the bumps in the road just make the ride more fun.- author unknown

this morning, when we got back from breakfast, we returned to a note slipped under our door, which went something like this:

your dog has been barking for the past 1/2 hour. we were going to stay at this hotel another day and night but now we can't. we would like you to pay for our room. 812

yes, the front desk had called us, while at breakfast (luckily we had just finished). are you in room 810? yes. we got a call about your dog barking. okay. we're on our way up and we're leaving today. sorry about that.

at first, i was angry about the note and my initial reaction was to write in large bold letters, hell no. pay for your own room.

but then i pulled myself together and thought rationally for a bit and in my neatest writing, i replied: dear room 812 please accept my apologies for our dog barking for the past 1/2 hour, while we were at breakfast. he normally doesn't do that. i wish you would have called the front desk earlier because as soon as you did, we returned immediately back to the room.

we're a military family forced to move across country and therefore, forced to travel with our dog--not by choice!!!!

please feel free to stay in your room another night without the risk of listening to our dog bark, as we are checking out this morning. thank you for your understanding and again, please accept my apologies.

sincerely, the family in room 810

i walked two doors down the hallway and gently and quietly slipped the note under the door of room 812. and off we went, traveling the last leg of our journey to kansas. ++++++

so here i sit, in kansas. it's all still a bit surreal and hot and humid as shit. we're in a wonderful two-bedroom hotel room for the next week until our house closes on the 29th and we are able to get in it. our household goods are scheduled to be delivered on the 30th. it's funny how being in the same hotel room for one whole week has us feeling rather settled.

++++++

we definitely experienced our fair share of bumps in the road along the way, nothing terrible but bumps none-the-less, to include the above dog-barking-nastygram.

we started our journey last wednesday morning, with two cars packed to the brim, the little ones in the back seat armed with their ipod movies and a pre-medicated carsick dog, sitting in a $100 elevated doggy booster seat, shivering like a cartoon character.

our first stop was orange, CA. i know. not far. but i had to say good-bye to one of my dearest friends ever--leah. we hung out for a couple hours--the kids playing and us doing our normal stuff--as if it was just another day. and then it was time to say good-bye and i cried like a baby. i will miss leah and her family so. but the great thing as that most of our friendship took place on the phone and that...will not change!

then it was on to sedona for two days. took a jeep tour on sedona's scenic rim. steve and i loved it. the kids were bored and ryder ended up with a stomach ache from all the bouncing around. oh yea. we also got to see kelly ripa and her family in our hotel's restaurant. as we were leaving the restaurant, she and family were entering. of course, i had to go up to her and confirm that it was her. after she confirmed, i said, i bet you just want everyone to leave you alone so you can enjoy your dinner in peace. yea, she replied, with an isn't that obvious look in her eyes. and that was it. but man is that family H-O-T!

after sedona, we travelled to albuquerque, to visit one of steve's brothers and his fiance. we rode the albuquerque tram, did some hiking and had a wonderful dinner with T and M. the next morning, all loaded in the car and ready for the next leg of our trip (albuquerque to denver), the wagon wouldn't start. no noise. nothing. dead. and then...no jumper cables.

that's okay, i thought, i'll just ask the front desk for jumper cables. sure, they had jumper cables in the van but the van wasn't due back for another 30 minutes. so i kindly asked the man, who was loading up his van, if he has any cables and thankfully he did. that did the trick and we were off to find a new battery before doing the eight hour trip. steve knew where a sears was so we stopped there first. they didn't carry the right battery for the wagon and recommended the volvo dealership, which we never ended up finding. so steve suggested that we just press on to denver and get a new battery there. and we did.

that was when i discovered that our carsick dog is also afraid of windshield wipers. every time the wipers went, he cowered like it was a monster running across the windshield. eventually, because it rained so much, he got used to it.

our first stop in CO was pueblo. a quick lunch with another of steve's brothers and then on to denver. our hotel (the curtis) was super cool but our room was on the 8th floor--not very fun with a dog. at one point (i don't remember why), the kids and i went to the room without steve and when i opened the door, the dog bolted out and ran as fast as his little legs would take him down the hall. giggling and yelling for charley, the kids bolted after him. there i stood, in a fluster, hollering for the little ones to get back into the hotel room, hoping charley would follow. in the end, it was all pretty hilarious (to everyone except room 812).

we spent two days in denver. the first night, we went out with cheryl nicolai and hubby, while her older kids babysat the little ones in the hotel room. at the end of the night, i went to pay but cheryl beat me to it. and that's when it must have happened. in the morning, i woke up and no credit card. how the hell did i lose my credit card when i never even paid for anything? after looking at the restaurant, the bar and in CJ's car...it was officially declared gone and i proceeded to cancel the darn thing.

and the car battery...steve did end up finding a battery in denver. he emptied everything out of the back of the volvo wagon (b/c that's where the battery is), only to realize that he needed tools to remove the battery. he loaded everything back into the wagon and ended up getting the right tool from the front desk--thank goodness.

had an awesome lunch cooked by chef bob (CJ's husband) and a chilled night, as we prepared for our final leg, to kansas city.

after an 8-hour drive today, we arrived safely in kansas city around 7 PM. and here i sit. thankful that it is done and trying hard not to think about the fact that we'll be doing this all over again in less than a year. my best guess is that we'll end up with an assignment back to san diego or VA. hopefully we'll have that answer by january.

sorry no photos with this post but i'm just too darn tired to get photos off my phone. and i hope that this post makes sense, as i'm too tired to re-read.