a morning in exile

I almost forgot about this experience last week until I was uploading digital photos to the computer and came across this picture and video. Let me explain:


Our story begins last week as I pull into the school parking lot to pick up the kids. A car that had been driving behind me followed me into the parking lot, where the occupants [good samaritans #1] informed me that one of my back tires was extremely flat. Fortunately a school bus driver [good samaritan #2] noticed me trying to pump it back up with a battery-operated gizmo I keep in the van and offered to pump it up for me in the school bus barn several yards away. Fortunately I was able to make it home just fine, but I knew where I would be the next morning: at the Costco tire center for a repair and an overdue tire rotation as well.


Collin and I dropped the van off and began our sojourn by wandering about town for the two-and-a-half hours that it would take for the job to be completed. We started off close to home by getting a bite at the Costco snack bar. Two hot dogs [sans buns], two drinks, and twenty minutes later, we decided to wander around the store for a bit. We found a new LeapFrog video for Collin's collection, but after 30 minutes or so, we were weary of perusing the warehouse. So, we buttoned up our coats and ventured across the enormous vacant field in front of Costco to check out the nearby shopping center. As we left I noticed our van still parked in the Tire Center Parking, the plastic yellow service hat perched woefully on the top. Hmmm. That doesn't bode well for us, I thought.


After picking our way through vast amounts of weeds, ruts, and other vacant field paraphernalia, we decided that some ice cream was in order. We headed straight for Coldstone Creamery, ordered our favorites, and settled in to kill some time together.





The above picture shows the contents of my bag by this point: my Costco work order, Collin's new video [it was either stash it in my purse or carry it around in some tuna fish box], a bow and arrow brought along by Collin to help pass the time away, Collin's partially eaten hot dog wrapped in foil, and my cell phone, which I checked constantly to make sure that Costco hadn't performed a miracle for me and called to tell me they had gotten the job done sooner than expected.

So, we hung out at Coldstone for awhile. Although Collin was being a real trooper, by this time, the poor little fella was getting pretty punchy! Watch the video to see him in action-he's pretty hilarious. He was having a good time being silly. We left a few minutes after taking this video to stroll around Michael's for a spell.

After meandering through Michael's, we headed back across the field to pick up the van. Mission accomplished! But, we weren't done with these tires yet. The next morning as Collin and I were getting into the van to run the errands that didn't get done the day before, I noticed that our troublesome tire was flat again. So, I flipped the air compressor on, filled it up, and headed straight for Costco for the second day in a row. This time the wait was only one hour, so we decided to stay in Costco the entire time. Neither of us had any desire to roam that day. We made our way to the DVD section, where we decided to just camp out on the floor in front of the flatscreen that was playing the BBC planet earth series. And there we stayed for the hour! Collin really loved seeing all the wildlife.

And I'm just glad our tire is fixed for good this time.