We headed out from Nashville, on our way to a little town in Arkansas to spend the night on our way to Austin.  Everything started out great – the kids were great, I wasn’t too tired, and although there was some construction traffic that was annoying, the drive was relatively uneventful.  After driving through Memphis, we crossed the Mississippi River and saw the craziest Bass Pro Shop I’ve ever seen.

Just as we were crossing the bridge over the river, a metal ratchet strap winch came bouncing down the freeway at us.  There was no way to avoid it, and it crashed right into the car, hitting the front and the bottom sounding like it was ripping the bottom out of the van.  It scared me to death, and immediately, the air conditioner stopped working and it stopped showing the temperature.  I pulled over at the first gas station that I could, and checked the bottom of the van, and couldn’t see anything wrong, and luckily the car was driving fine.  I called Kevin, and he looked up the nearest Honda dealership, and it would be on my way to Austin the next morning.

We eventually made it to our motel in Arkadelphia and got settled in for the night.  In the middle of the night, I got hit with a terrible bought of food poisoning, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night throwing up.  It was awful, and I was so exhausted and sick in the morning, I wasn’t sure how I would even move, let alone drive six hours to Austin.

Luckily, Lily and Derek were very helpful – in fact, they packed up the whole car for me.  We got out super early, because I wanted to get the van checked out at the dealership in Texarkana, and we got there right when they opened.  They checked to make sure it was still safe for me to drive, and figured out a way for the AC to work without the temperature sensor woking.  He said to wait on the repairs for when we got back home, so we could report the accident to the insurance.

After getting the car checked out, we headed back out on the road, even though I was still feeling awful.  All I had held down all morning was a little water and some Sprite.  When I planned out our trip, all along I knew we would be driving through WACO, and so I wanted to stop at the Magnolia Silos for lunch and to look around.  I have been wanting to go there for years now, and it was finally my chance.  But I was sick, exhausted, and it was 105 degrees outside and crazy crowded.  We still stopped there anyway, and I found a bench in the shade (not that it mattered much, as it was still crazy hot), and sent Lily and Derek off with some money to buy lunch for them and Arthur.  I did still get a picture, even though I thought I would pass out.

I thought I was okay, but as we were heading out to the parking lot, between the heat and still not feeling well, suddenly I had to throw up again.  And again, and again.  Luckily I found a patch of dirt, but it was still so embarrassing.  And it was definitely not how I pictured my visit to the Silos.  And I never did get my cupcake at the bakery.  So sad.

Somehow I made it to our hotel in Austin, although I did have to stop twice to take naps because I was so wiped out.  Later that night, around 10:30pm, I was so relieved to pick up Kevin from the airport.  It was so good to have him with me, and after throwing up again on the drive back from the airport, he gave me a blessing, and not only was I able to sleep, but by the morning, I felt completely better.  And so it was a crazy couple day, but it all worked out in the end.