Showing posts with label Car Issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Car Issues. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2022

PCB... Where. To. Begin.- Day 8

 Panama City Beach- Day 8
We Have HOW MANY hours to go? 
Friday, June 10, 2022

Goodbye Pinnacle Port and PCB! We loved you!

Morning
We woke up at 4:30AM and were packed, loaded and on the road by 5:30AM. Before we could even go 10 miles, our car started dining that we had a low tire. We got to a gas station as we turned north to go back to I-10 and all the tires look fine. The car was saying that it was the front-right tire but it was reading 37. Finally, we checked the back-left tire and it was reading 24 so we put air into it. But in trying to figure out which tire was low, we over inflated 2 of the remaining 3 tires. We traveled about 15 miles more before we stopped and purchased a tire gauge (since we left ours in Chris's car) and got all the tires aired up properly. 

We got to I-10 and merged WEST towards Texas but then the temperature gauge on the car started to creep up again. My heart just sank as I knew we needed to get home the following day for Luke's 10th birthday and then Natalie left for youth camp the following day. As we continued to travel, we noticed the temperature gauge dancing between 210 and 230(ish) and just kept praying to get home. Around Mobile, it got fairly hot at 230 but we kept pushing. 

I paid $1K to get this to stay LOW... C'mon Buick! Hang in there! 


See you later Florida. WE WILL NOT MISS YOU! 

As we approached Baton Rouge, we grabbed a late lunch and noticed the tire low again so we put more air into it and just kept praying. This turned out to be the longest and most stressful drive I can honestly remember in my adult life. We tried to drive at the speed limit or even 5 mph below the speed limit to help with the temperature rising and the crazy over-inflated and under-inflated tires. We finally pulled in to our driveway 11+ hours later. If I never had to make that drive again, it would be TOO SOON! 


GOD BLESS TEXAS... I am not sure I have EVER been THIS EXCITED to see this sign. Just 100 miles to go! 

This trip started and ended with drama and stress. In fact, the entire trip was just a ball of stress all around. All four of us LOVED the gorgeous turquoise waters of the Florida Emerald coast and we would go there again but not in the near future. Plus, I would like to go there for a family vacation... not a baseball tournament. That was a LOT of miles for a tournament. 

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how we started our summer. A little wild. A little crazy. And VERY stressful. I can only hope the rest of our summer proves to be better! 


We weren't sure this 15 year old would survive the week without us! 
THANK YOU GOD for keeping Oxford alive, once again! 

Thanks again for following along! I hope we have been able to provide even a little taste of Panama City Beach, FL and what it is like to attend a major select baseball World Series. I tried to keep this as politically correct as possible but it still came back to bite me in the butt. That bothers me... I feel as if I should be able to share facts and details about our experience without being belittled or completely shut out. But that is not how the world works this day and age. People really only care about "me, myself, and I" and that is ok. I just pray I can bring up my children in a way that is loving and Christ-like so when they are in this situation (on either side of it) they can find joy in their trials knowing God will take care of them. I hope I will have raised them well enough for them to be a light for others. I have been a Christian for over 35 years, and I still struggle with this... near daily (obviously). 

As I mentioned in a previous post... In the end, it doesn't matter if Luke got mound time or got to play the infield or what position he batted in. In the end, we will ALL bow down, Kings, Presidents, royalty and every day people like you and me to the Almighty God. I just have to prepare my kids for that day. 

Jesus, give me the discernment, leadership, love and kindness to do this each and every single day! Thank you Jesus, for this amazing opportunity! I want to give you all the Glory. 

Thank you for following along! We appreciate your support! 
Up Next... The rest of Summer 2022. 
Be on the lookout for our return to cruising on the
Carnival Vista blog!



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Sunday, October 9, 2022

PCB... Where. To. Begin- Day 7

 Panama City Beach- Day 7
It's Not How You Start but How You Finish
Friday, June 10, 2022 

Let's DO THIS! 

Morning
Game 6 vs Scorpions Black 10U
For our bracket game on this day, we had a bright and early game time of 8AM. This game turned out to be against the #2 seed in the tournament, the Scorpions Black 10U team from about 5 miles from our practice facility. This is a rival organization we had played frequently, but we had never played this exact team. We expected to not win this game, as this organization is known for being very good and their pool record was great. However, Luke's team came to play and we ended up winning this game and were headed to the CHAMPIONSHIP game immediately following this first one. 


In the end... this is ALL that matters. It doesn't really matter if he got mound time, played infield or sat the bench the entire time. In the end, we will all meet Jesus face to face and all bow down before Him. I am so glad we are raising our children in HIS ways! 


Field 9B where we played our 1st game had a huge POND with alligators in it! They would go swimming after foul balls thinking they were food. 


Luke spending some time at 3rd base. 

One of the baby alligators in the pond! 

Luke played 3rd base for most of this game, although he did play 1 inning behind home plate as the catcher. He was still batting 10th out of 11 and was able to get on base with a walk, a catcher's interference and then a very hard hit ball pop-up his 3rd at bat. Unfortunately, he still did not get any mound time. 

Game 7 vs Diamond A's 
As soon as this game was over, we went to the main 10U field for the Championship game against the Diamond A's, the very first team we played in the tournament. This was a really neat experience as the tournament treated this game like a REAL MLB game and played the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the game and called out all of the players at the beginning. Despite all of the emotions, tears and frustrations... this was a very special moment to this mama! A moment I may never get to experience again... 


This was really cool! 

Luke was feeling very overheated at this point and did not eat the hotdog offered to the team and wasn't even able to keep Gatorade or water down. He started the game in right field but had to sit out the next 2 innings since he was not feeling well and dizzy and feeling heat exhaustion. By the 4th inning, he came in and played at 3rd base, where he would end his season. He was still batting 10th out of 11 and had a ground out in this game. Overall Luke had a .375 average for this tournament and only TWO strikeouts. That was one of the better statistics on the team and more importantly his attitude and effort were far and away impressive.


Luke playing his last inning at 3rd base.


This team was VERY GOOD and we lost 15-0. 

After the game, there was a trophy and ring presentation and Ripken Baseball did a phenomenal job with this and the entire tournament overall! I would HIGHLY recommend any Ripken tournament event. 


Congratulations Luke! 


Ripken Experience World Series, PCB


Marucci 9U Codrington 


I am so very proud of Luke


Luke the Duke


Proud family! 


This boy was so happy... and that is all that matters! 


Way to go Luke the Duke 


This girl right here... WHAT AN AWESOME BIG SISTER! 
She was his biggest cheerleader the whole week and NEVER complained! 


I am so proud of you Luke! 

Afternoon
Once the tournament was complete, we grabbed lunch at Jimmy Johns and then went back to the condo to spend literally as much time at the beach as possible. We stayed at the beach from 1:30 to 6:30PM before our beach chairs and umbrella were taken from us. The kids LOVED being able to bounce back from the beach to the condo pool. This was a perfect afternoon of rest, relaxation and family time! 


A view looking WEST from our condo balcony! 


Finally, true rest and relaxation! 


Picture Perfect! 


Even the kids LOVED these chairs and umbrella on the beach! 


We just got done with baseball... and here he is working hard again!

Evening
Since our previous seafood restaurant outing was so bad (see that post ), I wanted to go to a local seafood place for dinner. I found a few closer to our West end of PCB but each of them had an hour to 90 minute wait just to get a table. Even though I was REALLY frustrated with not being able to have seafood on our last night in PCB, we found an AMAZING pizza place called Bubba's Pizza. This was some of the best pizza I have had outside of NYC and Chicago! The prices were extremely HIGH but so worth it! 


Dinner time! 


After dinner we stopped at Publix to get water, gas and snacks for our 9-10 hour trip home and then went back to the condo to finish packing and do a quick load of laundry. We ended the night watching The Office in the condo and went to bed early. We planned to get up and get on the road BEFORE 5AM. 

This was a day filled with excitement as Luke brought home a ring and a medal for his team's effort in this tournament. 

Up next... our crazy trip back to Texas. 

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