You found me......: June 2008

After our tiresome trip to Denver I was happy to do alot of nothing these past few days. Puttering about the house I found some odd jobs that needed tending to. Sealing the grout on the newly finished en suite bathroom was tedious but gratifying.
The need to do laundry, dishes, toilet cleaning, vacuuming, etc seems to never diminish. My happiness at having the en suite finished after over 2 years was erased soon after I came to the conclusion I now have TWO bathrooms to clean.

Some final touches and it will be ready to use!!

Hopefully Big B will follow the explicit bathroom cleaning regime I instructed him on.

With weather much like fall, cold, rainy, and just plain miserable, we were going to put off our boating plans yet again for this weekend. But if we don't get out in the good old "Line O' Credit" now it will be October before we know it. We're planning on a nice day trip but considering camping the night on the boat if the weather is alright. It will be the 1st time I have camped on a boat. I am still not 100% convinced it's the right thing to do. My paranoia of sinking in the middle of the night creeps into my mind every so often. I can't let that keep me away from what will most likely be a wonderful adventure, so a boating we will go!

Little C and Little B seem to grow more adorable before my eyes every waking moment. My heart swells when I see the love Little B has for his sister. I can only hope they grow up as close, loving siblings.

Our dinner guest brought Little B a most fabulous dessert.

Little C's name was drawn at Preschool for the grand prize. What a beautiful teddy bear. Do you think she likes it?

It should have been easy. Buy the truck on Ebay. Instead of having it shipped home, make a small adventure out of it and fly to Denver to pick it up. It should have gone smoothly. ha ha! It 'should' have.

Too good to be true.

Our adventure starts out similarly to ALL of our family adventures. Big B gets an idea in his head and we run with it. In need of a nice big rig, B cruised the internet for days coming up with literally hundreds of viable options settling on this darn near perfect F250 Diesel 4 door pick up; what more could a family ask for? The price was right up our alley...cheap!! The only hitch: it was in Denver Colorado. But having shipped vehicles home before Big B bid on it and won it not stressing too much how it would arrive on our doorstep.

After some deep thinking, B decided that it would only cost a few more pennies for us to fly to Denver and pick it up. A few more pennies + 1 day off work + a long but never done before drive home through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho. Sounded like a great plan. 1200+ miles under our belts, no big deal. We've done it before!

Nanny happily agreed to look after Little B for 2 days and nights and Little C, myself and Big B were off to Spokane to catch our flight. We drove to Spokane for the night and woke up in our quiet little Motel at 4am sharp. Little C woke with a squeal and a smile ready for her big day. Little did she know!! We were showered, dressed, and out of there on our way to the airport in a record 30 minutes. The plane ride went smoothly. Little C, well aware something was different, quieted right down and observed the plane and it's occupants with diligence. She fell asleep on my lap for awhile awakened only when the beverage cart rolled by.

Fast asleep on the plane

Our first hic-up was when there was no one from the Dealership to pick us up at the airport in Denver as planned. The adventure to bring home our big rig goes downhill from here, at a very fast pace! We finally got picked up and arrived at the Dealership which turned out to be a small garage looking building with a dirt lot in the industrial park.
Keys in hand, Big B jumps in it to take it for a spin and a grinding noise from under the hood is heard through out the block! Second hic-up! Finally started, off he drives arriving back at the 'dealership' with a sullen look on his face. Numerous things on the truck don't work. There's problems with steering, suspension, and who knows what else. The truck that was described as an excellent driver is literally falling to pieces in front of my eyes.

Big B is noticeably disappointed and after much deliberation with the teenager who runs the place decides to phone the owner himself and see what can be done to salvage the situation. I know my husbands fuse is short so I kindly remind him that nothing will come of getting irate. He was on his best behavior while talking to the owner but unfortunately the guy was a King sized...well, I'll let you figure that part out! Not even considering we were stranded in the industrial park of a huge city we were not from, they didn't offer us a ride back to the airport or even $20.00 for a cab. We ended up calling a rental car company and were picked up within minutes ant treated royally. Thank goodness there's still some nice people out there.

It doesn't look like a dealership?

The dilemma facing us at this point was what to do with our day.
We decided to book a flight back to Spokane that evening at 9:30pm, so we had 8 hours to ramble around in Denver. As it turns out it is a very beautiful city with lots of attractions.

Our one and only photo of us in Denver. B buying sunglasses downtown.

We made it back to the rental company, returned the truck and booked it for the shuttle bus at the Hotel next door.

Little C enjoying her Shuttle Bus ride.

Once at the airport we enjoyed a great meal and settled down for a small wait until we flew out. Little C was a real champ through out the whole experience. The poor thing was exhausted by the time the plane left out of Denver. She slept nearly the whole way back. As we lifted out of Denver the lightening was phenomenal out the cabin windows. At one point the cabin was lit up by the lightening. A few moments later there was a huge disturbance as the plane virtually shifted into a 45 degree angle left then right. It happened so quick there was no time to be scared. I was more exhilarated than anything. For a split second I admit, I did think we were going down, but the thought vanished quickly, and the smiles from Little C made me forget instantly.

Once back in Spokane we drove to a Motel for the night. It was after midnight before we were settled and we all were sawing logs. Thankfully Little C managed to sleep until 8am. We spend the morning driving around Spokane checking out used car lots in case there was a deal out there. There were few trucks and SUV's B liked, but we came home empty handed. The drive home was quiet and uneventful.

The view from the truck of the Grand Coulee Dam releasing water down the spillway.

We stopped along the river for a rest.
Don't mind the trash barrel spewing garbage out onto the pristine river bank?!

3 1/2 hours later and we found ourselves back on Canadian soil, thankful to be home safe and sound but clearly disheartened by our Ebay experience.

The positive things about our trip do not outweigh the negative. We were blantantly lied to and quite seriously nearly scammed out of thousands of dollars. If we had chosen to have the truck delivered the 1200 miles we would have undoubtedly dealt with the numerous problems and kept the truck instead of having it shipped back. The disposition of the owner of the company made me literally sick to my stomach. Their disregard for customer service was horrendous. Looking on the bright side of the situation as I often do, I had a wonderful adventurous experience with my husband and angelic daughter. Spending time with family can never be dreadful.

Now home and settled, laundry put away, cats welcomed, plants watered, I sit and reflect on the past 72 hours in awe. My dear Little C did more in the past few days than some kids do before they are 18! I am thankful we had the chance to even contemplate this trip. We are indebted to Nana for giving Little B a fun filled 2 days. So much so we couldn't get out of his hair faster, and once home after our trip he was joyless to say the least. Tantrums followed tantrums until he was fast asleep in bed at 7:30 last night. He even awoke this morning in a vile mood. Either he was angry we left him alone for 2 days, or blue because we came home?! Delving into the mind of a 3 1/2 year old can be risky business.

All said and done I won't be jumping at the chance to buy another truck off Ebay if it's over 1000 miles away. But I am not naive in any sense, and I know how we as a family unit work, so i will be awaiting our next adventure with baited breath.