St George Adventure 2008

We had a wonderful time in St. George. It started and ended with a bang.

We left Denver after school on Thursday, August 28th. The trip was going well until we heard a huge bang. I was driving the van and the left rear tire lost half of its tread. I was able to keep control of the van and pull over to the side of the road. We were on a slight incline and while I was changing the tire, the jack collapsed. Luckily no one was hurt. I called road side assistance and Janese got the kids out of van and up on the side of the embankment. Before the tow truck arrived a local resident, Glen Wilson from Rifle, CO, pulled over and offered to help. We tried to use his jack, but the same thing happened and this time our axle slid slowly to the asphalt. I told Glen thanks for trying and that we would wait for the tow truck. Thank goodness he was determined to help. He drove back to his work and got a giant jack. I had to help him lift it out of the bed of his truck. Glen was done changing our tire before I got a call from the tow truck driver telling me he was 15 minutes away. Glen wouldn't give me his address or phone number, so I want to publicly thank him for his help. He truly was a good Samaritan.

We arrived in St. George Friday morning around 3:40 am. Amie and Dean's house in St. George has no personal pictures anywhere. They left the doors unlocked for us and once we walked in we worried what would happen if we were in the wrong house? That would not have been good. Luckily we made it to the right place.

Amie and the kids showed up as we were heading out to lunch. That started a totally fun filled weekend. We went and played two games of laser tag courtesy of Mom and Becky, we hiked several times and then hung out and played card games, the Wii, and tons of Guitar Hero. The kids all got along so well. They played tons of tennis and swam at the pool. There's an awesome little rec center just down the street from their house. The smaller kids also played a ton in the desert. Q and Ireland came back to the house sometimes completely red. They were with Harrison and Hayden and built some type of fort in the open space next to their house. Some of it came out in the wash and other parts look like they will be permanent reminders of our trip.

One part of the trip that I enjoyed was having Kori torment the kids. She loves to hold them down and tickle them until they say she is their favorite aunt. She's going to have to be careful though, because at least one time Tyler and Hailey were able to get her down and give her a taste of her own medicine. All of the kids are getting huge! They had a blast with Aunt Kori and were very happy that she came down. I am glad that I am not the only one that likes to torment the kids.

I am very glad we got to go and spend time with everyone. Thank you Mom and Becky for allowing us to be there.

We left on September 1st for the 9 hour drive home. It was sad to leave. The trip was pretty uneventful until we got two hours outside of Denver. As I said at the beginning our trip started with and ended with a bang. As you guessed it another tire blew between Eagle and Avon Colorado. This time Janese was driving and it was our right rear tire and it completely came apart. The first time the tire at least stayed inflated so I could control the vehicle. The right rear tire disintegrated and with no air in the tire the van started fishtailing down the freeway at 75 mph. Thank goodness Janese was able to keep control of the vehicle and no cars were around us. After getting the car under control we were able to pull over on the side of the road.

When the first time blew I thought it was a total fluke. I assumed that it was a flaw in that one tire and that when we got back to Denver I would have the store replace it. Now that both rear tires were gone and our jack was completely destroyed we were hosed. I call roadside assistance and we waited for someone to show up. The biggest issue was how in the world we were going to get everyone to safety. Tow trucks do not come equipped to transport ten people. Luckily the roadside assistance guy went above and beyond and kept calling around for us until he finally connected with the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. They came out with one of their SUV patrol vehicles to help. When they realized we would not all fit inside his car he radioed the jail and they drove out one of their jail transport vans. The kids thought it was the coolest things ever. Megan asked if she could be cuffed. The Deputies took them a couple exits up and dropped them off at WalMart while I stayed with the van. I was told the tow truck would be there soon, but I ended up waiting for close to five hours. We had to get two hotel rooms for the night and I also found out that the store that sold us the original tires had put the wrong type on our van. They had installed four passenger tires that were not rated to handle a van our sizes.

The next morning I woke up early and walked to the next exit to WalMart and had them put four new Light Truck tires on the van. At 10:30 am we were finally able to get back on the road and head home. We made it home at 12:30 pm on September 2nd safe and sound.

Now that we are home I am doing battle with the tire company to reimburse us for all of the unexpected expenses caused by their error. I think it will turn out well. They are showing they are going to step up and handle this so far. I got two repair estimates on the damage the exploding tires did to the van. The lowest was $2,500.

It was an insane, but very fun weekend. Even though it began and ended with some craziness, it was well worth it and I can not wait to do it again.

Margaret Martha Powell Christley 08/07/1920 - 08/18/2008

I am so happy that we went back to Roanoke, VA when we did. We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my grandparents and family. On August 18th my dad called early in the morning to let us know that Grandma had passed away. She was 88 years old.

I did not know if I would be able to make it to the funeral, but thanks to my lovely wife I was blessed to fly out the day before her funeral. It was a wonderful spending time with my family sharing our memories of Grandma. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit. I remember enjoying listening to her and my grandpa telling stories of their past. Grandpa would tell his version and then Grandma would tell us how that wasn't how it was and proceed to tell us the truth. They made an hilarious comedy team.

My dad spoke at the funeral and did an incredible job. We laughed and cried the entire time. He reminded us how you could not go to Grandma and Grandpa's house without being fed or at least offered food. When he spoke about that it reminded me of when we walked in the door late one Saturday night in July, the first thing she asked was if we wanted anything to eat. She then laughed and said if we did we would have to get it ourselves.

We will all miss Grandma madly.