Saturday was a comedy of errors – almost. There were too many errors to call it a true. Maybe with a little distance, we’ll laugh.
On our way to La Petite’s, we were caught in a traffic jam near a construction zone. Amigo: “How do you know it’s a construction zone?” Chuck: “It’s riddled with Schneider eggs.” Amigo: “Oh, Wisconsin’s state flower.” After inching along the highway for what felt like an hour, we saw the problem: a dump truck with a full load of rocks waiting to be towed. How does a dump truck filled with rock get towed? What kind of tow truck can handle that kind of load? We mused on it as we headed for lunch.
You know those little blue signs by the exits, right? Readers, I’ll bet you’ve used those to find a gas station or a quick bite to eat while on the road. We saw a Culver’s listed on the sign and said “Yea! Let’s go!” Not so fast, family. We drove on and on and on with no blue roofed restaurant in sight. We recalibrated, turned around, and peered down the side streets. Still no blue roof with big Culver’s sign. We gave up and dragged our rumbling tummies to Taco Bell instead. La Petite, by the way, thinks the sign is wrong and the Culver’s in East Troy doesn’t exist. She has searched for it as extensively as a one week stay in town would allow.
A fast food lunch on a hot, hot day created a new dilemma. We couldn’t leave the bunnies (en route to La Petite’s) in the hot, hot minivan. We couldn’t take the bunnies into the Taco Bell. We felt it was too hot to eat at the outdoor picnic tables, which was our only option for getting the bunnies out while we ate. We did the very un-ecofriendly thing – eco-unfriendly? – one of us sat in the car with the A/C on while the other two ate. Then we took turns bunny-sitting as all family members used the rest rooms. Deep breath: two challenges met and conquered. Onward!
Next (although it felt like “finally” would do here), we arrived at the apartment complex. Time to get busy and help La Petite move in! We spotted Surfer Dude, the apartment manager, and he asked for the cashier’s check for the deposit. Oops. We had the money, that wasn’t a problem. We didn’t have a cashier’s check, though, and it was Saturday afternoon. No banks would be open. Our darling daughter couldn’t move in until this was paid, so we offered the credit card. Surfer Dude (nice guy, long blonde hair, sunglasses, Hawaiian shirt) got the go-ahead from his boss to accept our credit card, and away we went.
Then we had a more major emergency: Amigo needed to use the restroom, and La Petite’s apartment had no TP. The cleaning staff had mistakenly emptied the refrigerator of food that she’d brought earlier and tossed anything else they thought had been left behind by former tenants. Amigo used the office restrooms and Surfer Dude donated a roll of the important paper product. Relief – on both counts!
Did I mention that it was a hot day? Oh, yes, I did. We were sweating like Olympians, and the U-Haul seemed to empty oh so slowly. We took many breaks, to stand in front of the A/C unit and drink many fluids. Eventually, what started as this —
Wow. That’s a full, full truck.
— became an empty truck.
And so began our travels.
