Cross Country, Day 3: South Bend

Saturday morning we "chilled". We did get to visit with the McKennna's for a little bit. Miranda and Nica were glad to have a little girl their age!

After lunch we drove to the Moore's. I checked the heater, and it seemed to be working ok, so I stopped worrying about it.

The Moody's, Nelson's, and Ambrose's came and stayed thru dinner. The Miller's and the Kelly's came later.

Zoë and Emily A.

Esther and Megan with some of the Moody kids in the background.

Miranda pointing out that the sun is just about ready to break through the clouds. It had been raining lightly for part of the first couple of hours.

Nica and Lucy swimming together.

Jenny and Lucy in the water.

Lucy wearing Megan's goggles.

Nica's lips turn blue very quickly when she gets cold in the water. She kept going back in! This picture doesn't show it well, but even the lip all the way up to her nose was tinged blue!

I got to cuddle with Lucy once she was done swimming.

Nica and Megan trying to warm up. Guess where Miranda is? My little mermaid took breaks for food and potty only.

After the Ambrose's left, Zoë was BORED. So I took her back to the house so she could visit with her friend, Alex Deneen, who was just back from a two-week camp.

I did NOT go in the water, so I stayed mostly warm and mostly dry (little girls' wet suits keep getting me)

We had chic-fail-A for dinner with watermelon and nacho tortilla chips. Grandma Moore made brownies and gave the chilled girls hot chocolate and oatmeal. Esther got to stay with us so Megan could have a friend over. 

We headed home, and I cranked up the heat, hjust one more test. It came on hot, but after a few minutes it started blowing cold air. I immediately called Travis, and he started getting. A little wigged out, worried the engine was going to blow up. Here it was, almost 9pm on Saturday night, and I am seeing all my plans go up in smoke. Thankfully it was only my plans, and not the engine!

I called an old friend. Dan Reichenbach, who really knows cars and loves to teach people how to fix them. He graciously let me come over, (his wife had just come home from foot surgery!) and he looked at the van. Fortunately, he was able to quickly spot the problem: low engine coolant (antifreeze)! But, that led to other problems: where did the coolant go, was it a leak, and if so how big/where, and there is proprietary coolant, so I am now forced into takes g it to a dealership repair. 

Thank goodness I discovered this before I headed further west! What a nightmare if my engine had overheated in the middle of nowhere! Here we have friends and a great place to stay. I am still hoping that I can get in early and get it fixed quickly,;that the leak, if there is one, is easily spotted and they have the (hopefully inexpensive and simple!) parts to fix it. We will find out Monday morning. Of course this means I won't leave until much later, and so my travel plans will need some rearrangement. It could even mean an extra day here in SB. But, again, it is a blessing we found this before getting stuck in a small town nowhere with towing expenses, much more expensive repair, and possibly three days waiting for parts!