Unexpected problems . . . A Nightmare, Adventure or Dream come true?

Sometimes plans just don’t go . . . as planned!

{I know that’s never happened to you!}

What was supposed to be an easy trip to Washington DC to get my oldest on a train bound for a school in New England (and cheaper than flying), has turned into quite the nightmare . . . or adventure . . . or dream come true . . . depending on who you ask. 🙂

Being the frugal and adventurer-lover, I bought my oldest son a train ticket from Washington DC – almost 4 hours from our house. It was going to be around 2/3 cheaper than flying, and would create a great memory and experience for him. I just didn’t know it would be quite the experience that it has become, or be as expensive as it has ended up being.

The Adventure starts off wrong

Instead of driving our gas-guzzling SUV, we had the option to borrow my dad’s small car. As usual, we jumped at the chance to save some money!

We should have declined.

We found out that the rare or occasional issues it has had with the transmission, was not so rare or occasional. We had to drive this manual car like a stick shift any time we had to slow to a stop or very slow speed (which was often in the busy traffic). We finally made it to our hotel in DC to find that it was a record high of 104 degrees outside! {Bleh!} It was still well in the 90’s+ after dinner!

Things get worse . . .

Then a storm blew our way . . .

{Ok – no big deal . . . Thunderstorm warnings are common this time of year. So I thought.}

At 11pm our lights started flickering as wind picked up outside, and even before the rain came, we lost power in the hotel/motel! It never came back on. Let’s just say . . . I hope I lost some weight with all the sweating I did in my hotel bed last night. I almost dragged my mattress to sleep outside on the walkway!

We got some (I’m being generous here) sleep before having to get up at 5:30am to drive into the city and catch the train. We didn’t have internet, so there was no way for us to know what we would soon find find out.

We also didn’t have much cell coverage, so we couldn’t use our GPS to find the train station. Thankfully I had looked at the route on Google maps before leaving our house, but we still had to find it the “old-fashioned” way . . . With a regular map, our eyes, and a prayer!

And it continued to get worse . . .

We arrived at the train station – so glad to finally be there! {Whew!} But not for long. Looking at the departure board, we didn’t like what we saw . . .

“Cancelled”

NOOOO!!!

We found the Amtrak workers to be very helpful, kind and considerate as they let us know . . . we were out of luck today. No trains going north at all. Too much debris on the tracks from the storms, and the power out in many places. BUT – we could get a train tomorrow.

{Lovely}

Adjusting our plans . . . and attitudes

So what do you do when your plans are de-railed {pun intended!}? What can you do?

Well – we couldn’t change the fact that the train wasn’t running.

We couldn’t change the fact that a storm had come in and caused the power to go out and make a miserable night for sleeping.

We couldn’t change the fact that the hotel/motel that we stayed at didn’t have a backup generator like the hotel across the street.

We couldn’t change or control much of our situation . . . But we can change and control our attitudes!

Nightmare, Adventure or Dream Come True?

I can honestly say that I think all 3 of these apply to our situation today.

Despite the additional frustrations of the added expense for more food today (and a movie! There wasn’t much else to do in this 100 degree heat!), another possible hotel stay (which we didn’t end up getting – because all the hotels filled up or were still out of power . . . so we ended up over an hour outside of DC at some old college friend’s house! What a blessing . . . as that’s better than sleeping at the train station!), and then finding out that we will be charged even more for my son to be picked up from the train station tomorrow . . . despite it all . . . we still have a choice as to how to view and respond to it all.

Different Perspectives

My hubby tended to lean towards the frustrations in things and was quite frustrated at each blow we were dealt – seeing this as a nightmare.

I tend to see “detours” as adventures (not always – but usually) – and was at peace through most of it (except at 2am when it was 90 degrees in my room and I couldn’t sleep! That was NOT an adventure I care to repeat!).

And I think my son saw it as a dream come true, as he got to spend an extra day playing games on the iPod touch (before he is without the internet for 5 weeks this summer!), got to have his mom and dad all to himself like an only child (a secret wish of his!), got to visit the Lego store, eat ice cream, see a movie and just hang out. He was a bit sad about missing orientation tomorrow . . . but I think the good things we did today outweighed the bad.

Tyler & Lori at Union Station - DC — Despite the cancellation (and bad hair day . . . no electricity at the hotel!) - we were determined to have a good time!

Which perspective is right?

I think that each have valid weight . . . but honestly – I had to think of it this way . . .

What if this was the last day I could spend with my son? What if it was the last day he could spend with us? What if I didn’t have another day, another tomorrow, another chance to hang out and enjoy each other’s company?

I’d want to enjoy it all – yes, even the detours, delays, cancellations, transmission problems and more.

Maybe they were a blessing in disguise.

I pray it’s none of our last days here . . . but if so – I’m glad to have had another day with my hubby and son!

How would you enjoy today (yes – even all the frustrations) if you knew it was your last day?

I don’t meant to be morbid – but just want to get all of us thinking about how we respond to the problems, adversities, blessings . . . everything in our lives – and how can we do things differently to truly enjoy the life God has given us?! 🙂

Share your thoughts with me below! I’d love to hear from you!

Abundant Blessings!

Lori 🙂

ps- July 1st – for those that want to know what happened . . .

We finally got Tyler on the train this morning and got back home safely!

Though – it was not without it’s struggles . . .

dealing with extreme exhaustion from only 4-4 1/2 hours of sleep each of the last 2 nights, (we actually stopped at a rest stop an hour into our trip home, so my hubby could shut his eyes “for 10 minutes” as he was having a hard time staying awake, as I was. 45 minutes later – we woke up!! I’m sure the people pulling in around us were wondering if we were dead in our running car!)
concerned that the train wasn’t stopping at his stop (it wasn’t listed on the board along with all the other stops),
having to deal with a rude and angry woman checking tickets (I think she didn’t get her morning coffee!),
having to wait an additional 30 minutes not only for the train to arrive, but for another train to arrive so they could pull the conductor and staff from that train onto ours, as they were “short on conductors today”,
and then just dealing with my own concerns about letting my (usually clueless) 16 year old travel by himself to a place we have never been, praying he finds the taxi that is supposed to be waiting for him, having to drag 2 huge suitcases on and off the train, etc, etc, etc. {yes – he’s my 1st-born! I’m sure this will be a peace of cake for me when my second child decides to do something like this!}

But I can say it was quite an adventure . . . one that none of us will forget any time soon! 🙂

Oh – and our other 4 kids had a BLAST with their Grandmom all day on Saturday! So – blessings all around!