Muffled.

This weekend we went to Philly. It was a great time, we saw family, watched a play, ate a lot, and laughed even more. But that's not the story I'm going to tell right now. No, today's story goes a little something like this:

We started the four and a half hour drive.
But then our muffler fell off.
And so the drive took much longer than expected.

That's the short version anyway.....
About halfway through the drive, Dustin and I heard a terribly loud noise. We were scared for a minute (well, I was) but realized pretty quickly what had happened: the muffler on my beloved 1998 Corolla had come loose, and was now dragging on the highway. Ugh.

Thankfully it had stopped raining (we had been stuck in torrential downpours several times already), so Dustin stepped out to take a look. The muffler was attached, but dragging, so it needed to be reattached. A call to AAA proved unsuccessful- their only option was to tow the car. Ummmm, no. Not an option. So instead Dustin had to figure a way to fix it himself.

Enter, the MacGyver method:

I stayed in the safety and warmth of the vehicle, so I can't tell you his exact solution, but I know it involves a carabiner, some golf shoelaces, and maybe some chewing gum. But however he did it, he got the job done, and it held for the whole rest of the drive. Unfortunately, in doing so, he burned his fingers on the car, resulting in a couple of painful blisters.

But luckily for him, I was able to pull a MacGyver of my own: at the next rest area, we stopped to get ice, but there were no plastic bags. No worries- I asked the nice Annie Ann's worker for a plastic glove, and made a makeshift ice pack.

He doesn't look happy, but I think it helped.....

So, that's the long and the short of our most recent road trip. It may not have gone as planned, but it really could have been so much worse. I was so impressed with Dustin- he fixed the problem quickly (if a bit creatively), and didn't even get upset. It's so easy in situations like that
to get frustrated and take it out on each other, but he didn't complain or sulk. I'm so thankful we got home safe, and blessed to have a husband that takes such good care of me.

But I don't think we'll be driving to Philly again anytime soon....