Morning of Day 2
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 11:56AM To say that our second day on the road was eventful would be an understatement. After a very late departure we arrived in Ohio around 2:00am Friday morning. Bertha isn’t a quiet vehicle, so after waking up the entire campground we settled in for our first night in the van. To those of you who we woke up, sorry. It was more comfortable than anticipated, the next six months may not be as sleep deprived as I originally thought.
While cleaning up in the campground restrooms the following morning before our departure several people approached us to enquire about the van. All were very interested and supportive, one woman even gave us a donation and had us take a picture with her daughter in front of the van. The support and encouragement we have received thus far has been amazing. I think that since we are now on the road and people are seeing the van they are realizing that we are for real.
Bertha’s (the van for those of you not following along) engine was made by Navistar. A company that my brother works for, he recommended that we take it in to have their mechanics give the engine a thorough once over. We just wanted to make sure that everything was in order and ready for the Virginia to Alaska, Alaska to Florida road trip.
This is where the plot thickens. The guys at Miami Valley International are the definition of going above and beyond in the name of customer service (I will get there shortly). When we dropped of the van and left to take the dog for a walk. It was a very pleasant morning, but the temperature rose quickly. We found a shady bench in front of a Mexican restaurant that appeared to be closed. We sat there for a while and people started entering. “Huh this place must be open, we should get some take out nachos.” Azure went in and got some iced tea and nachos. While we were enjoying our snack, Azure noticed that we were getting some strange looks from the people walking in. She quickly deduced that these individuals thought we were homeless. I said “no, surely they know we are sitting out here eating cause we have the dog with us.” Another group of people entered and I realized she was right. I will admit that we have looked better but had the shoe been on the other foot I would like to think that I would not have assumed that the people on the bench were homeless. I also mention to Azure that technically speaking we actually are homeless so I guess these people were right on the money.
After finishing our snack and continuing to laugh about the people trying to avoid making eye contact with the homeless couple with the cute dog. We continued walking and upon reaching a dead end a very young kitten comes walking out of the weeds at us. For those of you who don’t know, Azure is the lady who would run across an eight-lane highway to try and save a stray animal, so I immediately realize that this has now become our problem. We walk over near where we first saw this kitten, and found a second one laying with the mother in the weeds and three more that had fallen down a storm sewer. After calling about seven different rescue organizations, none of which were willing to help us, we realized we were on our own. After the mother figured out we were there to help she ran away. This is where the customer service I mentioned before comes into play. The guys at the truck shop called to give us a progress update on the van and offer us an air conditioned place to bring the dog due to the heat. I told them that we were currently dealing with a stray kitten situation and that we couldn’t get any of the animal rights organizations to come and get them. The assistant service manager called me back and said that he had a half an hour left on his lunch break and that he would pick us up and take us to a shelter… truly amazing! Not to mention that they serviced and inspected the van for us in a very timely manner. If you own a diesel in the vicinity of these guys I would highly recommend them. We left with renewed confidence in our vehicle and headed to Cleveland for the fundraiser, which deserves a separate post. Which I will put up in a bit.
Reader Comments (2)
Hope you don't repeat the story with a group of "cute" abandoned wolves in Alaska! Great story for the first 48 hours!
I take some pride in instilling in you the thrill of the adventure, when you were little you and your sister and brothers' hated whenever Dad and I used that word! It usually meant we were moving. Well Pat and Azure, you are really moving! I couldn't be more proud of you, this is indeed the adventure of a lifetime! Stay safe and enjoy every experience you have! I can't wait to see you in Key West! Mom