Trek or Disaster?

Our journey began at 1 p.m. this afternoon - or so we THOUGHT! Crammed into the front seat of the Red Ranger, we began a reasonable pace down the highway and our spirits were high. After days of packing and many painful "goodbyes," Shawn and I were finally off to Montana! Just 5 minutes later, Oscar, one of our fat guinea pig boys, escaped from his cardboard "jail cell" and became lost among a 3 foot stack of "rubble" behind the driver's seat! After a few moments of slightly panicked searching, I found him - crouched amidst our coy boy hats, peering around the truck interior with an anxious black, beady eye. I scooped him up and re-packed him in his cardboard box. (Hector, alternatively, was trying to EAT his way out of the cardboard box.)

THEN, just ten miles later the engine light flashed! The ominous black cloud of traveling frustration, set in soon after. I was joking when I said Shawn's truck wouldn't make it 100 miles with the cab loaded down pulling an equally weighted down Uhaul. BUT TEN MILES????? I blame the extra-weight on his canon ball (found on a beach in Haiti, which apparently, had to come with us); he blames the extra weight on my art supplies and beanie baby collection. Either way, we were saved by our knight in shining armor: Julie Gray (and later AAA). Our wonderful landlady came to our rescue almost immediately. SO.......Shawn got a LARGER moving truck and we shifted bicycles, guitar, rocking horse, paintings, beanie babies, canon ball, and ALL our treasures from one vehicle to the next. This happened in the Chevron parking lot with lots of interested on-lookers, who were no doubt sayin: "sucks to be them." But, in record time we were heading back towards Thousand Oaks, me behind the wheel of this BIG @$$ moving truck, Shawn in the Red Ranger towing the now empty Uhaul, and Julie Gray - land lady and loyal friend, nobly following in the rear. No - it didn't turn out well. Just a few miles down the road, the Red Ranger blows its radiator. Shawn comes to a complete stop on the Owens exit ramp and thus, our caravan halts - guinea pigs included. It could have been worse.

Tomorrow we will begin our journey, once again, with "Plan B" initiated.

For now, the pigs are tucked away in blankets for the night, nibbling calmly on carrots as I type this.

I am inspired to blog my adventures in the Rocky Mountains and in Yellowstone these coming months. Shawn and I will live there for the next few years in a small town with 800 residents. As a big city California chick, this will be a new, incredible experience. What will I do? Who will I meet? And how will I cope with such extreme winter temperatures? It was 7 degrees last night! I thought this blog would keep me occupied, so please be on the lookout for my updates, or feel free to subscribe. I would love to hear from all of you.