Our crazy weekend started on Thursday night. The weather is crazy. It is extremely cold (for Texas and the wind is blowing like there is no tomorrow. We were all geared up for one of those let's just relax and be lazy weekends but that didn't happen! First of all my son was asked to drive a monster truck in San Angelo, TX for a Friday and Saturday show. The owner of the truck was snowed in in Iowa. Vance needed to catch a plane out of DFW Airport to San Angelo. We picked him up from work at four on Thursday and drove him to DFW Airport. I don't like rush hour traffic. I haven't lived in Dallas in a very long time and the traffic is terrible at any hour. We dropped him off at the airport about six. He was plenty early, we didn't know which gate was his because he forgot to check when he bought his e-ticket. Back on the interstate with the rush hour traffic we go. Traffic was still terrible. The phone rang, Vance called to say his gate was a good stroll from where we dropped him off, but no problem he had plenty of time.
We were half way home when the phone rang. Vance calling to find out if we were anywhere near the airport, his debit card was not working and he didn't have any cash on him. No way we could make it, we were half way home and his plane would be leaving by the time we got back to the airport. We were nearly home when the check engine light comes on. What? The car isn't making any kind of strange noise and it seems to be running fine. We pull into a parking lot and I am reminded about the last time I saw this kind of light. I owned a jeep, Apex and the check engine light came on because the gas cap was not on tight. I tightened the cap and the light went off. O.K, Dawn gets out and checks the cap. It was loose, so she tightened it up. I cranked the car and the light came back on. We talked about it and decided to head back home and hope for the best. We made it home just fine.
We got home, I took a bath put on my PJ's and got all comfy in the recliner when the phone rang. Vance calling to say his flight was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. He really doesn’t care that much about flying and this mechanical thing is not helping.
We settled in to watch TV and the phone rang. Vance calling to say the flight might be canceled. It is almost ten o'clock on a Thursday night and he said I might need to return to the airport to pick him up! I told him to call me if the flight does get canceled. Thirty minutes later the phone rings. Vance calling to say the flight has been canceled and rescheduled for seven-forty-five AM. Did I mention I hate driving in Dallas rush hour traffic?
I told him to talk to the gate attendant and explain to them he had been dropped off there several hours earlier and would need a hotel and meal voucher. I told him to call me after he had the details worked out. A few minutes later the phone rings. Vance calling to say he would be staying at a hotel near the airport. He gave me the address and I told him I would bring his new debit card.
We got dressed and this time we drove the truck since we had the check engine light problem earlier. The wind chill out is in the single digits now and the wind is blowing forty plus miles per hour. We didn't have the rush hour traffic at this hour. We drove to the area where Vance was staying and stopped at a fast food place to grab him a burger. Meanwhile, Dawn is talking with him on the phone trying to pinpoint the location of his hotel. We made a wrong turn out of the fast food place and had to turn around. I then saw the sign for the hotel and realized we were on the wrong side of the interstate. I pulled into a parking lot and turn around. By this time Vance has put the hotel desk clerk on the phone to give us better directions. I pulled out on the service road and drove a short distances when we noticed a car coming at us head on. Dawn is yelling we are on a one way street and for me to turn around, just as the driver of the car coming head on starts to flash his headlights. I stopped the truck and the man in the car pulls up beside us and is screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs. He is screaming that we are on a one way street and we needed to get our drunk asses off the road! Drunk! We got the truck turned around and made it to the hotel. Vance met us in the parking lot. We handed him his dinner, debit card and told him bye.
We got back on the interstate headed home. We encountered some real drunks that couldn't keep their cars in one lane of traffic and a guy driving with no lights on. We just want to go home and get into our warm PJ and go to bed. We had to make one more stop to get diesel for the truck before we called it a night. We pulled into the gas station and I noticed the speedometer read sixty miles per hour. That’s right! The speedometer is broken. I am not even going to say it. We just want to get home. We finally got into bed about a little after midnight.