Hope and light…

Shipshewana, IN

This morning was a typical morning here at the hotel. I woke up slowly while Craig was downstairs having his coffee. It wasn’t long, however, before he returned to the room with my coffee. (He brings me coffee religiously every morning!) He proceeded to tell me that he had spoken with our friend, Greg, and that they were about 130 miles from El Paso, on their way to Quartzsite. What? Geez! What about us? Oh, boy! It hit me like a ton of lead balloons… Quartzsite is where we are supposed to be, too! That is, if we weren’t being held hostage here! The more I thought about it, the more tears flowed from my eyes.

Craig, Mr. Easy-Going Nice Guy, has just about had his fill, as well. We put our heads together and decided that we should just throw in the towel and call the owner’s assistant. We have been in touch with her many times over the course of time, and she is sympathetic to our situation. She has always helped us in the past, and she did not disappoint today. We explained our current situation to her and, after apologizing for others, she said she would go to work immediately to provide any assistance she could. And she did! Before long, we received a call from the General Manager who informed us that the rig is finished except for one hold-up. Really? Hmmm. How did we not know that? We thought the half-bath door and toilets were all we were still waiting on. Nope. The toilets have long been received and installed, we find out, and the half-bath door arrived just today. He even went out and touched it. So, what’s the hold up now? The emergency window that must be replaced in the bedroom, that’s what! Are you ready for this? He went on to explain that the transport company crushed the glass and it will take another TEN DAYS to get a replacement. Oh, Billy Bob, say it ain’t soooooo!!!

So, there’s hope! I was dead serious when I told him I wanted him to call the distributor and have 2-3 windows sent… just in case. He said he would, but who knows? I explained to him that if he had an extra one or two on hand when we were finally gone, so be it. At least they would have an extra window or two on hand for the next customer who needed a window replacement, and they wouldn’t have to wait. We will have already waited for them!

And then there’s light. We now have a game plan. The half-bath door will be installed tomorrow. Once that is done, someone will should call to let us know. As soon as the snow (yes, I said snow!) allows, we will go over and do our own walk-through. When we are satisfied, it will go to a third party for the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) to ensure everything is operating as it should. That will take about three (3) days. Once that is done and comes back to the plant, and while we are still waiting on the replacement window, we can start moving in! The advantage is that we don’t have to throw everything in just to get home. We can take our time (in-between snowfalls) placing shelf liner and putting things in their proper place instead of making a mess of things just to get out of here! Then, once the window is finally replaced and we are comfortable with everything, we can finish up the paperwork and head for Texas.

What a journey….