How we got to Spend a Surprise Day in Nashville
So where were we in our trip? That’s right. Broken down a little bit past Nashville.
Simon was asleep when we first broke down and the other kids were watching a movie on my computer, so for about an hour we sat while Taido tried to diagnose the van via the iPhone.
At one point, Taido was actually on the ground banging the underside of the van with a large stick, all while on the phone. After a while it became apparent that we were going to have to get a tow truck and call my uncle and beg him to come and get us and our stranded pop up camper from the side of the highway. The kids and I actually got to ride in a police car who showed up to help us. (You can’t buy those kind of memories, honey!) He took us to a McDonald’s with a playland and I have never in my life been so grateful for a fast food joint. Where else on earth can they watch you and your children crawl out of a police car, drenched in sweat, loaded down with everything you can carry and they will still let you sit down in their very air conditioned environment and stay for as long as you like when all you order is three drinks and a couple of waters? Yes, supersize my water please. I might be here a while.
We camped out while Taido waited on the tow truck. Then soon came my uncle to take us back to his house in Nashville (Thank you so much!), where I was able to come up with my top reason for being grateful that our car broke down on the side of the road. Shower…several hours earlier than anticipated. Oh yes hot water. Remember how I love it.
After we bathed and ate pizza, we talked about how to spend our extra time in Nashville. My uncle suggested that I hit Trader Joe’s the following morning. Ben blurted out, Oh she already has like three cartloads in the van from Trader Joe’s!
Things were looking up the next morning. Or maybe we were just a little more settled with the setback and ready to be excited about Nashville, a spot I have most definitely added to the list of places in which I would like to live one day. When we talked to the shop, they said they could in fact fix the fuel pump in the van (shout out to John Foster for the telephone diagnosis!) sometime that day, so we could get home that night. So while the van was being fixed, we headed to Centennial Park at my cousin’s suggestion. We had already been to Bicentennial Park in Nashville the previous weekend, so we got to experience two great Nashville highlights coming and going.
It’s quite pretty.
The Parthenon in Nashville is an exact 1/3 replica of the one in Greece.
It was a super hot day, but we enjoyed walking all around the park anyway. Lots to see.
Simon enjoyed the playground. He is wearing a bathing suit because it is the only item of clothing he had left that was still moderately clean.
My cousin took this picture of us. Everyone was whiny and soooo hot and sweaty at this point. So we left the park and went to Maggie Moo’s to have ice cream for lunch!
The van was ready late that afternoon, so after my cousin drove us back to the shop and we parted with a large sum of money to pick it up, we were on the road again. We made it all the way home this time. Taido says the van is driving better than it has in years. Who knows how many more trips that baby has in its future?
You can fix ANYTHING with an iPhone. Well, almost anything…
Oh this brings back so many memories with a van and my four boys and the many vacations. You made me giggle at times and I remember those McDonalds too. Your children will call you blessed as they remember those trips to expose them to God’s beautiful world! Treasure those memories. Thanks for sharing this in your blog.
[…] Hopefully, in less than 24 hours my family and I will be joining the party that is already in full swing at my sister’s house. I will get to spend a few days all piled in among people for whom I am deeply grateful. My grandmother will not be there, mainly because I can’t talk her into getting into our van with us. You know, it kinda has a bad reputation. […]