starting the trip was a hitch

This morning was amazing. Friends came by and surprised us with farewell gifts, foods and even coffee. 

We "true biz" left two hours later than planned. Our destination was an rv park in scotia, ca. ​

PC: Jason K

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As soon as we hit the road (Jason followed us for few hours to make sure), we were stuck in traffic all over the bay area. It took us 2 hours to just to get over the Richmond bridge.   When we finally we got on 101, I felt weird movements and loud noises from behind our RV. I checked my rear camera and saw that Finder had come unhitched and was being pulled by just chains. She swerved all over the place and hit the back of Mer when I slowed down. There was no safe shoulder for me to pull over so, I had to keep going to the nearest ramp. As soon as I stopped at a red light, on my left, a stranger woman came out of her car to let me know and on my left, Jason was going “WTF why didn’t you stop?!” I said to both of them, “I KNOWWW!” Lucky for us, the gas station was accessible and we were close to uhaul super center store. The process of unhooking Finder, taking Note out, hooking it up again and securing it once again was NOT easy. It was hot. We both cut ourselves in different places and it was all because I forgot to tighten the lug (or nut, whatever you call it). However, the best part about that specific scenario?? My husband said the sweetest thing, “don’t let this stop you.” 

10 minutes before the shit hit the fan. PC: Eitan K

​He decided to follow us for another hour and we stopped at some mobile park in Santa Rosa. I was stressed out and anxious because we already drove for 3 hours and we barely made progress to our RV resort’s destination (Scotia, another 3 hours and 50 mins drive).  The sun was coming down and I did not want to drive in the dark, especially with what happened earlier today. I decided to stay back in the RV as Jason and the boys went to get dinner. I texted Jessica, a friend of mine, asking her how far was she from me and it turns out, she was only 2 minutes away. As I texted her, I was checking around the tow dolly to make sure everything was tight. AT THAT VERY MOMENT, my god damn wallet fell out. Yup. I didn’t realize it til HOURS later. ​

probably that very moment when my wallet fell out. PC: Jessica Rieschl

But hold on, here’s some photos of Jessica and I. She also took photos of us eating our last dinner together as a whole family, which is an unexpected documentary, that kind of thing I live for.

​Ok, fast forward hours later… it was dark, the road was narrow and with sharp curves. The drive was either steep uphill or downhill. I drove between 30-40 mph and sometimes 20 when going up was hard. I knew I was doing something wrong when climbing because the way Mer kept dropping her speed.  Of course, the engine light went on and I went into a panic mode. My body tensed up and I was worried that my transmission was going to fall out and the entire journey was gonna be doomed, barely 10 hours into the one year journey. The light was still on when we stopped… I am going to worry about that tomorrow, for now. 

PC: Eitan K (the drive was smooth as I finally got the gist of it... I think it could be oil or transmission fluid)

As all this was happening, my body in a tense form, me trying to breathe in and out, someone kept calling and calling my phone. An 800 number. Eitan decided to look at my phone and see what was going on- at the same time, Chase Bank sent a text asking to verify if I spent $646 times 3 plus $1 times 3 at a drug store.  It was that very moment I realized my wallet fell out of my pocket. Fuck my life. Seriously, FML.  Nothing I could do but breathe in and out as I drove in the dark in between the Avenue of Giants at Redwood National Park- hoping to god that Finder was still attached to Mer (couldn’t see it on the rear camera due to it being dark).
 
We finally arrived at our destination, 11 hours later, and as soon as I parked- one of my boys gave me that sad look as he was about to cry (over technology). I said to him, “no… no, you did not break a hitch, you did not lose your wallet, you did not have to drive in the dark up in the mountains nor did you have to worry about the engine light NO. you do NOT get to cry.” That shut him up right there.
 
Lucky me, I brought some cash and have my passport. I’ll deal with all this crap on Tuesday as everything is going to be closed tomorrow. All this has me missing my hubby so very much.

PC: Steffi Ellis Gonzales

​Anyway. Bright side? It’s a lot cooler here and we all are in ONE piece. I told myself that it is all good, I am actually doing something that so many people wish they could be doing too. Whatever obstacles are thrown at me (apparently, at the same time), we can do it.
 
And at this very moment, my youngest is sleeping peacefully and it tells me that everything will work out.