Day 2: Lisbon to Madrid

We didn't switch our clocks, since European countries tend to run later in the day than America.  So we decided we'd just run off island time and that way keeping the boys up until 9 or 10pm local European time wouldn't be a big deal.  

We left Lisbon a bit later than planned, just because of the sheer mass of stuff we have to haul in and out of each place we stay.  In a few of these locations we are staying in the heart of the city, which means our van should be emptied of any temptation, and while nothing in it may look all that tempting just the amount in it could prove temptation enough for a smash and grab. 

The trip should have taken us about 5 1/2 hours, but alas, road trips come with surprises.  All sorts.  But before we discuss the surprises we'll take a look at some pics of the drive.    Hover your mouse over the image to get the description

wowie!

beautiful bridge we crossed leaving Lisboa

check this!

So, we mulled for HOURS about how to install some sort of convenient, removable, low profile dvd player holder for the van, since we don't have those neato fangled built in players.  We were both sitting there in our driveway in the middle seats and Josh took the board we'd been brainstorming with it and shoved it inbetween the front seats while saying, "I mean, if we could just build something that would fit right heeee...........HEY!"  And it works brilliantly.  A couple circles of industrial strength velcro and we are in business!  the board is easy peasy to yoink out when not needed and last night I installed a sweet white trash speaker system, with cheapo computer speakers that we've been using as an ipod plug in stereo system for a couple years.  You can see that there up along the middle panel that runs along the ceiling.  The speakers are zip tied to rope lights that run inside the panel and then velcro attached to the panel.  :)  I am quite pleased with it.  It's now loud enough for them to hear and we don't have to hear as much in the front seat.

no bigs. Just a real deal castle!

We saw FOUR castles today!  Like, for reals castles

so brown!

we've grown SO accustomed to Terceira and it's perpetual greenness.  All this brown seems so strange!

doubles as a lunch prep table

we stopped at a gas station for lunch, which was prepared with the hoards of food I packed in the stow away compartments that the middle seats fold down into. We have at least a weeks worth of food in these.  Chips, tuna, sandwich stuff, spagetti stuff, crackers.....

I was giddy with excitement that our cooler fit perfectly between our two front seats once we took the console out.

first attempted van naptime

Elijah, Judah Joel - 1

Parents - 0

so crazy!

The first surprise was a blown out tire.  A big ol hole blown out.  NO idea what we hit, was it was a gonner.  It happened right before an on ramp, which was our only option for a place to pull over so I got out and directed traffic away from us while Josh cranked and changed our front driverside tired to the spare donut in 103 degree heat.  

The second surprise came when we arrived at our destination.  We found that a misunderstanding in the translation meant that the office where we were to get our key was not in fact at the same address, but 10 minutes away.  So back out into the post-siesta traffic we went.  We found the office, got the key and came back with just enough to run everything (and we've got a LOT of junk in that trunk!) upstairs before Josh needed to dart out the door to try and catch a mechanic that the apartment office guy had given him the address to (thank you, Jesus, for TomTom gps!).  He got us unloaded in the apartment and began slapping pockets to be sure he had everything he needed before heading out.  We had to update our cell phones to roaming and then he pulled his wallet out for whatever reason only to find that he'd left his credit card with the office guy.  *breath*  I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how to light the stove and I could hear his whispered hissing, "OH no!  SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT" over the boys watching a spanish dubbed Spongebob blaring on the tv.    He explained the situation to me and left in a whirlwind after apologizing several times and giving me really sad eyes.  There was no sign of a wifi router, no way to cool the apartment which I'm guessing is sitting at about 90 degrees.  No breeze to come through the screenless, low lying windows that drop down 6 stories, no way to get ahold of the guy with our credit card and no way to know if we'd be getting a new tire at 9:00 local time on a Saturday night.  The boys and I stopped and prayed and then I fought to keep my cool with them as tension was high and things were heating up inside the apartment, literally.    But God is good.  All the time!

I got the boys to bed, all dressed in just underwear, put the iPod in the teeny living room on the table and turned it all the way up so all the boys could hear it from their seperate sleeping spaces.  Luke had been sleeping soundly before I sent Elijah to bed, but once the iPod had been pulled out of his room, where he is almost literally baking in his tent as I write this, he woke up and remains away.  That was an hour and a half ago.  I'm not sure what to do with him, but considering taking a cool shower with him since he's a dripping ball of sweat in there.  The poor little guy.  

On that note, I think I will go do just that.  He's just not calming down.  God is faithful and provides.  This all has really brought to my attention my dependence on circumstances to feel.....happy.  It's been an uncomfortable situation to say that least, and the temp inside this apartment has only compounded the issue.   I've been praying my way through the evening, trying desperately to keep at the forefront who is sufficient!  And it's NOT air conditioning, or even a tiny breeze to cool things.  Only Christ.

Blessings!

Addendum, by Josh:
What a day! Despite a flat tire and arriving in Madrid with said flat tire at 8:30pm on a SATURDAY, and then leaving my credit card at the check in office(BONEHEAD!), God is good!
I dropped Bek and the boys off in a sweltering downtown apartment(note to self- ensure future Airbnb rentals have AC), and drove like a madman 20 minutes away to a store that the office clerk had suggested might be able to replace my tire(thank God for GPS!!). I arrived 30 minutes before closing(what? a mechanic shop open until 10pm on a Saturday?) and in my broken High School Level 2 Spanish explained my plight(Nececitamos ir a Barcelona manana, pero tengo un pneumatico con [insert tire exploding hand motions].  Nececito un pneumatico novo. Tienes? Instalar este dia?

By Gods grace, not only did they have two tires that fit, but they installed them both in about 20 minutes, and the store was having a sale- second tire 80% off!

A few months ago I was sitting with a mentor of mine, marvelling at God's small mercies- the things that non-believers might look at as chance or good luck. My mentor looked across the table at me and said: "God loves you, Josh!".  It struck me how that simple truth can get swallowed up in other details, how little I consider or acknowledge the vast love of God and how He chooses to manifest that love in big(think the cross) and small(as in, Madrid tire company changing my tires at 10pm on  Saturday for less than it would have cost in the states) ways.
In addition, when I arrived back at the room I was able to contact the office clerk, and he'll have my card for us tomorrow on the way out of town.
I sang as a drove back to the apartment:
Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade.

To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

Tomorrow is a new day for us to see our Creator revealed all around us!

josh