All the Things that Went Wrong - Part One

To truly appreciate the grad trip I just took my youth on, you must first hear all the misfortunes that befell us along the way...

Day One - Tuesday, August 25th

- I told Marie to meet us at the church at 7:30am. I told everyone else 8am. This is because Marie has a reputation for arriving late. Marie arrives at the church at 7:34. No one is there. She is forced to wait outside 20 mins until someone else shows up.

- The line I chose for the border crossing moved twice as slow as the line beside me. I'm not even exaggerating. It took us probably 30 mins to get across.

- Almost immediately we hit traffic. It took forever to get through it. We hadn't even hit Bellingham yet and we'd left the church 2 hours ago.

- We stopped at Wendy's for some lunch just past Tacoma. Tessa decides to do some handstands outside. Seems harmless?

- The odometer screen on my rental van changes to "4% oil life"

- I pass Shane on the highway. He has just been pulled over for speeding.

- We stop in Roseburg for supper at IHOP. Tessa realizes her wallet is missing. Whilst doing handstands at Wendy's she placed her wallet beside a tree...and left it there.

- Tessa and I find a payphone to solve the oil and wallet situations. Rental company tells me I need to change the oil on their vehicle. Unbelievable. We decide to continue driving and change it on the way back home.

- Tessa tries to find the phone number for the Wendy's, but we have no clue what street it was on. The operator puts her through to the Wendy's in the mall (which we clearly said was not the one we wanted). We find a map in a nearby bookstore and discover it is on Bridgeport rd. and call directory assistance again. They patch us through to the right place, but unfortunately the wallet is nowhere to be seen. Tessa had all her money for the trip in that wallet.

- IHOP is out of chicken strips and tilapia.

- IHOP takes ages to bring our food out. A stop I figured would take 1 hour turns into 2+ hours.

- Shane texts me saying the oil light has come on. Nice joke, Shane.

- No really, the oil light has come on on my car. I thought he was referring to how the rental car needed an oil change. They check the oil and there's plenty. The car sounds fine and isn't getting hot, so I make the decision to keep driving it until Redding.

- Whilst passing a car going down a hill, a pair of headlights come on from the side of the road. I predict I will soon be pulled over. Sure enough the car comes up behind me, follows for awhile, and then on come the lights. I act as innocently as possible, admit I was speeding, and fortunately get off with a warning.

- Estimated time of arrival in Redding: 10pm. Actual time of arrival: 12pm.