We were offered Mily from an adoptive family who used her in their breeding program. They really take care of their pets and retired her early so she could live a great life....and she was on her way home from Tennesse.
Our family was excited to welcome into our home. Sara, who was my brave driver stepped out on an adventure with me to drive to Tennesse to get her. We had 4 volunteers to join us in the excitement. This photo above was the happy travelers with their new family members. We were driving straight back because of things going on at home.
And then around 10 pm in Virginia, the van started making crazy sounds. Sara was driving and managed to drive the distance to get off the exit. The first gas station was out of a horror movie and we crossed the highway to find another. There were sheriff cars in the parking lot and I went and asked them lots of question while the AAA truck came to haul the van away. We were truly stranded and no hotels had openings that would take a big dog. They all had 20 lb limits. We ended up in a Baymont in Salem, Virginia. The good part was we all fit in one room. The difficult part...it was not a nice hotel. The kids didn't want to put their things down, sleep in the beds or even use the bathroom. After some fast talking, we settled in where I slept with some precautions.
The next morning we walked to a pet friendly hotel after we explained our situation. They told us to come right away and had our room ready for us. We were so relieved! The kids walked in smelling the fresh clean air.
We later found out after many calls, parts that didn't work and ups and downs that our van needed a new engine. We decided to leave it at the shop we had found and waited for dad to arrive. He had to borrow a car to pick all of us up but he made the drive alone from NH. He arrived late on the 3rd day and we headed out early the next morning.
A fun side note was that when we broke down, I was able to connect with fellow adoptive mom Judy W. She lived in the area. We had discussed adoption and she had encouraged us in many ways during our last adoption. It was a fun connection.
Our poor Mily was so sweet. She was in mourning from leaving her family and remained very quiet during our whole delemia. She was a trooper for sure.
She is beautiful and sweet all wrapped up into one!
This photo was taken outside the Franklin Drury Inn where we officially had Mily for about 5 minutes!
