Oh the journey

Last Wednesday I started what I thought was going to be a fun and uneventful trip to Ohio for my cousin Brooke's wedding.  The first hour and a half or so was uneventful, but then things changed.  I'll start at the beginning.  Shannon was going to drive, but then circumstances out of our control happened and I volunteered to drive our van.  Well, that made for an interesting drive for the other 6 people coming from Kalona to my house because they only had a 5 passenger vehicle.  Below is a picture of what it looked like when they arrived.

We got them unloaded and reloaded into my van and off we went.  We got to the New Liberty/Stockton exit when the van started vibrating VERY badly.  I pulled off and we checked the tires, but saw nothing unusual.  We drove into Durant, found someone who was open (or at least at their shop) and asked him to look at the tires.  He didn't find any bulges or problems but he thought the tires were full of mud so he washed them out and we were off again.  Back to the interstate and down the road a few miles when my van decided to have a mind of its own.  It felt like a tire blew out but when I finally pulled it over, from the left lane to the right shoulder, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the tires.  A phone call to AAA was in order and they took care of us, calling a tow truck and a cab (for the 5 people who would not fit into the tow truck).  The cab came first and we sent Shannon, Lilly, Lisa, Trae and Caleb to the mall because we had no idea how long it was going to take with the van.  Soon the tow truck came and Mom and I climbed into the cab.  The tow driver was a little scary looking, but God showed me that looks can be deceiving and I should not judge so quickly.  That driver ended up being very helpful and was definitely part of God's protection throughout the entire journey.  

My van being put on the tow truck

Mom in the cab, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures

We still had no idea what was wrong with the van.  The driver got into the cab and said, "You ladies should play the lottery today.  It's your lucky day."  I didn't know what that meant since we were currently in a tow truck with my van on the back.  He proceeded to tell us that one lug nut was missing from the rear driver's side tire and the other four were loose.  Wow!  Then we knew what his lucky day comment was about.  However, I assured him that it wasn't luck, God was watching over us.  We chatted a little more and he told us, without explicitly telling us, that the place we were planning on going wasn't necessarily reputable.  He added that we would be driving right past a Toyota dealership and it was right across from the mall where the rest of our group was.  I thought that was a better idea.  So he dropped us off, we explained the problem and they gave us a ride on their free shuttle to the mall.  A few hours later they called and told me the bad news.  The wheel was bent and there was not one in the same size available in Iowa or Illinois.  There was one in Kansas City that they could have overnighted for Thursday morning.  Ugh, now we had to make a decision about the rest of our trip.  They put us in touch with the Enterprise rental place that they work with, supposedly getting discounts for people who are having work done at their dealership.  I say supposedly because when the Enterprise lady called me, she was very enterprising and tried to get me to rent a van for $600.  Yes, that's 6 one- hundred dollar bills.  I quickly declined.  I called Ryan and we were both formulating a plan.  Not even five minutes later the same lady called me back and said since I was having work done at the Toyota dealership I could actually get a rental for $280.  Yes, that's a little less than half of her original quote.  We took the deal.  I was upset with them told them about it in their follow up survey yesterday.  Anyway, they picked us up and we were off.  It did take some doing since we had 7 people and lots of luggage and they gave us an Expedition.  It looked huge from the outside, but the interior space was lacking.  I missed my spacious van all over again.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but we made it somehow the rest of the way to Ohio with very little personal space.

The rest of the weekend was smooth sailing compared to that.  The rest of our clan arrived safely with no issues on Friday.  Thursday and Friday were spent setting up the church for the ceremony and reception. Lilly and Trae were troopers!  They did a wonderful job of playing and entertaining themselves at the church while we worked.  We had lots of laughs and joking during those days, as is expected with the Gugel clan.

Lilly's face says it all:  We were all glad to get out of the vehicle

Enjoying the chair

Trae and Lilly did a wonderful job of entertaining themselves for 2 1/2 days at the church.  There was a nursery that they played in a lot and they also enjoyed the wheel chair.

My uncle Dave, father of the bride, taking a break from all his hard work

The sanctuary, very simple yet elegant

We made the food for the rehearsal meal.  Shannon dropped a can lid into the soup and had to fish it out!

Shannon, Mom and Lisa taking a break from working hard to look pretty for the picture

Brooke and Julie posing with the gorgeous dress

Nathaniel, the groom, playing knights with Trae

The happy couple

Nathaniel's family is from Pennsylvania and they are huge Penn State fans, so our family joined together to show our Hawk spirit in the form of Hawkeye ties.

Our family picture, it's rare that we're all dressed up

And another rare shot, Ryan and I together in the same picture, usually one of us is behind the camera.

The whole clan:  Ryan, me, Lilly, Scotty, Lauren, Aleigha, Shannon, Kyle, Dad, Mom, Jeremy, Lisa

Ashlyn, Micah, Trae, Cameron, Aubrey