This post has no colorful pictures, and let me explain why....It all starts with Ben throwing his back out and ending up in the emergency room two days before we were to leave for Arizona for a really BIG fireside he was to speak at. There was no particular movement or reason it happened, it just did, but that wasn't going to hold him back from going despite his extreme pain and limp. This had been planed for months!
Valentines day we head out around 10:00am, trailer full of all his original paintings. We are about 3 hours out of town and in need of gas. There just happens to be a gas station we pass, so we turn around and pump $50 into our tank. we take off, we start to sputter... and shake... and eventually stop. A man comes to the window and tells us its our "lucky day" because we just happened to break down next to his store. Johnny was a very nice man and let us use his phone to make some calls. After two and a half hours we take a ride back into town in a big tow truck. My Mom generously lent us her New SUV and head back to get the trailer at the breaking spot. After about 30 minutes I notice that we left the DVD player in the other car. Lovely! I am going to half to travel like the pioneers! we drove to Kanab and decided we had to stay the night. We were booked at a hotel in Mesa for that night as well and could not cancel, so we went to bed knowing we were paying for two nights. The next day driving on the freeway with no signs of life anywhere we get pulled over for going 70mph instead of 60 mph...it was like he was waiting for us to come so he could give us a ticket. The day of the fireside, I arrive at the center and found Ben in his tshirt, locked out of the car that had his suit in it. The keys were with Luke somewhere in the vicinity. There were hangers being bent and random people trying to carefully break into my Mothers car, the police were called to open the car and 5 minutes before Ben was to go on stage, the keys were retrieved and the program started. I had to leave my seat during the opening prayer because of my two whining babies. Apparently during Ben's presentation, he had a shooting pain go down his leg That made him stall, but he collected his thoughts and did an amazing job! The next day we are just about packed and ready to leave but wheres the camera?? anybody seen the camera...? are you kidding me? o.k. this sucks! Ben says where are my lights for my studio? were they left in the building last night? he calls to see if someone can come and unlock the building but oh wait...it's Presidents day, not open, guess we are staying another day. Aunt Jan and Uncle Doug are GEMS for letting us stay with them and destroying their beautiful home with our kiddos fingerprints! Tuesdays we pack up again and get the lights. heading home we are about 4 hours to Provo, Ben calls the dealership to see if they have fixed our car, they tell us that our gas tank was full of water and it had froze and ruined all kinds of parts and that the warranty doesn't cover the $1,200.00 it will take to fix it! I have been thinking in my head, o.k. the only thing left to happen on this trip is an accident, ...when is the accident going to happen?? well my answer came! I hear a clink, clank and Ben sees sparks in the rear view mirror...the trailer tongue has come off the hitch, slides into the car as we pull to the side of the road. we both start balling...thinking, what is happening, I mean we know we have a record of the worst luck but come on, this is an actual force against us! I open the door to see the damage to my Moms new car and there just happens to be a dead stinky dear right by our feet....so now I am thinking that this is just a slap in the face!, I am balling while I am explaining to Bella what happened to the poor dear! we find that the bumper has to be replaced! We go back to the town we came from about 30 miles out, get a pin for the hitch, came back and Ben says where is the trailer?? he says call 911! someone has stolen the trailer with all the paintings in it! I instantly have to throw up! and then I say wait...where is that dead dear? we keep driving and find the trailer, o.k. this has now just become comedic! the 9 hours it takes to get home has now become 14 hours but its not over. The road sign says 1 mile to Salina, we are both looking for the exit, two miles later, where is the exit? we see a sign that says green river, we are now heading into a canyon the opposite direction we should be going! so we try to turn around but see no break in the guard rail for 40 minutes! it is now 11:30pm and we have to back track. all that was going through my head the rest of the way home was,,.. is our home going to be in tact or did it blows up? because the chances of it being the way we left it is slim to none, I:30am we pull up to our house and it is still standing, amazing! all of these unfortunate events that have no explanation, and could only happen to the Mcphersons!
