A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Honeymoon

Yesterday I told you about The Hillbilly and our wedding and the beginning of our honeymoon. After a few days on the coast we flew to Missouri to pack up all of his belongings and move him to California. Because, after all, it would be nice if we lived in the same state, being newlyweds and all.

Our plan was to leave town at the crack of dawn on Monday morning. At 3:00 Monday morning, The Hillbilly was still loading the trailer. I finally gave up and went to bed. We didn’t leave until that afternoon. We had a reservation at the Clarion Hotel in Amarillo, TX, and we got there about midnight. When we walked into room, exhausted and ready to collapse, it was a mess! It had never been cleaned from the last occupants. The bed was unmade and there were dishes of food sitting around. I called the front desk, and they sent someone up with keys for several other rooms. The closest room was a smoking room, and it was out of the question, so we traipsed clear across the hotel to a more acceptable room. As it turned out, when we got our credit card bill, we were charged for two rooms, so I had to straighten that out at a later date.

We left Amarillo the next morning intending to get to Barstow, CA, that night. Fortunately, we didn’t have a reservation. Somewhere near Tucumcari, NM, as we pulled into a filling station, our water pump blew out, spewing water everywhere. There was nothing for 25 miles in either direction, except, miraculously a garage about ¼ mile up the road. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the part we needed. However, they were able to get it within a couple hours. The people were amazingly nice to us and worked hard to get us back on the road. I remember being so impressed with how calmly and patiently my Hillbilly handled the whole situation. We sat in the waiting area and chatted with the employees and generally enjoyed each other's company.

Several hours later we were back on the road heading west. As we were entering Gallup, NM it was getting late, and we got a flat tire on the trailer. And we didn’t have a spare. We pulled off the freeway and rolled to a stop directly across the street from a Best Western Inn. A very nice one. We checked into the motel to wait until the tire shops in town opened in the morning. I called and ordered a pizza to be delivered. An hour later, we still had no pizza, so I called back. The janitor answered; he was the only one there. I have no idea what happened to our pizza, but I called pizza restaurant #2, and within 45 minutes (it’s probably 10 o’clock by this time), we had dinner.

The next day was New Year’s Eve day. The Hillbilly got busy and found someone who could bring us a new tire. Closer inspection showed that the tire had gone flat because a spring on the trailer had broken causing the trailer body to drag directly on the top of the tire. So where can we get the spring replaced? Why, at the garage/trailer repair shop right next door! They were planning on closing at noon that day, and they managed to get us back on the road right about noon. Happy New Year.

We finally made it to Barstow that night. We got a little lost looking for a motel, but we finally found one and checked in. I changed into my jammies, and then used the toilet. Which overflowed. The Hillbilly stopped it, and I called the front desk. 

The sweet little girl at the desk said, “Well, no one can come fix it until morning.” 

Ooooookay. This was fine with me, I explained, but could we possibly have a different room?

"Oh, yeah!"

And we didn’t even get charged for two rooms this time. 

Let’s all take a deep breath. I’m exhausted.

Ok. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We made it from Barstow to home in the usual time with no drama involved. Looking back, I’m not as impressed by the unfortunate events as I am by the fortunate circumstances that always accompanied them. We had plenty of money because many people gave us cash at our reception in his hometown. Most of that cash was in the hands of various mechanics by the time we made it home, but at least we had it when we needed it. And it’s amazing that we always broke down in the vicinity of the perfect repair place for our needs. So really, we consider our journey to have been blessed. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to go through slightly troubled times together and see how well we both handled it. On the whole, I still think it was a wonderful honeymoon. And the marriage has been just as good. After all, we have been married for 39.94 Kardashians!