There's no place like home.....

We finally made it home very late Sunday night.  What a travel day.  We started out about 6:00 a.m. in fog so heavy it looked like pea soup.   Our speed on I-80 was about 45 miles an hour (regular speed limit 75 mph) and we couldn't see past the hood of our car.  Gradually, the fog cleared but about ten o'clock a light on our dashboard declared our rear passenger side tire was low.  Carl got out with the gauge and checked and sure enough...  So we stopped at a gas station and filled up the tire (can you believe they charge $1.00 for air?) but a few miles down the road it came on again.  A truck stop on the out-skirts of Lincoln, Nebraska called in a mechanic (ka-ching) and he diagnosed faulty valve stem electronics.  He couldn't find the actual part he needed but he managed to make one fit that got us home - a big shout out to Don and Randy Shoemaker's 66 Station at Exit 395 in Lincoln.  They had wifi and a restaurant so I got out the computer and sat in a booth with a Pepsi and one of the best BLTs ever waiting the three hours it took to fix the car.  Total price:  $107.48 with tax.  Back on the road again and ran into a huge rain storm with several rainbows (sorry, no good pics, it was raining way too hard for that) and home by 9:30 p.m.  We rarely travel that late and we were both wiped out.  It's now Wednesday and the laundry is done.  We're starting to pack for our Labor Day week trip to Wisconsin. 

The chair cushion the cat christened was taken to the cleaners and fit in the big industrial washer; it's now home and smelling fresh.  No accidents yet and Sassy is warming up to us.  She's very vocal at 2:00 a.m. and very active at dusk and dawn racing through the house and playing with toys.  We purchased a large wire dog kennel with a tray in the bottom for her trip to Wisconsin.  Carl added a shelf above the cat box and we attached food and water dishes to the cage sides.  We're testing it today when we take her back to the vet to have her left eye checked (it's still leaking badly) and to make sure the intestinal infection is gone.  By the way, I'm here to tell you cats don't like banana flavored medicine.  The cage is large enough for her to move around in (she doesn't like the carrier) and if we do indeed get another cat after Wisconsin, both can travel comfortably in it.  I just hope we can fit our luggage around it, but if anyone can cram it in, it's Carl.  My daughter, SIL and youngest grandson will be making the trip this year.  We will be staying right on a large lake next to the tree the eagles perch in.  Cody (my grandson) will have basketball, tether ball, volleyball, badminton, baseball, miniature golf, mallet pool, bicycles to just take and go, swimming, kayaks and fishing to keep him occupied.  Mom wants to sleep, not sure what SIL will do.  They will have a two bedroom cabin and maid service, my daughter will think she died and went to heaven