We sure had a great visit with Jonathan and Kristy and their kids. It was so fun to be there. I was sad when it was time to leave. The kids wished we could stay forever.
I think the cats were happy to see us go. After an initial scuffle with the cat, Levi was fascinated by them. He had to dash after them whenever he saw one and they always scared him and chased him, so I don't know what he thought he was doing. Making friends? The cats did NOT want to be friends. When I took Levi out for his last night walk, one of the cats would follow us down the drive and then try to frighten Levi away so he wouldn't come back. And on the last 2 mornings, there was a cat on the front porch so Levi could not get in or out without passing the cat, who had no intention of letting the dog past! Here is the stand off on the last morning. Levi wants in, but the Cat is in the way.
We left Jonathan's in good time and there wasn't much road construction, but I thought this safety guy made of barrels was fun.
What was not fun was the issues my van had. The check-engine light went on an hour or so into the drive. I stopped and had it checked out. I was in the boonies, so I stopped to fill the gas tank and asked for a good place to go. They directed me to a little garage. The guy who ran the diagnostic said it was an emissions thing and nothing to worry about. He turned off the light and I went on my merry way. 20 minutes down the road, the van started rattling and vibrating when I accelerated, didn't accelerate well, and the engine light started blinking. Grrrrr...
Mom googled places near Kansas city and came up with this one. We had 100 miles to cover and the van was vibrating to kingdom come. We stopped at a rest stop 18 miles short of Steve's Auto Repair, because someone HAD to go to the bathroom. When i started the car again, it ran perfectly- no flashing engine light, no vibrating, no issues! What on earth?! We stopped by Steve's anyway and he ran a diagnostic for me. He was lovely. Here I stopped by with 5 kids and a dog and they were very nice. He said the diagnostic showed there was an issue with the pistons firing but it wasn't consistent enough to diagnose anything. He did not charge me at all! And we went on with no problems the rest of the 5+ hours back to Mom and Dad's house. Quite odd.
These were nifty art things on the side of the road in Kansas City. Pretty cool.
A lovely drive when the van was running properly!
We arrived back at my folks' house and have been enjoying ourselves. Summer is going fast and we are having fun. So many adventures, so little time!
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