The worst road trip ever.....

So many crazy things happened on our trip to Oklahoma and I wanted to share them with friends and family, so I just decided to start a blog about our adventures over the summer. Here goes:
We had to rent a minivan to make the trip. It is impossible for two adults, two dogs, one baby and 3 months of STUFF to fit in our Saturn VUE. So we picked the van up on Wednesday. I had requested a Dodge Grand Caravan because we needed stow and go seats in the back in order to get all our junk in and we were only doing a one way rental so we couldn't take the seats out. We left Thursday morning with plans to be in Memphis around 6pm to stay with some friends. Now most of you don't know this but every time we go to Oklahoma we get stuck in crazy traffic in Dothan. It doesn't matter what time we get there it takes us about an hour to get out of Dothan. So imagine our surprise when we get through Dothan in about 30 minutes. Yeah. We should have known that trouble was just around the corner. We get to Montgomery and it is pouring down rain. We notice a massive amount of water in the ditches, then we notice stores with water up to the doors, then we notice traffic slowing to a crawl. We see people walking in water that is up almost to their knees. AND WE HAVE TO DRIVE THROUGH A FLOODED INTERSECTION. A MAJOR U.S. HIGHWAY FOR PETE'S SAKE. All that is going through my mind is "turn around don't drown". We turn the radio on and hear about mud slides in the area, schools evacuating because of flooding. It was crazy. We stop at a gas station on the other side of the flooding because my bladder was about to explode and the rain wasn't helping matters any :-). Well of course they didn't have a changing station. A huge pet peeve of mine. As I am walking back out to the car, I see this woman drive off with the gas hose still in her car. She rips it from the gas pump. I have heard about these things happening but never seen it. Well, she was going to keep driving. Someone yelled at her and she stopped and removed the hose and just dropped it on the ground and got back in her car. Management came out and had to stop her from leaving. It was CRAZY. Todd noticed that the front tires of the van are low so he decides to air them up. He then notices that he can't air them up because the thing where you air them up (i don't know the technical term) is broken off. So we decide to go to Burger King so I can change Chloe and we can have lunch and call Avis and get the car fixed. We go to Burger King and they don't have a changing table. Well by this time I am mad, so I changed her in the dining room on a table. Sorry if that grosses you out but come on, how difficult is it to put changing tables in bathrooms. But that is a whole nother blog :-). I called roadside assistance. They told me that I needed to call the local Avis and get another vehicle. They gave me the number and when I called them it was Budget not Avis. You don't even know your own companies phone number. Give me a break. Budget gave me the right number and I called for half an hour with no answer and no answering machine. We decided to just go to a mechanic and fix it ourselves. We get to a tire store and I try one more time to call Avis. I finally get ahold of someone and she tells me they don't have anymore vans. I have to say I was glad because I didn't want to have to unload the van and reload into another one. The woman told me we could go to Goodyear and get it fixed, they had a contract with them. I looked up and there was a Goodyear right across the street. Yeah. I told her I was right across from one and she asked where it was. Of course that isn't the one they have a contract with. It is clear across town. We head across town and Todd drops Chloe and I off at Walmart and he get the car fixed. So three hours and 30 minutes after arriving in Montgomery we are finally able to leave. In the midst of all that chaos, Todd gets a phone call from a school in Illinois that he had applied to. They were calling to set up a phone interview with him. Oh the timing!!!!! The rest of the day was uneventful, thank goodness. We made it to Memphis around 10pm. Of course, 45 minutes prior to that Chloe decides she has had enough and she melts down completely and screams until we get to our friends house.
We get to Oklahoma Friday afternoon. We get the van unloaded and relax. That evening it starts to storm. I get Chloe to sleep and am walking down the hall to put her in bed when my father gets a phone call from a fellow firefighter that a tornado has touched down just a few miles north of us and is heading towards us. Dad tells us to get in the hallway. Well, let me tell you I have grown up in tornado country but it is totally different when my little baby is involved. We sat in the hallway for a little while and thankfully the tornado changed directions and we were finally able to go to sleep.
What an eventful two days!!!!!
Well, the rest of the time has been pretty uneventful. Todd had his phone interview. We still haven't heard anything. We know they have narrowed it down to two people and Todd is one of the two. We hope to hear something soon. Todd has gotten 35 pages written in two weeks. That never would have happened back home. We miss everyone and hope all is well. I will keep you updated on the happenings and how quickly Chloe is changing. Talk to you soon.