The phrase “it’s on the way” has become one of my favorites!
I am blessed to be part of a zoom prayer group of moms whose kids are in the Navy and served on the USS Roosevelt at the same time Andrew did when he was deployed – we have been “meeting” on zoom for almost two years, getting to know each other and praying for our sons. In one of my posts last year, Janna – who is one of the gals in the group – had trouble with her flights to New Mexico where we were meeting to actually see each other in person – there were five of us who were able to meet together!…
Janna lives in Minnesota, and she asked me once if, when we went back to California with our trailer, we could stop and see her in Minnesota – her words were “IT’S ON THE WAY!” – well, if you know ANYTHING about geography (and I don’t know much), Minnesota is NOT on the way from Pittsburgh to California!!! We would laugh about it and wish that it was on the way so we could go visit her and meet her husband, Kevin….
Leonard said to me one day, when planning this year’s trip, “we really COULD go see her if you want to – we can just make it part of our trip and navigate to California a whole different way – SO…..long story short, we did it and made the phrase “it’s on the way” a reality!!! haha
Janna lives in Pelican Rapids, MN and it was a wonderful little town and an even better visit!! In order to get there, we went from Indiana around Chicago, and then into Wisconsin and on to Minnesota! We had quite the experience getting around Chicago – there was MAJOR road construction for two straight hours and the BUMPIEST roads we have ever encountered! (more to come on that!). We stopped in Wisconsin Dells on the way for one night, and it was a great little stop over…wonderful campground and a pretty campsite to rest before making our way into Minnesota!
Janna and her husband Kevin were WONDERFUL hosts and made our trip to Minnesota memorable! They cooked dinner for us, showed us the town and one of the beautiful 10,000 lakes in the state (IT’S KNOWN AS THE “LAND OF 10,000 LAKES”) – and she sent us off with a wonderful “Welcome to Minnesota goodie basket”, complete with a sticker that says “IT’S ON THE WAY!” – it will be on the trailer somewhere for sure! THANK YOU JANNA AND KEVIN!
Before I go, I need to “go back to Chicago”….the construction and the BUMPY roads….when we got to our campground in Minnesota (called SWAN LAKE), we unhooked and got everything set up with our view of a lake…after going to Janna’s for dinner that evening, we came back to the trailer for the night – after locking everything up, it was time to get ready to “hit the hay” and Leonard needed to go back outside to get something…. as he went to open the trailer door, it would NOT open!!!!!!!!!! It wouldn’t budge at all!!!! It was 9:30 pm and NO ONE was outside or around or, what looked like even awake! We knew there was nothing we could do until morning, so we tried to not be nervous (easier said than done for me) and we went to bed. I have to confess, I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night, and had to talk myself out of getting too nervous about it – when i thought about the fact that we were in this “silver tube” and couldn’t get the door open, it got me a little anxious.
We DO have an emergency exit out of the window by my bed, but we weren’t sure if that ruins the screen once you use it.
Morning came and we were still “trapped” but safe in the trailer…Leonard called Airstream to talk to them about what to do and I kept looking outside to see if there was ANYONE around that we could call out to and have them come open the door from the outside! (the funny thing is that, the more I thought about that, the more I realized that, in the world today, it MIGHT not be the best thing for someone to yell out of a window and say “hey, can you come over here and open our door to let us out”? haha – but it didn’t matter, because NO ONE was around! Leonard called the young man who ran the campground and asked him to come get us out – he came driving down on his ATV and walked to the door — pulled the handle — and guess what? IT WOULDN’T OPEN!!!!!!!!
NOW we were nervous – to make this long story short (haha) we opened the screen on the emergency window and the young man handed us a screwdriver (which we were told by Airstream that we needed to have in the trailer – of course ours was out in truck, which did us NO good!) – Leonard fixed the screen back and went to fix the door, and saw that the screws had come loose on the deadbolt, so it would not OPEN at all – that’s why we were trapped and that’s why when the man tried to open it from the outside, it did no good! THE SCREWS GOT LOOSENED DURING THE TWO HOUR BUMPITY-BUMP-BUMP DRIVE AROUND CHICAGO!!!! We NOW know that we need to have a screwdriver IN the trailer – in fact, our first stop after we were “rescued” was to Wal Mart to purchase one for the trailer! We are NOW prepared and hopefully won’t get stuck again! WOW -what an ordeal! I have to give kudos to Leonard who remained calm during the entire situation – He said to me at one point “we WILL get this fixed and I WILL figure it out and it WON’T happen again! ” – I must admit that I am glad to be married to an engineer! (He tells people that “I may not be fun to have around, but in an emergency, people want me there!” – he just might be right!)
What an adventure we have had and we aren’t even to California yet! Next stop is Mount Rushmore – we are so excited!
Until then….
Omgosh! What a story!! I was laughing but terrified for you all at the same time! Bo is claustrophobic and would’ve rammed his body thru the door 🤣 so glad you have calm, collected Leonard! And so glad you learned of the necessity of tools inside trailer before it was a REALLY bad issue.
I love that you have made these connections with other Navy moms. And I’m SO excited to see your Mt Rushmore post- I’ve never been!
I a, laughing out loud picturing Bo ramming through the door! It was a little intense to say the least….mount Rushmore is amazing! Pics to come!
Wow, what a terrifying experience! Glad everything worked out! I know about those Chicago roads, and people in Chicago seem to drive crazier than the drivers in New York City. So fun to read about all your stops and the family and friends you see along the way. Can’t wait to read about Mt. Rushmore. We visited there almost 10 years ago. Will you be visiting Crazy Horse Memorial too?
I’m sure you get it about those roads…and yes the drivers were crazy! We are going to the crazy Horse memorial today! It’s spectacular out here!
How sweet to be able to meet the couple in person and explore their town! Very special…
What a crazy experience being locked in! I can’t imagine how the Melaragno’s would have handled that. Lol
I think Joe would have handled it well…do you? Haha
Oh my! What an experience. I love that you went through Minnesota and am jealous that you are going to Mount Rushmore! Have fun!
Mount Rushmore was amazing! It’s to come on the blog!
Yay!!!! I have made the blog!! One of my quotable quotes, “It’s on the way!” has now become famous! We are so blessed to have had you two come all this way to visit us. Such an amazing blessing! I love, love, love you two. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yes you are famous….on my little blog! Haha
so glad you got unstuck, and now you have a great story to tell! we have friends in Superior, WI, right across Lake Superior from Michigan, and so we know how beautiful that area is! LuAnn G
Yes we have a story all right! Love you!
Trapped! Can you imagine prison!? Except, you had the nicest cell! Wow! You were in a pickle! Glad you got out! This experience just helps you remember the trip!
I hope you had a sports bra on around Chicago! Haha!!
I had to avert my eyes on the picture of your feet!
Jenna! Glad you were “on the way!” That prayer group is amazing!
You are hilarious! Prison! Haha-hope to never experience that! I’m cracking up about the feet picture!
Adventures and memories! Way to keep life exciting (on purpose or not)!
I would have had a hard time staying calm. I feel claustrophobic in a tent so being “stuck” in a tube would have freaked me out! Level headed Leonard saved the day!
Yes level headed Leonard did it! That’s my new nickname for him! Haha
Oh my gracious. What an adventure so far. Yes indeed. Have a screw driver and an engineer around. No doubt. I love the dells. Glad you got to see them. Going to visit mom tomorrow. Hopefully my trip will not be so very eventful. God speed to Mount Rushmore and beyond. ❤️❤️
I hope your trip is NON eventful also! I hope we have no more “events” on this trip!!
Oh my goodness! I am so glad that you had such a wonderful visit to counter balance the “lock in”!
I would have been very anxious! So thankful that it all worked out and it was just a small bump in the road! Hahaha! Can’t wait to hear more!
It sure was a little tense for a while! Haha
How scary! Hooray for Leonard saving the day, what a hero!!! So glad MN was on the way : )
He was so calm which is exactly what was needed!!!! I now have a sticker Janna gave me that says “It’s on the way” – on the back of the bumper of the trailer!!!
I always wear my sports bra when we drive around Chicago. 🤣🤣Excellent point, Tonya. Enjoying the blog and all your adventures. What fun! Stay safe!
You are hilarious Chris!! Those roads were CRAZY!
I love Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse memorial. We also took a hot air balloon ride over the badlands and Crazy Horse! Such a beautiful part of the country. I can’t wait to read what you thought about it.
that’s so cool that you did that in a hot air balloon! I can’t imagine what it was like! WOW!
Love the story about the bumpy roads and the lock!!! Leonard is a blast to be around and has a great sense of humor. He is the man when you want something done right!!! What a blessing to connect with your prayer friend in Minnesota. Thanks for sharing your adventures!!!
Forgot to mention Leonard is also a good and loyal friend.
I agree!
He does have a good sense of humor – FOR AN ENGINEER! haha
Thankful you have a group of moms who can share your unique experience and uplift each other. And, I was giggling with your adventure INSIDE the Airstream but I do know that is a source of real anxiety and sorry for the long night. Like you noted, most important, it won’t happen again! And, yes, Leo is the best and he’s lucky to have you with your light, heart and talent. <3, A.
What trip so far!!! I should have told you to visit Kelly in Chicago but I’m not sure you could have parked the airstream in front of her apartment! 🤣 I can only imagine your panic! So glad Leonard figured out how to get out!!
What a blessed trip you are having! 💕
can you imagine us trying to park the trailer in Chicago by Kelly? haha – i was a little panicked in the trailer that night – i have to be honest!