Why is this Happening to Me?!

We were all packed up from the Grangeville fair and had to take off. Josh and Grandpa Frank left for Salem, OR about 815 a.m. I packed up the RV and headed over to the Lutz family house. The Lutz's are the family we bought the rock wall from. They are great family. The kids are great! Genny and Brad are the parents and they have four kids. They are awesome! Harrison is the oldest, then Addie, then Kate, then Zoie. They are pretty cool kids. Always a lot of fun. I went to their house because I had the wall parked there from after the fair and to visit of course. When I got there they were packing up to leave on a family reunion, so I helped them pack. Visited with them and ran some extra errands. Then I took off a little before noon.

Disregard all the bugs on the window. This is my view driving.

Rolling green hills everywhere! Amazing!

So I drove through a few cool towns. I drove through a town called Lewiston, which is pretty decent size, then next to Pullman, then Colfax, and then Spokane. And this is where I scream, cry, and say, "Why is this happening to me?!" My father called me to have me stop in Spokane to fix a few things for the Rock wall. I stopped at this store and they weren't able to do it so I ran some other errands to try and get it done. One of those errands was to stop at a Home Depot and a Wal-Mart. I missed the turn to the Home Depot, (wal-mart is right next door) and ended up pulling into a town store across the street. Well when I was turning into the parking lot to park I backed up to pull in a little better and realized there is a tire behind me. I thought, wow someone lost a tire, but it wasn't there when I pulled in, huh. Then, my parking job was terrible so I pulled out to make a u-turn to park better. That's when I realized that was MY tire! My tire came completely off the axel and my axel was grinding on the ground and it had blew the tire in front of it, same side on the rock wall trailer! Ahh!! Yeah, you bet I was crying! It was about 530 p.m. and everything was starting close down. I had no clue what to do. I called AAA and they couldn't help. I ran across the street to a Jiffy Lube to see if they could help somehow. They couldn't, but they took me back across the street to a town auto shop and he wasn't able to do it, so then he took me down the street to a place called Perfection Tire and they looked at it and said it could be done. Some relief there. I think the crying really helped me too, more sympathy. But they were real tears, I was scared. I was even more scared to call my father! But of course, I called him and he helped. It had happened to him before too and so he knew how to help. He helped calm me down and told me everything was going to be okay. I was even more stressed just because I have to be in Chewelah by Wednesday to set up and I still needed to find workers and so much more! Just hectic.

The tire that fell off. Drum broke and tire blown

    

So the guys here at the shop said that they would fix the blown tire and drive it down to the shop, very surprised it was capable to drive down there. They told me I could stay in the RV here at their shop over night and they would have it fixed in the morning/afternoon sometime. The guys who took a look at it said all the bearings were shot, and bushings, just everything was completely shot. They were shocked the other tire on the opposite side hadn't fallen off. Oh my! I was very blessed, in a way, that the tire fell off in a parking lot and not on a freeway! Oh my, again! And it was nice because I was so close to everything. Groceries, gas station, auto stores, food, everything.

It was a little scary staying in the RV overnight. I had no plug-ins, just the generator, which took forever to get going. I also had the inverter hooked up to the battery so I was able to use that for a few things. I walked to the Wal-Mart down the street and grabbed food and other supplies. It was a nice walk, just a calm stress relieving walk. Afterwards, I clean a little and filed/documented some things. Then went to bed! I was exhausted. A lot of things had happened all at once and I was definitely done for for the night.

Now, I'm just waiting for them to fix the trailer. They are going to replace two axels and three tires! So crazy! I am definitely being watched by the Lord. This all could have been a lot worse. The guys at the shop said the parts should be in in the afternoon and then the labor should only take about an hour. Then I can take off to Chewelah, set up the rock wall, and be ready to go for tomorrow! Wow! So crazy! I'm just glad next week is an easy fair and then I have a week off to get other maintenance done. Remember that first blog, yeah, this is one of those big bumps that require me to have a lot of patience! Glad it's all getting taken care of though! Whew!

Grangeville Fair, Check!

Well we made it through the first fair! Grangeville is checked off the list, for this year anyway. Grandpa Frank and Josh head out to Salem, OR with the bubbles for the next fair. I'm heading to a small town called, Chewelah, WA. It's a really nice place. And I get to work right next to a creek! So it's nice and cool, great for the extra tan and when I get hot I can always put my feet in to cool down. Really neat place.

Grangeville Rock wall and Bubble set up!


Anyway, about this fair! We started work on saturday morning. Around 8 a.m. Pretty early, but had to get things taken care of and set up. I have a friend who has been helping us for a couple of years now come help work. His name is Bret and he brought his roommate, Jesse. They did a great job working. Got a little sun burned though. But I think they had fun. A definite motivation for them was having a tip jar! They were lovin' life at the end of the day! Then they'd get up the next morning and that feeling was gone! It's kind of an endless cycle. Grandpa Frank was kind of getting the hang of it. He is a really nice guy. Helping kids take their shoes on and off or making conversation with parents. Just a friendly guy. I'm not sure what his thoughts are with working the bubbles yet. But soon enough I'm sure I'll find out! Grandpa Frank always gets to bed as soon as he can and then gets up super early! Guess it must be an old people thing! ;) But Bret was up too because his school/sleep schedule is like that. Josh, of course, sleeps in as much as he can. I try to too. Sleep and recovery is a big deal with this type of work. So that sums up everyone. Me, Josh, Grandpa, Bret, and Jesse. Bunch of guys under a woman's management! That's right!

 Grandpa Frank working the bubbles.     Josh jumping a kid at the Rock wall

So to continue with the first day of the fair, it was a little rough. Everyone was trying to understand and know how to work each item. It wasn't too complicated, but did take some time. Everyone got somewhat burnt. Being out in the sun for just a few hours straight will definitely get you. I don't think anybody got it as bad as Jesse though. His eyes were burnt and his face. I felt really bad. But, again, I think he enjoyed working, just wasn't fully aware of the work it took. Grandpa Frank got his face and the back of his legs a little red too. He's so white! Anyway, so the first day was a fun and easy day. The second day was a little more busy at both the Wall and the bubbles. When working the wall and bubbles, it's funny, because you pretty much have the same stories for everyday of every fair. Just kind of how it goes.
Something really neat about this fair is they do traditions! One tradition is they have street games every morning of the fair at 9 a.m. It involves kid races, adult races, games, and their famous Egg Toss Competition. So you know, Josh and I were all over the egg toss! We did really well, until I dropped it. :( We did over the back throws, hiking it, one handed catches, you name it, we probably did it. The egg toss is so huge! The whole town and more people come to do it. The entire street is pack! About a hundred yards in length and a three lane street wide! It's crazy! And this year marked their 100 years of Grangeville Border Days! So it was nuts!! Lots and lots of fun!

Josh preparing for the egg toss

Half the people who do the egg toss! There's a lot more behind me!

Then the last day was slow. It was the fourth of July, and it was a monday. People are doing their own thing or traveling somewhere. We didn't do too hot. But it was very hot outside! After it died down we started to pack up. I had Bret, Jesse, and Grandpa Frank at the bubbles taking down and Josh and I took down the wall. It was nice because it only took a few hours. It was so hot outside that when we emptied the pool for the bubbles the water went straight to the drain and then the rest dried up from the sun. It was a nice take down. Funny, yet dumb story..Josh and I were taking down the wall and it was all taken down. I just needed to lower the wall. I get some teenage hick, who had been watching us take down the whole time, said, "Hey can I do the jump?" It was so funny. Josh and I both said, "Really?! You've been watching us take down the whole time and now you're asking to do it?" Then the kid has the audacity to say, "Well set it back up!" Josh and I were on fire at this point. We told the kid he was dumb for even asking such a question and then he goes to say, well I was going to give you a hundred bucks to do it. Ha! That was bull! Oh, kids these days...

Well the Grangeville fair is over! One down and so many more to go. Should be a fun year. Many problems will arise, as they already have, but I'll keep on trucking. It's going to be really sad when Josh has to leave for school. I don't know how I'll get humored, or have a running partner, or even someone to just vent too. But I know it's for his own good..yadda yadda. ;) Thanks for reading. Next stops for us are: Chewelah, WA for the Wall and Salem, OR for the bubbles. Good luck to Josh, Grandpa Frank and me!

Beginning the Journey

Finally, the time has come! We started the beginning of our journey! Driving to Grangeville, ID. Small town, about 200 miles North of Boise, ID. Driving from Logandale it took 830 miles! Quite a bit if you ask me. I drove the RV with the Rock wall and Grandpa Frank drove the truck holding the bubbles. Josh chilled with me in the RV on the way up. He slept for most of the drive, but was a good-sport and slept in the front seat, instead of on the bed. (Most of the time anyway.) We left Logandale about 5 p.m. Started to get tired around 1 a.m. So we pulled over in a town called, Wells. We slept for a few hours and then hit the road again. It was a smooth drive most of the way. Little windy in certain areas, but we handled it just fine. It was a gorgeous drive as well so we had to take pictures. The pictures are taken from inside the RV, so ignore the bugs on the windshield. :) Also, when we drove through Boise, I had Josh take a drive picture of the Temple! Sweet huh?!

In past years, my Father (Brent), Josh, and I would always stop at this fruit store. They have fresh fruit every year and it is always so good. We stopped and bought some peaches, cherries, and strawberries. They were delicious. Josh ate them so fast! He loves fruit, especially peaches! Many people can vouch for that. We then continued the drive.

Now, after 16 hours of driving we made it to Grangeville, ID. Not exactly in one piece, but we made it. Grandpa Frank blew a tire on the truck and had to get that repaired. Not too bad, it just put back on time. So, this is our first fair of the summer season. Pretty exciting! The RV is parked and set up, as well as the rock wall and bubbles. The bubbles took some time to set up and a lot of rearranging and leveling. Everything has been taken care of though. On our down time, Josh watches movies while he eats his cereal and peaches. Grandpa looks up current events and sports on the computer. And I sit and get other business tasks done. It's great too because everyone has been great with helping each other out and getting things done. The fair people have been really nice and cooperative.

I'm stressing out a lot. This is really big deal for me and the family. I've been doing this for three years now, going on four. Everything will turn out great. I just need patience, understanding, and patience. Oh wait, I already said that. I need patience though..a lot of it. Because even after three years, you think you've got it all down that's when you know you don't. Anyway, it's going to be hard and weird not having Dad here, but we will be able to handle it, hopefully he will too. ;)

This is the beginning of our journey. Our four month journey. I'll learn so much and become a better person. I'm excited for what will be in store for me. I know there will be many many, many rough times and bumps throughout this, but I know with help, support, and *patience* I'll be able to make it. Thanks for reading this blog. There will be more to come! Enjoy!