Travel, rain car issues

Tonight is the Brittany and Andrew’s last night in the United States for the rest of this year. If all goes well they will board a plane bound for England tomorrow evening. I believe Andrew is stationed there for three years. That should give them enough time to see most of Europe as well as visit many places in the UK. We are praying that it is a very enjoyable time for them – at least, that they make the most of the opportunity before them.

We were very blessed in the delay of the heavy rain so far. It gave Brittany and Andrew the time to get to Wichita Falls and get Lucy (their Chiweenie dog) certified for the journey. That’s what we hope. Brittany should hear today from the man meeting them in London whether or not they have met all the paperwork requirements for her entry into the country. It is more trouble and expense than I would have ever gone through but that is the only way to keep Lucy with them.

They are feverishly packing today. Brittany bought two large suitcases the other day to augment their traveling storage space. They are bigger suitcases than I have ever bought because I know Mama. The bigger the suitcase the more she will stuff into it until it becomes too heavy to lift. When we were younger it was not much of an issue but now it is something I have to consider even more.

Beside travel is not about taking every article of clothing you own – except if you are doing what Brittany and Andrew are now doing. When we traveled it was always with the clear intent of coming back home after the time was spent away so I bought smaller suitcases so all of the children and Mama would have to choose what to take – sufficient but not excessive.

This time our two travelers will have to take everything with them. They will not be returning for several years. Maybe that is why I could not lift one of the suitcases Brittany has already packed. Fortunately the suitcase has rollers so it will not have to be lifted very often after we pack it into the car. Hopefully the rain will let up so we can get the car packed this evening.

I am down to one vehicle right now - the Uplander - and it is giving me a little problem at the moment. The belt slips when I drive through any standing water; which causes me to lose power steering momentarily. As you might be able to imagine, there has been a good bit of standing water over the past few weeks. With it as my only source of transportation it has been difficult to get time to have the work done to replace the belt – which will not take long.

But I am at the point that I need to figure out how to get the repair done today. In all likelihood Mama will need to take me to work tomorrow so she can carry the excess baggage to the airport for Brittany and Andrew. I do not want her to have to deal with the power steering issue as she navigates DFW traffic.

That is my challenge for the day.