Troubles on the Road

I take back what I said in the last post about liking the heat and humidity. It is not fun when you have no air conditioner.

We were still on our Smokey Mountain high, reveling in the past week of summer bliss as we took off early in the morning towards Nashville. We had no idea what we had in store for us that coming night, no idea that it would be the worst night of our trip so far.

During the 4 hour trek to Nashville I noticed a smell, sort of like burnt rubber, inside the coach. Since it was so hot outside we figured it had something to do with our tires or breaks. We couldn't figure it out, so we decided to go along with the day we had planned.

We parked our coach at the good old Cracker Barrel near Nashville and set off in the Pathfinder to explore the city.

We visited the Parthenon...

and drove by the Ryman Auditorium.

We walked around the Opryland Hotel.

Very pretty.

And finished up our time with dinner in downtown Nashville.

With plans to stay the night at the Cracker Barrel in Nashville we headed back to our coach.

Inside the coach it felt like a sauna, we turned on the generator hoping to cool it down. Having a few hours left in our day till bedtime Justin and I made the decision to hit the road again for a few more hours so our drive the next day wouldn't be so long. As we headed out on the road we noticed the coach was not cooling properly because the generator kept switching off. We pulled over to fill up on gas thinking that that might be the problem.

It takes forever to fill up our 100 gallon diesel tank.

The wait ended up being the perfect time for us to call my MIL and sing her "Happy Birthday."

We were all tired by then and super sweaty with having no air in our coach.

Back on the road with the fuel tank full, the generator still did not work properly. We quickly realized this problem was bigger than we thought so we called around to campsites in the area to see if we could plug in and get the air conditioning going for the night.

There was a KOA just down the road, we pulled in and proceeded to set up camp.

That's when Justin found the problem. Our automatic transfer switch box was melted, making it so we could not get any power through to the coach. It was already pushing 9 pm, so we knew we were not going to get things fixed that night.

Since the melted ATS box prevented us from being able to plug in at camp to get power, we decided to continue to drive toward Memphis and find an air conditioned hotel room. Calling around for hotels was a nightmare. They were all booked up because the Miss Tennessee Pageant was in town.

The more we kept driving the more tired we got.

Finally we called it quits, found another Cracker Barrel, and braved the hot and humid 90+ degree night without air conditioning. It was suffocating inside our coach, but thankfully the kids could sleep in the main living area where the open windows provided for some relief.

I was tired, overheated and stressed out. I remember sitting on the curb outside our coach at the Cracker Barrel crying my eyes out. It was already past midnight, we had had a full day and I was exhausted, unsure about the next day and what it would bring.

Somehow I managed to sleep a little that night...it probably had a lot to do with the two Benadryl I took.

The next morning we woke bright and early and set off to find a repair shop that could fix our problem.

Our plans, before the issues, were to visit Memphis and eat some yummy BBQ. That didn't happen, but I took a picture as we drove on by.

Since RV repair shops are swamped this time of year, it was hard to find a place that could get us in last minute. We made many phone calls before we were able to find River City Recreation World in North Little Rock, AR which was only a few hours from Memphis.

Once at the repair shop we were pleased to find out that they were able to fix our problem that day and we would be on the road by 5:00.

Reagan and Blake got their hair cut while we waited.

Sometimes it's hard to find time to do the little things, like getting the kids hair cut. I'm glad we had the opportunity to do so.

Here is the ATS box that burned. Looking back I see the Lord's hand in everything. He protected us from a fire and got us safely to the repair shop. I am so grateful this ordeal is over and now I am even more grateful for air conditioning!

After the repairs were done we headed an hour south to Hot Springs, AR and have been enjoying a few days by the pool. It is hot here and our air has been running non stop, thank goodness.

Today we went into town and visited Hot Spring National Park.

Not my favorite President, but still a beautiful town.

We felt the 143 degree hot springs...

and took a tour of the bathhouses.

In the 1800's many would come to Hot Springs, AR to cure ailments and disease.

Not only do I have a fear of heights but I'm also claustrophobic so this steam bath would not be an option for me.

We filled up our water bottles with mineral water and put them in the fridge to cool off, it came out hot from the ground.

Looking back over the past few days I have come to realize that this adventure will have its ups and downs. I am learning through it all...learning how to adjust to discomfort and learning how to be grateful for the little things. It is all good.

We are off to Oklahoma City tomorrow. I am really excited about this part of our trip. We will be reunited with family and we even get to spend a day with some friends who happen to be in the area at the same time. I am looking forward to it!