I Will Never Look At Walmart the Same Way

This story just can't go unwritten.

Picture this: Me, 4 1/2 months pregnant, sleeping in the back seat of a truck with
1.- 90 degree weather, 2) An anxious 50 pound dog, 3:) My sweet husband (Sleeping in the front seat) 4) in a Walmart parking lot. Yes. The above said is true. Couldn't be possible, right? Oh...well it was and is.

It started out with my husband who loves to camp. While traveling to Texas, I told him we had to take it in two days. I'm pregnant after all, and the dog couldn't handle the 16 hour drive either. Being frugal and a camper, he suggested, "Why don't we just camp along the way?" I asked, "Where?" He stated, "Oh...we'll find a place, any national forest will do."

I was a little hesitant but decided to be open to new ideas. I'm a planner. So NOT having a plan spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R to me. But my husband does this type of thing all the time with work, so I was sure it would work.

We had a late start to our road trip and landed at our stopping point at 11:30 p.m. By now, my husband says, "Maybe we should get a hotel." (There were dog friendly hotels in this little town).

I sing his praises with thanks and run into the nearest hotel to book ourselves a room. Mind you, this is a small town. So getting a room last minute should be fine.

I race into the hotel and ask for a dog friendly room. The manager looks up from his computer screen. He seems a little high on something, but I can't be sure. He says, "Um...well...we may have one room, but it won't be clean and you will have no keys to get into it. I'm the only one with a master key."

Um...okay. Really? We scratched that sketchy deal off our lists. Luckily there was a dog friendly hotel next door.

I raced into its headquarters and the lady says, "We're all booked up." I wonder why and then look at their marquee which says, "Welcome to the UFO festival." The UFO what? Oh my.

I knew we were in trouble.

We decide that camping it would be. However, low and behold, camp sights were few and far between. So-I suggested the ultimate desperate thing to do. "There's always Walmart. They let you stay overnight in their parking lot."

We soon found ourselves amongst many other campers. All if which had a motor home or trailer. We didn't feel like setting up a tent in the pavement, so we slept in the truck. Yep.

Poor Annie was stuck in that car for another 8 hours. Ha Ha! She was hoping to get out for good.

I wish I had a camera and video for the next events that took place. Amongst all our bags and supplies for the trip, I crawled over them to get to my "bed" I made sure the hubs rolled down the window to get some air.

As I lay there praying for some sleep, I hear Dave trying to get Annie to sleep on the passengers side of the truck, (Where my feet would go). It was quite the scene. I started laughing hysterically. I have never laughed so hard. It got to the point that tears were streaming down my face from my laughter. Dave said, "You always laugh at the worst times."

My tears of laughter soon turned into real tears of desperation. I was tired, hot, and in a pickle. Shortly thereafter sobs turned into more extreme laughter. Oh...it was a sight.

We finally tried to get settled and I woke up at 1 am. I had to use the facilities. Dave looked up and said, "WalMart's closed." What? I did what any pregnant girl would do. (I'll let you decide what that was."

I finally got back to sleep and woke up at 4. Dave was still wrestling with Annie in the front seat. She took his pillow and he had to sleep sitting up, with the steering will to boot.

I pled, "Can't we just keep driving." No...came his reply.

I had him unroll the back window to get more air. I must have needed some stretching because I woke up to my foot hanging out that window. :)

I asked how Dave slept. He said "Not so good." He explained that Annie was trying to escape out the back window. It was so funny---now that we have passed it.

Pulling away from the parking lot, I stated, "And that's why we need to plan in advance." Dave mumbled under his breath and he knew I was right.

We did enjoy our week stay in Texas. Very relaxing.

When the time came to head back to Utah, we decided that the best thing to do was drive 16 hours to Utah, in a straight shot. No messing with hotels, parking lots, or camp sights. We had enough of those experiences to have our fill.

16 hours in the car beats spending the night in Walmart parking lot. Trust me, I know.