Saturday, April 20, 2019

Arizona TRIP

Spring break 2019. This is a big week for me and my wife. We are celebrating one year of being married. A lot has changed in the last year for the two of us. In fact, we didn't have jobs when we got married. I was a substitute teacher (that doesn't really count. Substitute teachers just sit there and don't get listened to.) and Lexi's company had just turned her position from full-time to part-time a month before we got married. She decided to move home from Utah and prepare for the wedding. She tried her darnedest to not worry about the fact she was marrying someone that makes $90 a day (and that's only if someone decides to get "sick") and was moving in with her in-laws.

We got married April 21, 2018. I was taking a class every Saturday and Wednesday for a teaching license. I had to ask for permission to miss my class because I was getting married. The instructors were skeptical because, come on, who makes up a wife to get out of a nine-hour class on a Saturday? They agreed to let me miss, but they gave me a makeup assignment in replace of the class. I said, "but that's not on the registry!"

We fast forward to today and my wife and I both have full-time jobs, our own apartment, a Costco card, and the cutest dog on the planet. His name is Harry. Short for Harry Caray. Shorter for Harry Caray Tagliaferri. 


In one year, we went from two idiots in love without much, to being two idiots in love with their dog and something to do during the day. And because of that, we are celebrating. We took a trip to Arizona to visit Lexi's family and just relax by the pool. There's nothing better than being around family and watching your father-in-law sing Old Man by Neil Young on karaoke.

But before we could get to that, we had to make the trek to Phoenix. If you've ever done the road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix, you know that it's the worst highway ever. Most of the highway is one way and there are only a few places with gas stations and service. As we are driving and eating our only meal of the day, doritos and pretzels, a light comes on. Not the light that comes on when you have your backpack on the passenger seat and it warns you to buckle up. A different light. It looked like the plumbing tunnels you pop out of in Super Mario.

Image result for malfunctioning light on fiat Related image

I told Lexi about it and she asked me what it was. I couldn't make up something to tell her. I was stumped. My car knowledge goes as far as knowing what side to pump gas on based on that little arrow on the fuel gauge. 
Image result for gas pump arrow fuel gauge

A few things happened in that moment. We were stranded, had our dog with us, not much water, no service, and then the car manual tells us that we should not be driving the car when this light is flashing. One of the rare moments where I get to break a rule. "don't drive" pshh, if I don't drive we will just be stranded. Is that what you want, Fiat? Didn't think so. So, we drive until we get service. We reach out to AAA and beg for them to help us out. They agreed to, but it was going to come at a cost.

We described our situation and asked if we could ride in the car with them. AAA has some rule that if it's convenient for the passengers and puppy to be in the truck with air conditioning that they make the passengers sit in the car being towed instead. We spoke with customer service and they said it would be okay for them to break one of their own rules (What are rules for anymore, anyway?). When our hero showed up to pick us up, he would not let us sit in the truck with him. What a bust.

Long story short....we made it to Arizona and we were hot and sweaty. As a matter of fact, when my father-in-law picked us up from the auto shop, Harry threw up on me (remember, Harry is our dog, not my father-in-law).

Our first anniversary was awesome because it was just life. Life is weird. Things are going as planned and then a dog throws up on you. When the dog throws up, you clean it up, and go on with your life. Dogs throw up and things happen. My life with my wife is amazing because we are happy and enjoy life, and when the dog throw up of life lands on us, we clean it up with a smile and forget it ever happened.

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