"This is Why..."

...was a phrase often repeated the last couple of days. For good reasons and bad.

Saturday started out just fine, with clear weather and a good night's sleep in my parents' driveway in Two Rivers, the town where I grew up. We unhooked the car and tow dolly, cleaned up the inside and prepared to take the bus to Judy's sister's house a few miles north of Mishicot. Along for the ride were our daughters Mindy & Hannah, Mindy's boyfriend Andy, and our son Jacob. Son Jordan didn't make it over because of mechanical problems.

By the time we got started the six inches of snow that was promised started coming down. No problem, though. The old Eagle handled the snow pretty well. Besides it was so cold the roads weren't really slick anyway. Well, by the time we got to Mishicot, the front air guage was falling. Fast. I just pulled over to the curb when the parking brake self-applied. Great. Judy called her sister and let her know that we would not be there for a while. I let her know "This is why we need to get out of this Wisconsin weather!"

So there we sat, not knowing what to do. But not for long. A guy came over from across the street asking if we needed help. He said the air line was probably frozen and we needed to add some de-icer. He invited me into his home,introduced his family and dialed a friend of his to get some advice. Then he asked if the rest of us wanted to come in to get warm while they waited. I thanked him and assured him that we would be fine and that we have all we need on the bus. I thought to myself, "This is why we are doing this, to meet new folks like him."

By the time I walked back to the bus, three of Judy's brothers and one brother-in-law had showed up to help. And help they did. We called a place Bob suggested, and piled into Ron's van to get some de-icer. After trying that for a while we called Nelson Truck and asked them to come out to help. In a very short time, Shane showed up and got to work. He was awesome. He crawled around underneath and between the frame and wheels of that bus like I've never seen. And that with the snow and wind and cold. It was all I could handle to just hold the flashlight for him. Well, he just would not give up. he tried everything, but the lines just wouldn't thaw. After about three hours working in the dark, it was time to call a tow.

We called Hwy 42 Towing. Kathy was very nice but said that all the trucks were busy on I-43 with the storm and it may be Sunday before they could send a tow. She asked if we needed transport for all my passengers, but I told her that it wasn't a tour bus but a bus conversion to a RV. She later called back and told me that because it would have to be a special tow (a bus has to be lifted from the back or the driveshaft pulled) it would not be until at least Monday before they would come out. She was very concerned that we would be alright but I assured her we had heat and everything we need on the bus and we'd be fine. We figured to have it towed to Nelson's and Shane went home. The kids got picked up to spend the night at my folks and Judy and I prepared to spend the night on the bus.

Well, we really had a great time. There was a Subway restaurant two doors down and they let us use the restroom when we needed to, and we had dinner there. Everyone we met in town was so friendly and accomodating. We got up the next morning, had breakfast at the Subway, and went to church only two blocks away. "This is why..."

When we came back we decided to try starting the bus and see if the lines had thawed on their own. The temps were above freezing and I called my dad to bring his torpedo heater to help. Well, it worked. The woman whose building we were parked in front of was out shoveling the sidewalk and said "Aren't you glad now you went to church?" Really nice gal. Turns out she remembered me from a place I worked at for 3 months 25 years ago. And my dad did some brickwork on her house. Small world. Called Shane and he opened the shop for us so they could work on the air dryer Monday morning. We came back to my folks to visit with my brother and his family and spent the night here.

Today we are just waiting for the call from Nelson and we'll take the car down there, hook it up and be on our way. We hope to get to Jacob's house in Davenport tonight. We'll be loading up some of his stuff to take to San Jose and he'll follow us out there.

Wish us well, It may be a while before we update again, possibly not until we get to CA. Talk to you then!