Pit Stop

It was one of them weekends that would have usually taken some planning. This was not planned other than the decision of “let’s go”. No details were hashed out and none really needed to be. We were taking Kari’s car because the gas savings would be needed. We were taking the boys; 2 and 7 year olds. Friday rolled on and by 5 pm I was home and the small white Toyota was packed with Justin and my gear. We had the essentials; a sleeping bag, extra change of clothes, some Sobe water, and a bag of chips, a hammer and a tape measure. We were heading to Bryant, South Dakota to help my nephew, Steve, put up a garage!
Our first stop was 1 block from our house. There we picked up Josh and Caleb. They got the car seat buckled in then packed their gear into the trunk. Off we went! Nobody had supper yet so that was the first topic, where to eat. A double Father/Son weekend was going to be interesting!
Going through Mora we stopped and showed the boys a Corvette that was for sale. The engine showed an impressive display of the blower sticking out from the hood. Justin wanted to get out to look more but I suggested we just look from the car because the 6 hour trip must continue.
Driving a small car is new to me; I have nearly always had a truck with an exception of a larger car once in awhile. But I handled that car like a pro, even into the parking lot of A & W where we stopped for supper. The boys used the potty then we got in line and ordered burgers and fries and cheese curds and root beer floats.
As darkness fell I got unexpected flashing lights in my mirror. Yes, it was really me who was getting pulled over. The officer explained I had a head light out. He commented on my record and saw I was behaving myself over the years. I was embarrassed for getting pulled over especially in a car I didn’t normally drive. I made a pit stop and shopped for a light bulb with no luck finding one for the Toyota.
Going through Montevideo I got some more unexpected flashing lights in my mirror, or at this point it was expected. I got pulled over again! Same thing; a head light out. Unbelievable! I told the officer the same story and even added in my pit stop in the attempt to purchase a head light.
We made Steve’s house before midnight. He welcomed us into the house and showed us our sleeping spots. We silently moved our belongings into the house and crashed on the beds. I didn’t sleep the best, new sounds and different temperature I guess. No reason why I shouldn’t have slept well because Steve’s house is pretty comfortable.


At 6:20 am Steve woke us up for breakfast; there he showed us a platter of eggs and French toast along with freshly brewed coffee! It hit the spot. After breakfast we started the project and made great time putting the trusses on, then chip board, then tar paper, then steel. We followed with the garage door which ended up being a big time consumer. Many details to the assembly and adjustments for the garage door, but that was completed anyways.
Around noon Justin wanted to go attend a few rummage sales. Saturday was Bryant’s city wide garage sale day. I watched Justin walk to the neighbors and then across the street to a sale at the church while we built on the garage. I kept one eye that way until he returned and went back to the neighbor’s sale. Then I heard my name called…there he stood with a water cooler, a pillow, a wooden decorative box, a sleeping bag, a coat hanger, an envelope holder, and a television! He had $5. I am not sure of the details he made in the deal - but I had to confirm with the neighbor that he paid for what he had. He had - . My goodness Justin! He made some good deals, but we had to fit all this in the trunk which was already nearly packed full of construction tools and bedding!
It would have been nice to spend another half day working on the garage - I think we could have nearly finished it. We called it a day after 12 hours of work. We packed our stuff up, said our goodbyes and started making the journey back home.
We stopped for gas, $30.50 to fill the little car’s tank, and then made a pit stop at Wal-Mart – where I found my light bulb for the car! I installed that, we stopped at McDonalds drive thru. We saw a couple cars that were painted to be like Mater from the movie “Cars”. We all thought that was pretty cool. The boys ate and fell asleep. We were home my 1am Sunday morning. In time for a Happy Mother’s Day!