Friday, October 4, 2013

Chunju adventure...

So my mom wanted to go on a mini family vaca...so I tried to find somewhere I can use my RCI points.  I found that Kensington had a few places and we choose Chungju.
Justin went into work for a few and took Adrian to her follow up appointment...he was back by 10am.
My mom had a body adjustment and acupuncture at 9:20am, but she wasn't back til 12:45 or so...
We left the house around 2:00 ...
We were on the road and at around 3:00 ppl were starting to get hungry. So we stopped at a rest stop. Yong-in rest stop.
And omfg there was a McDonald's there!
This is the 1st time any of us had seen a McDonald's at a rest stop!
So but of course we had to eat some! Haha
Dad had a quarter pounder.
Justin and I shared a double quarter pounder and a Shanghai chicken sandwich.
And omg grandpa tried to give Luke French fries! #face palm
Mom and grandma ate some Korean food like fish cake and noodles ~~
Ok so we finished up eating and got on the road.
And I just have the worst track record and luck.
It was my nightmare: the white smoke!
(If you know my history you will understand the white smoke reference)
Shortly after the white smoke made its debut the thermostat light came on and the engine temp gage when way hot...
So we pulled over after going through the Yangji tollgate.
From there is was white steam out of the engine.
I GPS'd the nearest service center/gas station and we tried to limp it there...ever so slowly...
Us waiting in van for the mechanic that never came lol

An hour or so later (it's now 5:30) the guy has found that our heat hose connector has melted...#double face palm  #at least it's not the head gasket (same reference as white smoke)
He attempted to MacGyver something together and patch us up so we could still continue on to our destination...which is still about an hour away.
Unfortunately the patch only partially worked...and he said he thinks there is a pressure issue within the engine.
So we had to have it towed....and we are literally half way between home and our destination...&#@$!!!
Sooooo...we tried to list our options.
1. We could go home via subway and bus. That would be a real pain though with baby and all mom's stuff (if you are familiar with how my mom packs for vacations then you will understand)
2. One or two ppl could take a taxi home and bring the other car while the others chill somewhere for a few hours.
3. We could take a taxi to the hotel and someone could bus to Seoul in the morning.
4. We could rent a car ($130/day) and go get the other car in the morning. So just rent it for 1 day.

I decided to rent a car for the day. Drive to the hotel. Sleep. Then the next day I would drive to Seoul, get the other car, and return the rental.  That seemed like the only way we could venture forward without just going home...(it's now 7:45pm)
So we get the rental...and it has half its trunk space taken up by a special gas tank...so that means: no stroller, play mat, high chair...#traveling with baby means you needs stuff...
And we barely get our 2 suitcases in the trunk and then have to start piling stuff on top of ppl in the back seat.
Oh and the car is like meant for a munchkin!
My head was touching the roof of the car!
We finally get on the road and the baby is not happy...and Justin does not have the baby bag.
So I have to pull over and make a juice bottle for him so he can sleep...moving on.
It took about an hour to get to the hotel. We got there about 9:00.
And I went to go check in and then go lay with the baby while Justin and my dad unloaded the car.
Once that was all done we got the room somewhat settled...
Here is where it starts to gets all "like what?"...
My mom starts doing things in the kitchen like put away random things instead of getting ready for bed...
Which would be ok if I didn't have to sleep in the living room...with Luke.
So I wait 2 hours for her to go to her room.
#did I mention we are going to get the car in the morning...what exactly is going on? Thanks for all the thoughtfulness...
Then we bring out the baby and try to sleep...
Well grandma was laying with the baby on the bed in the room up until that point...
So she also has to get ready for bed I guess...
So here we are...laying in the floor trying to sleep with the baby...and grandma is waking around the room getting clothes, toiletries, food...#will this day just end already
fingers crossed the rest of the vacation (til Wednesday) will go smoothly.