The Hawkes family has never set out an adventure that would last more than a weekend before. We were reminded about opposition in all things, and how blessed we really are :)
We planned this trip over 6 months ago and invited extended family to come along. Grandma Gifford and Bailey opted in and we were excited for months! The Friday before we were leaving Grandpa Gifford returned to heaven. How could we think of vacation at a time like this? It was really difficult for us all but the trip had been paid for and was non refundable so we attended the viewing and then took off, promising to pick up Grandma & Bailey on Tuesday from the airport, this was on Sunday.
So the Hawkes family loaded the borrowed natural gas bus, I mean van and headed to St. George. Things were great, time flew by and then 11:30 pm a loud bang, louder than any noise we had ever heard on the freeway. We pulled off and found a tire had blown. Jason quickly got the spare tire out only to find it covered in holes. It was of no use. Luckily we were right outside of Cedar City. We drove ever so gently and pulled off the closest exit. Every tire store was closed and no body could help us. Jason tried repairing the spare but it did no good. We were left to find a motel for the night, which by the way turned out to be the most disgusting hotel we had ever seen. It smelled bad, the door didn't close tight, and I promise the water was an off color!!! Morning came and Jason was up with sun getting 2 new tires from Wal-Mart (paid for, thank heaven, by the owners of the vehicle) We were on our way again and found Grandma Rich happy to see us, and feed us, and disappointed we couldn't stay longer. the drive was long but we found entertainment, thanks to modern technology and great music!
Natural gas station are spread pretty far so in order to get where your going you must fill up at every station available or you run out of gas. All the stations had been great, then we hit Barstow California...dun dun dun!!! The pumps were empty and so was the bus, I mean van. Literally we had nothing left but fumes. Fortunately another Utah family was there and gave us an address about 40 miles in our direction of a natural gas station. How were we going to make it? Nobody would tow us, and there was no way we had enough gas. We cried and yelled and prayed and got to Victorville 40 miles away on fumes and with angels carrying us for sure. It was at least 100 degrees and the air was left off during the trip but we made it! Once there the pump malfunctioned and by now the bank had turned off our debit cards because of suspicious activity across the country. We called the station attendant for help and he came and didn't ask any questions, just smiled and filled the tank for free and sent us on our way, WOW!!! The final destination couldn't have come any faster. We arrived safe and sound at our FABULOUS hotel where we swam, prayed with much gratitude and swam until we were exhausted.
Grandma & Bailey arrived safely the next day and we park hoped it up until wee hours of the morning for 2 days. Thursday was a rest day and we wanted to go to the beach so Jason found that farthest beach he could find and we made our way there quickly and with no trouble at all. We had a bug cooler full of food and drinks and plenty of toys for lots of fun on the beach. We body surfed, burried each other in the sand chowed and had a great time. We were all packed and ready to go, walking to the bus, I mean van, and Jason asked "where are the keys?" None of us knew, he had been driving all week, keys never crossed our minds. Then Brandie remembered Ellie had been playing with a key and it hit us that the key was in the sand where our towels had been. We searched for HOURS, no luck, we prayed several times, called locksmith after locksmith with no luck until a man said he would make us a new key for $200...YEAH RIGHT!!! Then Brandie spotted the beach patrol and asked there opinion, they recommended we wait for a man with a metal detector, he comes evrey night they said. So here comes this old man decked from head to toe in metal detecting gear and searches for EVER with no luck. Brandie turns to Jason and says, "call the locksmith" seriously in unioson the man pulls the keys from the sand!!!! MIRACULOUS, only by the grace of God did that happen. IF you are still reading this, don't you EVER forget your tithing!!! It saved our trip time and again!!! Our ride back to the hotel was long, very long and we felt starved and exhausted not to mention we all needed to pee, lol
From then on, including our trip home, we were blessed with peace and everything turned out great!
