Last week I posted the first part of Mollie Bond’s moving story. This is part two. Last I checked, she is alive and well in Kansas and planning another move to Chicago. Some people never learn!

Moving with Mollie:

Part Two “Victory over Vans”

By Mollie Bond

If the weather was the only issue that kept our first move from going as planned, I thought we would be able to handle anything.  An unexpected visit of rain delayed the first leg of the journey.  My plan included my husband driving the moving van out to Iowa, riding the bus back, and then both of us driving out our personal vehicles.  No room for God’s ideas, or the foul weather we faced in October.

The next morning I was confident the rest of the move would be smooth.  So as the alarm chirped at 6 a.m., the bravest of brave husbands took off in an enormous moving van, taking all of our roots up with it.

That evening while eating the last of the food in the house, I received our planned phone call from my husband.  Our tight budget meant I kept the cell phone while he went without one, so he was calling from a pay phone.  “Hi hubby!”  I answered cheerily. “How was your day?”  I waited to hear chattering on the other end…?  Why the cold pause…?

What I didn’t realize was that while it had been raining on the West Coast, light, fluffy flakes had been piling up on the van, and my husband, as he huddled outside a K-Mart parking lot in the middle of South Dakota.  At dusk, his tone proved his tired bones needed a hot shower and some rest.  He reminded me that our 9 a.m. appointment with our new apartment had to be kept.  He did not plan on going to a hotel, but would finish out the drive that night.

He continued to fill me in on his brave adventure.  South Dakota lacked convenience stores, stores in general, towns and basic civilization along the highway to help travelers in any manner.  While driving, the van’s engine heated up and whizzing down a hill at 70 miles per hour it quit.  My husband coasted it to a stop in the middle of nowhere without a breathing soul in sight. Climbing down from the seat, he pushed the lever to release the hood.  No antifreeze.  No stores.  No people to help.

That didn’t stop my resourceful husband…  Being the man with a thinker, and a full bladder, he did what only a man could do.  He used the radiator as a latrine. Hey, you do what you gotta do!  Fortunately, this was the last of the hic-ups for our moving journey, and the van made it to Iowa.

The lessons I learned from Moving, Day 2 were:

1) Check over the engine before leaving,

2) Bring extra snacks and water in the vehicle, for all kinds of emergencies,

3) Cell phones are a must,

4) Don’t move in October

5) Pray more for guidance in plans.

Editor’s note: Geography alert: don’t drink anything until you get through South Dakota.