The second day dawned brightly, and was for us a last view of the mountains before we headed to my destination in Virginia. This little side trip had been fun, and except for the knock it was almost as perfect as a trip with kids can ever be. Mom and I even had time alone, since we had an adjoining and connecting room with the kids, we were able to actually sneak off with the door closed. Well rested, we were excited about getting to our ultimate destination.
Eating our free breakfast, which is a great deal with my kids since they ate at least the equivalent value of the room bill, we re-loaded the now non-knocking car and headed down the mountain on US 460, to Roanoke Virginia. The only difference in our load plan today was that we had placed the 3 year old and her car seat in the front seat between us. (Okay, don’t judge, there were no airbags in those days that were mandatory or installed on that car.) Our reasons were simple, the day before she couldn’t see as much from the back seat and we wanted to accommodate her, so she could fully enjoy the view. Starting out this appeared to be worth it, but the true value of this placement was to be quite mixed....
About two miles down the mountain the knocking returned. In fact, it returned with a true vengeance. It had never been louder, and I just knew something was falling out from under the car. At least I knew it until I looked over at my wife. She too was looking at me with horror when, at the same time, we noticed movement. A movement that was more than just consistent with the mysterious knock. There, all cute in her car seat, peering around and loving it, was the little 3 year old just bouncing with excitement and kicking her foot against the bottom of her seat. Through four states and several miles, I had finally solved the mystery, but could I cure the problem? No! This knock was to remain with us for the next week. Every time she got in the car, we got the bounce. The only way to maintain sanity was to put her back in the back seat and put a pillow under her foot. Talk about a nervous habit, this one over the next week would drive us all a little crazy! Oh hell, who am I kidding, it drove us all a LOT crazy!
Oh, if the trip were to end here it would still be salvageable, but unfortunately it doesn’t. After many hours, and God knows how many stops, we arrive at our destination. An Army post, which shall remain nameless, where things are shutting down and are not as organized as they once were. Naturally, this shutdown affected the housing staff who completely botched our reservation. What was to have been VIP quarters for all of us, became VIP quarters for two, and either it was for a 1950s sitcom couple, or an unmarried two,......, but one thing was sure, it was NOT for a family of five! ~ Michael S. Pauley
Eating our free breakfast, which is a great deal with my kids since they ate at least the equivalent value of the room bill, we re-loaded the now non-knocking car and headed down the mountain on US 460, to Roanoke Virginia. The only difference in our load plan today was that we had placed the 3 year old and her car seat in the front seat between us. (Okay, don’t judge, there were no airbags in those days that were mandatory or installed on that car.) Our reasons were simple, the day before she couldn’t see as much from the back seat and we wanted to accommodate her, so she could fully enjoy the view. Starting out this appeared to be worth it, but the true value of this placement was to be quite mixed....
About two miles down the mountain the knocking returned. In fact, it returned with a true vengeance. It had never been louder, and I just knew something was falling out from under the car. At least I knew it until I looked over at my wife. She too was looking at me with horror when, at the same time, we noticed movement. A movement that was more than just consistent with the mysterious knock. There, all cute in her car seat, peering around and loving it, was the little 3 year old just bouncing with excitement and kicking her foot against the bottom of her seat. Through four states and several miles, I had finally solved the mystery, but could I cure the problem? No! This knock was to remain with us for the next week. Every time she got in the car, we got the bounce. The only way to maintain sanity was to put her back in the back seat and put a pillow under her foot. Talk about a nervous habit, this one over the next week would drive us all a little crazy! Oh hell, who am I kidding, it drove us all a LOT crazy!
Oh, if the trip were to end here it would still be salvageable, but unfortunately it doesn’t. After many hours, and God knows how many stops, we arrive at our destination. An Army post, which shall remain nameless, where things are shutting down and are not as organized as they once were. Naturally, this shutdown affected the housing staff who completely botched our reservation. What was to have been VIP quarters for all of us, became VIP quarters for two, and either it was for a 1950s sitcom couple, or an unmarried two,......, but one thing was sure, it was NOT for a family of five! ~ Michael S. Pauley
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