Finally...in the garage!

We have been waiting....and waiting....and waiting, and finally called they called us into the garage for service. Nothing like camping out in dusty concrete parking lot for three weeks to make you really want to get a move on. So, we have been elevated to "elite status", also known as "finally in the shop." Tiffin motor homes is a busy place and we have waited, patiently, which most of you know is sooo out of character for me! So should I should feel some twang of sympathy for the new buses arriving that are now being parked and told to wait their turn in the three week line up? Probably, but instead I laugh at the poor unknowing ones and secretly sing na-na-naboo-boo to my envious neighbors as we pull into the garage each morning. Maybe someday I'll grow up, maybe.

With our home in the shop it has posed an interesting engineering feat for the noMadsons...how to fit four dogs, two people and one cat in a car, comfortably for 8 hours. HA! I laugh at my own use of the word comfortable. Several dogs have learned how to jump seats and Lily has discovered how to conveniently lay across Torben, the center counsel, and myself all at once. Not to mention, she is smart enough to know how to roll down the windows --thank goodness for child protection window locks--but if we're not careful we get a blast of 65 mile an hour wind and a slobbery dog tongue hanging out the passenger window. Miss Shanti (our 14 year-old temperamental as hell cat) has shocked us by her enjoyment of riding in the car. She is thrilled to look out the window and frolic from one seat to another. She is still a diva and requires her own seat, often bullying one of the dogs into the floor to get her desired space. Today I turned around just in time to see her bite Bela (our lab) in the hiney to get her to move. Where's a camera when you need one? Needless to say our close confines have required some skilled parenting to prevent arguments, protect hurt feelings and avoid disaster. Ironically leading Torben & I to feel more like parents than dog companions. Go ahead, laugh. Anyway, in a few days, provided the things in the shop go as planned, we will head out to Tennessee...just in time for the flooding (who is Murphy anyway? and what's with his stupid law?)

On a brighter note, We tooled around in Huntsville today and I fell in love with the cute town. Monte Sano State Park offers the most breathtaking vistas. I would have loved to rent one of the cozy cottages on the hillside overlooking the tree-lined mountains. Pure visual nirvana.

We stopped in town for a bite to eat and I quickly explored the new city (getting lost on purpose is one of my favorite pastimes) while Torben took a conference call (anyone really surprised?) There is the cutest constitutional village that is preserved on a whole city block. It was where Alabama counties got together to create their state Constitution, near and around the civil war. It houses a school, court room, garden, candle making factory and a host of other buildings in 1880's fashion. It was like a step back in time and it really tickled my history bone. The icing-on-my-fabulous-cake-day was when I heard the most glorious bells ringing. Their melody vibrated off the old stone buildings and begged me to follow a wandering path until I located their source. Not just a few loud gongs, but several lulling rings and with such a flow that it felt like the angels were singing. No surprise I ended up at the doorstep of a church. It was all white, with Greek looking faces at each arch, mesmerizing stained glass in every window and a tall pinnacle of a chapel that seemed to reach right into heaven. The door was open and as I stepped inside the only light I saw was a ray of sunshine coming from a tiny spiral staircase in the corner. To climb or not to climb? I asked myself that question for only a brief second before giddily tiptoeing up the small winding planks. As it turns out, it was just an access point to make repairs in the rafters or the roof or something, but I don't care. The thrill of my adventure was in the mystery of wondering what was just around the corner. Maybe not everyone feels that way about discovering something new, but I am a sucker for the journey...even if the destination is just a shabby old attic.