Family Vacation Nightmare

In the summer of 2008 we decided to drive across the western United States from Arizona to Washington. The main reason for the trip was to surprise my mom for her birthday. We were taking our two children, who were 1 yr old and 2 yrs old, to see her. She had not had a chance to meet her youngest grandson so it was going to be a great trip. We decided that since we had a lot of family that lived along the way, we would make pit stops to see everyone. It sounded like it was going to be a great trip but what we didn't know was we have bad travel luck.

Arizona
Our trip started out in Arizona. After spending weeks of careful planning we had the entire trip planned out to the T. But what we didn't plan on was complications. The bad luck started before we even left. Since it was going to be a long trip, we had to pinch pennies to make the trip work. The first complication we ran into was at the car rental place. There was a problem with our reservation so we could not get the fuel efficient car we wanted. Instead, we got a gas guzzling SUV. We thought ok, its better than nothing. At least we will be more comfortable.

After loading the car we began our journey. About half an hour into the trip I realized I forgot my shoes. How could that be possible? Well, I was wearing my house slippers and just forgot to grab my shoes. So we turned around and went back, pushing us 1 hour off our scheduled time.

Utah
Since we were traveling a long distance in a short amount of time with two small toddlers, we decided it was best to make stops at a park every few hours to let the kids run off some energy. Once we hit Utah we decided to find the first park and let the kids play. People in Utah must not believe in parks because we searched for one for an hour. We eventually gave up and settled on a big empty parking lot.

Montana
That night at about 1 AM we reached out half way mark where we were to find a motel for the night. Since it was along the highway people decided they could charge you an arm and a leg for a room. We ended up having to drive through the night.

Idaho
As we neared our destination, we were hit by a large surprise. Although it was June and about 100 degrees in Arizona, when we reached Idaho it was snowing. What?! Snow in June? So the entire family was left in shorts with no jackets while it was snowing.

Washington
Once we hit Washington things began to drastically go wrong. Since we were unable to find a motel room, it put us way ahead of schedule. We ended up reaching Washington 8 hours before we were suppose to. We had never been there before and was relying on map quest for directions. That was a mistake. We ended up lost for about 2 hours. It was only about 6 AM and I could not get any one to answer their phone to give us directions. As a last resort, I had to ruin the surprise for my mom and call her for directions. Just as she answered the phone, our cell phone battery died, and we had no charger.

Luckily, my dad found us. As we were fallowing him back to their house, we heard a load pop. We thought we ran over something. Once we reached my parents long dirt drive way, we realized we had a blow out. Good thing we got the insurance on the rental car. We waited for the rental companies repair man to come out and change the tire. To our surprise he only put on a spare. No way could we make it back to Arizona on a spare. So we had to change the car for a new one at Spokane's airport.

Once arriving at the airport, we learned they didn't have any more cars. So after waiting about 2 hours for a new car to show up, we finally began heading back to my moms house. And once again we got lost.

Oregon
On our way back to Arizona, we were making stops at family members houses along the way. While driving through Oregon we learned for the second time do not rely on map quest. We ended up lost. The only place we could find for directions was this little gas station. The man at the counter let us buy a map but would not tell us where we were. How can you become un-lost when you don't know where you are? We took a leap of faith and luckily it was the right way.

California
In California we were going to see my husbands family. When we started nearing his Uncles house the sky grew dark and the air was thick with smoke. The California fires were horrible. We both lived in California our entire lives but never saw anything like those fires. Once arriving at his Uncles house, we were threatened with evacuations for the first day.

Nevada
After leaving California, we headed to Nevada to visit my Grandparents. Just as we crossed the Nevada border, my youngest son threw up in the back seat. There is nothing like driving 400 miles with the aroma of vomit in the car.

We finally made it back home. I must say this was defiantly a trip to remember. We now know we have bad travel luck and to always prepare for the unexpected. Although the trip was a nightmare, we did have to learn to laugh at the unexpected. This trip did teach us a few thing about traveling:

1. Never Trust Map Quest
2. Always have 2 maps
3. Prepare for any weather
4. Have rental car insurance
5. Learn to laugh