The next two days weren’t bad. I got sick one night (just a little nausea) so Beth had to pack us out of the room. I ended up leaving my iPad in the room and we didn’t realize until we were a couple of hundred miles away, but they were fantastic and put it in the mail right away. Overall, a good experience.

We overnighted in Vegas and had another good experience. Nice hotel that had no trouble with cats and we were off-strip (i.e. away from craziness). We found a doctor I could see because I still wasn’t feeling all that well (though the medicine prescribed caused something else that I’ll share later) and we were in civilized country. All-in-all it went well, and we set off on our last leg the next morning.

As anyone might imagine, there were many (many) stops for gas along the way. It was never too bad. We sang to music from the new car stereo in between hotels and fast-food joints and gas stations. Our last stop would be in Barstow, CA and then would be our final leg home. We were making good time and the worst part of the trip was behind us.

Oh, Murphy, how I loathe you. You and your Law.

We pulled out of the gas station and got on the freeway and then the temperature gauge shot up and then the engine started to shoot out an alarming amount of steam. We pulled off the freeway and into a service station and they said something scary about “combustion gases in the coolant line.”

And that’s how we learned we’d need a new engine. You know, because tie rods and wheel bearings and transmissions weren’t quite enough for one car.

So there was a pickup truck from a local rental agency and there were new tie-downs and we moved what was in our car into the truck and secured it and it was oh-so-very late. And we drove, and we arrived at our home in San Diego. Oh-so-very late.

And we arrived to friendly faces from our new church family, and they left us wonderful gifts of food in the refrigerator and home-made frozen meals in the freezer and a laundry basket with detergent and toilet paper and beach gear and a home filled with love.

And we were home.

And I guess we did do it in 3 steps, even if they weren’t easy. What were they?
1. Leave wherever you were, even if it’s hard to leave.
2. Travel as well as you can travel, no matter how Murphy shows up.
3. Arrive and know that you are loved.