This Just In...

So let's take a brief detour as I fill you in on what is turning out to be more of an adventure than we bargained for...

We took off from Cincinnati Friday night at maybe 10:00 pm, more than an hour late. We stopped about midnight to get ready for bed in Walmart's restrooms, while the drivers converted the bus seats into beds. (Which was pretty cool, by the way, as the bus was transformed into what looked an awful lot a hard sleeper train in China.) We stopped at about 4:30 am a little outside Chicago to fuel up, but continued sleeping there till about 6:30. It was then that we discovered a river of coolant (if that's what that bright green fluid is) flowing slowly away from the bus. After a few calls and a visit from a mechanic, we learned that the broken part could not be repaired and a new one could not be found in all of Chicago. So we spent the whole day stranded at the rest stop, feeling a lot like Tom Hanks in The Terminal. After a whole lot of waiting, and complaining, and debating, everyone finally agreed on a new plan: one of the drivers would fly to Boston to pick up the new part, fly back, and fix the bus in the morning. We would stay at a hotel. We would continue on the trip as planned, just one day late. We would skip the day in Las Vegas and swing by the north rim instead of the south rim of the Grand Canyon to make up for the lost time.

So there ya go. If you don't hear from me again about this, our adventure has continued! But hopefully it's the type of adventure we signed up for rather this other sort. Still, I'm having fun, getting to know a lot of cool new friends, and learning a lot about being flexible. It's interesting: when you have no plans or expectations, it's a lot easier to not get disappointed or frustrated about setbacks like this!