Traveling!!! Started off with being skunked!!!!!! :/

Well, we started this trip off with just the scenario that would be typical for our family! <sigh>

I was feeling sooo great....everything was working out so well for once.  Even the things that had been amiss were straightening themselves out.   We were finishing up with packing our bags and though it was late...around 2am...we figured that we could get a few hours of refreshing sleep and then wake up to a hot shower and breakfast and say a warm and calm goodbye to our children.

My daughter let out the dog before we headed for bed and my husband and I discussed the last few things to pack. 

Before my brain could catch up.....I noticed that my nose was sniffing the air.   "Hmmm,"  I thought..."someone must have hit a skunk" and then, within the next minute I leapt to my feet...."we've been sprayed!!!!" 

Now, remember that we live in the country....and please know that most of you will feel like you know what skunk smells like.  Most of you will feel like you have smelled "fresh" skunk because it really smelled bad when you drove by. 

Please hear me....you do *not* know what skunk truly and really smells like unless you or something right next to you has *just* been sprayed!!!!  It is like tear gas...or a strong petroleum chemical smell....it is out of this world bad!!!!!  It causes your eyes to water and an immediate reaction to put any material you can find up next to your nose to prevent the assault to your entire system. 

Yes, this has happened before to our family, when a family of skunks loved the idea of living under our house near the fireplace chimney but weren't so fond of our daughters practicing Victorian dance across the wood floor over their heads!

And, the smell lasted on us....and our clothes.....for WEEKS!!!!!  It was truly awful! 

So, when the skunk hit, I *knew* we had to get out of there or we would not be welcome on any plane, in any courtroom or in any foreign country!  The twins would wonder in disappointment, why their new family had to stink so bad! 

My husband and I sprang into action and I yelled to him to grab the luggage and get it into one of the bedrooms while we figured out if it sprayed the cars and would effectively hold us captive.

Nope, the cars were good, but our wonderful dog who had decided that we didn't let him back in fast enough, had decided to crawl under the fence and was now literally dripping with tears, drool, and skunk spray!

Our dreams of a beautiful, touching, and tear jerking goodbye.....all caught on camera.....had vanished into grabbing what we could, thrusting it into the van and trying to give our oldest daughters kisses without touching any other part of them, at the same time that they were bathing the dog in hydrogen peroxide/baking soda mixture and tomato juice. 

I was able to get a quick hug from one non-skunked little one

and then we rushed away feeling very unsettled and guilty for leaving our daughters to deal with such a stinky mess!

We did witness a beautiful sunrise that suggested the hope that things could get better

We left our area of northern California

And, headed for San Francisco! 

Which is where we are now....and I am blogging to help pass the time while we wait for our flight.  Next stop.....LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mary and Emily...we love and appreciate you and know that we OWE you one!!!!!