the darn thing started to go off and lights were flashing, the power stopped working (windows, air conditioning, etc) and the engine started to lose power. I freaked out! What the heck!!! I called Eric in a panic and he calmed me down and walked me through the rest of the trip.
Side note--when using a garmin to get onto a military installation, you may need alternate directions. In my case, it wanted to take me in a gate that was closed, but would not re-route me to an open gate, so it kept telling me to turn around and go back to the closed gate. A little annoying to hear...U-turn, U-turn, U-turn, U-turn...over and over again:).
Back on track. I made it to Eric's apartment without any problems, but the engine would not allow me to go faster than 45 mph...not a problem once I got on base, the max speed limit is 35:). I turned the car off and prayed that it was just a fluke and that all the recent driving was sending it into fits. After an hour, we turned it back on and went for a drive. At first, everything was fine...YEAH, it was just a fluke. WRONG, 5 minutes into our drive, once again, bells and whistles, loss of power, etc. We read the manual cover to cover, googled the issues, but came up with "Take it to the dealer"...so that is what we did. To our luck, it is still under warranty, so we weren't out much, also to our luck, the Mercury dealer is 10 minutes away.
To make what is already a long story, short...the dealer was able to fix the car, but due to the holiday (4th of July) it took them a week to do it. We got a rental, which is always cool...admit it, it is fun to drive a new car, and drove that to H-town for the 4th weekend.
Eric got a pass for the 4th, so we were all able to go home. We had a super fun 4th, we spent Friday with my fam, at Mamaw and Papaws, had a cookout and let off fireworks (which poor little Evan had fits over) then the 5th we went to Eric's mom and dads and had a cookout and just hung out with family all day. Sunday after church, it was back on the road.
I was supposed to go back to NC when Eric came back to Knox, but since the car was in the shop and we had the rental, that did not work. I ended up coming back with Eric and waiting for my car. Not that I am complaining:)
So now, it is two weeks here at Knox (almost) and I still have not been home:). I am leaving today, though and Eric is coming with me...what? Yes, he has to, though, official business. The base is a bunch of motorcycle natzi's and won't give him a OK to ride until he gets some type of change on his NC license. It's very complicated and I'm not sure I even understand it all, but anyway, he has to go to NC to the DMV and get this card and then he is OK, so that is what we are doing. It is evidently important enough that his bosses have okayed him to do this, so...whatever:).
So, we are all heading to NC today. This means a super short trip for me...we will stay in H-town tonight and finish the trip tomorrow (Saturday) and then we will leave for Knox as soon as he finishes at the DMV on Monday morning. UGHHH. Oh well, at least I can get my grass mowed, get my kitty's, get the mail and some stuff for the girls and then back on the road. What more do I need to do? Sleep, rest, relax in the pool...nah, not me!