Phew!

I've gotten a few e-mails in response to our S.O.S. on the Jersey turnpike! I just knew the turnpike would figure into our story at some point...we just didn't want to be sitting ducks out there!! I am glad to report, however, that we are safe in our little campground by the bay, with a "view" of the backside of Lady Liberty.

To catch everyone up, we had a comical trip through Connecticut and Rhode Island. We met the campground nazis at Paradise Campground, where we stayed all of 10 minutes before asking for our money back. Outside of being just plain rude and unreasonable, they don't like dogs OR children, so if you'd like for us to give you their number, we can all take turns calling and asking for a space while the kids yell and scream in the background while your husband barks like a dog. We thought about driving back by there and giving them the live version, but who knows what they would have hurled at us.

Anyway, we moved on to a Wal-Mart, where Rocky Balboa with a cigar hanging out of his mouth told us to yo, move on. We were all very nasty to one another before it was over, but it sure was fun. On to our final option (btw it's getting to be in the 8 p.m. range and the kids are now knawing the leather upholstery) -- another campground, which we decided would have been an awesome first bet. As the sun set on this little piece of heaven, the children were out playing, people were grilling, etc., we were winding our way into some tight spots. Cheryl got situated, then it was dad's turn to back the Chuckwagon into his space. The name of the game was to dodge two cars, a tree, and a picnic table and bingo!

Turns out Dad and I were BOTH watching the back, and due to a faulty walkie-talkie, I turned around just in time to yell to absolutely no one: stop! stop!! tree!!!!! You can guess what happened.... crack, crack, screech!!!

Holy smoke. Any of you who know my dad know that you should take shelter when the veins in his temples are visibly pulsing. Truth is, an accident like this is an RV owner's nightmare, because any amount of torn roof makes fighting a roof leak futile. So he's up there trying to patch it while we all tip toe carefully.

Anyway, he took it in stride and we headed over to Newport, R.I. yesterday to see the Vanderbilt "Summer Cottages," which were really transplanted European castles. Unbelievable. I'll talk more about these in a post with pictures. After packing up, we headed to the home of Sam Clemens in Hartford, Conn., which was really neat. He and his family lived there 17 years and he wrote most of his best works there. I hope you all know who Sam Clemens is...

After a night in a Wal-Mart parking lot (complete with 5 a.m. street sweeping), we were off to Hyde Park, NY to see the FDR home and presidential museum/library. I'll talk more about it when I post the pictures.

Let's get back to the mayhem, because that's more fun, right? So we're barrelling down the turnpike, only about 10 miles from our campground when dad radios Cheryl and me to tell us that he is losing air pressure in the air brakes. This is not a good thing when you have an RV full of kids on the turnpike going 60 mph in rush-hour traffic. Here's the thing: if the air pressure drops too low the emergency brakes will engage, and everyone/everything will be suddenly thrusted to the front of the bus. So he's going slow and decides to pull of to see if he can regain air pressure. The good Lord was looking out for us, because during that time the emergency brakes did engage and we were done. Cheryl and I went on with the kids in the Suburban and trailer, and even though we were not going into the "city," we might as well have with the traffic we encountered. I cannot imagine if Dad's brakes he gone out anywhere other than in the safety of the side of the road. It was hard enough for Cheryl, me, and five rowdy kids--eager to catch a glimpse of the New York City skyline--to navigate to the harbor.

So here we are -- mom and dad were towed to the Freightline shop for repairs, and Cheryl and I are in Jersey City with five kids. We plan to get up early and head into the city to meet mom and dad as soon as they can get there. The kids are so stoked about the city, they can't even stand it. Can't wait to share the pictures with you!

Love, Jennifer