A Happy Fiftieth Birthday To Our Daughter, Beth

Four Years Old, Honolulu, Hawaiii

Seven Years Old, Birthday Party, Istanbul, Turkey

Nine Years Old, Home On Sabbatical, Euclid, Ohio

Well, it's almost 7:00 and I have been up since 6:15.  Things don't change whether in Dallas, KC or home.  I am up early but this time, woke to rain and the sun barely peaking through the clouds, its reflection a narrow band on the lake.  Yes, we are back at the lake, after a three week sojourn out West.  We had a great  trip, wonderful visits with two of our kids and their families but, as always, it's good to be home, in our own bed, waking to the sun rising over Chautauqua Lake.  When we arrived last night, it was if it was a different home and yard.  When we left, it was still spring, little green, bushes just wisps of branches.  Now everything is green, filled in, the trees and bushes surrounding our house, lush and healthy.  We forgot how green our area becomes in summer.

6:13

Good Morning, Old Friend

6:45

Now to our trip yesterday.  I shudder to look back at it.  It all began well, with an unhealthy breakfast at our Hampton Inn in Goodletsville, just outside of Nashville.  We hopped in our car, ready for a ten hour plus drive to the lake.  We left at 8:00 so we expected to be home just after 6:00.  The road was busy out of the Nashville area but after that, we had little trouble even as we drove through Cincinnati on #71.  Once we got through Cincinnati, we thought we were home free.  Wrong.  About 20 miles out of the city, we hit something, a piece of iron sitting in the middle lane of the highway, blowing out our right front tire.  Luckily, we did not lose control of the car and were able to pull over to the narrow side.  After getting out and overcoming our shock, we started to think rationally and called AAA, got them on the phone, and they promised a truck and driver in an hour.

Thanks To Officer McGill

Changing The Tire With Help

Meanwhile, we were in the hot sun, in foot high grass, as cars and trucks roared by at 70 plus miles an hour.  We were aware of accidents happening to parked cars, so we got as far away from our car as possible.  As we waited, we searched the Internet for a Firestone dealer, called them but they did not have our tire despite the fact that our tires are Bridgestone or Firestone.  And because we have four wheel drive, we need the exact same tire.  We then searched for a Subaru dealer and, yes, there may be a God though he may be Zeus, a Greek.  There was a dealer eight miles away and they had the tire we needed.  Hallelujah.  After about forty minute, a police car stopped and the nice guy said he would be glad to help change the tire.  So we cleared out the mess of things in the back of our car, spreading them out on the grass, pulled out the mini spare, and proceeded to work up a sweat as we jacked up the car and started taking off the tire.  We were about half way through when AAA arrived and took over the task.

Thanks For The Help

Within 15 minutes, all was finished, the car was quickly repacked, the police officer heartily thanked and we were on our way to the Subaru dealer.  We pulled into the dealer, explained our predicament and the service person had our car quickly checked out.  The bad news is that one of the pipes that connect to the muffler was damaged; they did not have the part in stock but we could still drive the car although it would be noisy but not unbearable.  So they changed the tire and after about two hours, we were on our way, my wallet 200 bucks lighter.  By the way, this is the second flat we have had in the past two months.  At the beginning of April, we got a flat when we were visiting Folly Beach, South Carolina, having driven over a garden trowel.

So we were on our way to Columbus, around 3:00 and hit it just as rush hour was beginning, the result of our visit to the Subaru dealer.  So we slowly worked our way through Columbus rush hour traffic, the kind locals have to deal with everyday, so we did not feel so bad.  From then on, it was easy going, two stops at McDonald's for lunch around 4:00, then in Ohio for dinner around 8:00.  As we approached Chautauqua Lake, it began to cloud up and we even had a few drops of rain.  And as we drove into Woodlawn, the roads were wet from a brief thunderstorm.  We pulled into a house surrounded in the lush of late spring green.  We were home, thankfully, safe and sound after a 21 hour drive from Dallas.  We quickly unpacked; it was easy and quick, surprising both of us.  And we then spent the next hour putting everything in its place before sitting down and relaxing for a bit before wandering up to bed, the end of a long, traumatic day.

No more trips for us for the next four months.