The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

A title that made for a good movie but when it is our reality…not so much!

We had plans…we had dreams…we hoped for the best…things went bad and just continued to get worse but there was some good, there always is…

The timing was really poor since there was an extensive heat wave warning out west that was making temperatures climb well into the 100’s with the lows at night only in the 80’s. Driving Maggie in those conditions are dreadful, especially climbing mountains but we wanted to interview with this company so we made our plans. They paid for our plane flight, a dinner and a lunch, and our overnight stay for the one night but we were responsible for a lot of our own expenses. We paid for our drive to Vegas to catch the flight, our site rent for Maggie while we were flying to Dallas, our gas for Maggie both ways and so many other expenses that were not part of the plan which ended up being VERY costly.

We began our first day before daybreak so we could get a head start on the heat, but it really didn’t matter since the lows were in the 80’s to begin our trip but it was better than topping over a hundred. We made it to Vegas and the heat was almost unbearable, our air conditioner was on nonstop from the time we arrived until the moment we left…6 days later. Ours does not have a thermostat so we had to keep it running the entire time we were traveling to and from Dallas.  We were very uncomfortable doing that but the alternative would have been horrific, everything would have been melted. We thought it would be fine since after all it would only be about 36 hours that we would be gone but that was if things went according to the plan which knowing us we should have known better…

We went to the Las Vegas airport on Sunday, July 5^th to catch our flight at 11:30am, everything was on schedule. 

Since we are not frequent flyers and this was our first time to ever fly together we had some concerns so we got there early. There are no helpers for newbies in the airport, we were on our own and tried to learn the ropes quickly. Shoes off, bags, purses and jewelry in the bins to go on the conveyor belt while we got poked and prodded was just a blur to us. Then when we finally got through and went to pick up our stuff, we noticed my bin was there but Jerry’s was behind the counter because it set off the alarm. What could the issue be? We only had a small overnight backpack with absolutely no weapons or anything that might be considered a weapon but we did have a tiny bottle of water stuffed in the side compartment and apparently that is a big no-no! He gave us the option of leaving the airport or allowing him to dump the water bottle. We now wonder if we made the right decision and had him trash it as we headed for our gate, not noticing at that time that Jerry’s bracelet was missing. We finally noticed once we got to our gate and just decided we needed to write off the $100 bracelet to just another learning experience. You would think by now we would have learned all the lessons we need to live our lives without any more but that would not be true since the lessons continue…

I had flown only a handful of times before but knew that I get terrible motion sickness so I was prepared with Dramamine which also has a strange effect on me but I thought would be the lesser of the two evils…wrong! Our plane was an a320, much smaller than any other commercial flight I had ever been on but the pilot assured us it would be a smooth 2 ¾ hour ride. Was he ever wrong! 

Turbulence began almost immediately and stayed that way the entire time during our ride and I was feeling every single bumpity bump but I was holding it all together with more Dramamine, sipping ginger ale and breathing deeply. I was almost at the passing out stage since I am a weakling when it comes to taking drugs. Finally we were descending which began the worst turbulence I have ever felt and with each bump my stomach reacted and I was losing my cookies. I was heaving uncontrollably for the entire descend which took about 20 minutes or more and I felt as if I would never stop but it did once the plane landed and rested at the gate. At least the heaving stopped but I was still far from feeling well.

We allowed every other passenger to exit before I could get myself together and get off the plane. Thank goodness there was some sort of delay with our rental car so he was not waiting at the gate when we came off. I found my way to the nearest restroom to pull myself together but that was not happening since I was so drugged I felt like an alien.

If first impressions were to make up their minds we were screwed!

I was still in a fog for our ride to our hotel but after a shower and a few hours we had dinner with Jacob who had been our contact throughout this adventure and even though I was not totally myself we felt it went great. Eating for me was just not happening but the conversation was good.

We arrived back at our hotel room and I was ready to sleep, I was exhausted. Just as I closed my eyes I heard what sounded like loud gun shots but soon realized they were having an excellent 4^th of July Fireworks display that gave us the perfect seats from our bed in our room. What a wonderful display that lasted for a long time and then the finale was spectacular.

The next morning we drove the rental car to the office for our interview and then they gave us a tour of the facility. What a top notch company! Even though I was still not 100% we both felt as if this would be a great company to work with and we let them know that and they told us that they would have their decision by end of business the next day and we left for lunch.

Our flight did not leave for a few hours and I was still feeling terrible. I was still nauseous and other bad symptoms were showing their wicked heads as well and more Dramamine was not helping at all. It was apparent that there was no way I would be able to fly back, but we were 1200 miles from Maggie. Our only option was to drive the rental car back to Las Vegas which cost us a whopping relocate charge, gas for the drive and needed to be returned by 4pm on Tuesday, it was Monday at 3pm at the time and it was a 20 hour trip if all things went as planned and we know better…

We began our 1200 mile drive back to Vegas and it took us so long just to get out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area due to construction and traffic but we were going to do it. The wind was bad and the storms were all around us and some were even coming right over us. We had such hard rain the entire drive, even in Williams, Arizona we went through a torrential downpour where we could not see the front of our vehicle.  Through it all, the construction that seemed to be every few miles, the weather which was threatening every turn and driving at night we made it back to Las Vegas with no time to spare.

The weather was still hot, after all we were in the desert in July but Maggie was cool and no incidents with leaving the air conditioner on continuously.

We now had a decision to make since we did get the word that we were hired by PepWear and we are ecstatic. Originally the plan was to begin working the BOA (Bands of America) project beginning in mid-September but they offered for us to begin immediately. We would drive to Orlando to begin another project they currently have going on but with the issues with Maggie not being road worthy and our financial ability at this point we had to back down from that offer even though we really wanted to. It would give us that extra time training before the next phase begins but at this point we just cannot find a way to do it. We will not totally dismiss it but at this time we will have to just wait and see what happens since we are really excited about getting onboard with them as soon as possible.

For now we chose to head back to Bryce and Maggie had some issues climbing the mountains in the heat but we made it back to the cool weather where she cooled down and didn’t entirely break our bank on the repairs.

Now is the perfect time to get our affairs in order for our next piece of our new adventures. Our plan at this moment is to sell her and all of our stuff and downsize to a more mileage efficient vehicle. Space would not matter as much since our work now will be having our vehicle parked for months at a time while we drive their vehicle with trailer to the shows and stay in hotels along the way.

This opportunity has arrived at a perfect time in our lives since we were at a place where the RVing part of our traveling has been really affecting our enjoyment of it all. We still love the travel but the cost and upkeep of Maggie has been taking a tremendous toll on our bank account and we are not ready to hang up the wheels yet so we were so hoping this would all work out for us. Even though there were many rough bumps we still got the outcome that we so dreamed about and it’s time to enjoy the next phase of our lifestyle.

We are trying to soak it all in and put it all in perspective since it was a whirlwind adventure that still has us both a bit lightheaded but we hope the outcome will be all that we imagined it to be and more.