Writer's Workshop: OMG...It's On FIRE!!!!

Writer's Workshop day! My MIL has returned home, so our days aren't as busy for awhile.

So, on to writer's workshop. I chose the prompt Share A Memorable Road Trip Story. So, here goes.

One fine Thanksgiving, my mother's (now ex) boyfriend was given the opportunity to use a vacation home of his boss that he had built for him on Roosevelt Lake in Roosevelt, AZ. This trip was with quite a large group of people. More people than we'd ever taken on a trip at once. It included myself, my two younger brothers, my mother's boyfriend's son, Andrew, and daughter, Nicole and one of the son's friends. A total of 8. My mother's boyfriend found, and purchased a motor home for 800 bucks. This would be the only trip it would make.

We got the lake and spent 4 wonderful days in a hot tub that seemed to like to produce only bubbles. We stayed up way too late watching scary movies. Nicole and I took several walks to the tiny gas station to buy egg nog and funyuns. Nicole, Andrew and I squeezed ourselves into one bed, as was usually a tradition for the three of us, to sleep and stay up laughing late into the night. Now that Andrew is gone, those are actually some of my favorite memories of him.

We had a really great Thanksgiving at a large table laughing, taking pictures and sharing memories. Nicole and I totally ruined the deviled eggs, but everyone ate them like they were the best things they'd ever put in their mouth. Later that night, Andrew, Nicole and I stood in the driveway looking at the moon through the telescope and talking in the motor home.

Two days later, we packed up and started the two hour journey back to Phoenix to return my brother and I to our homes, and so my mother and her boyfriend could make the the 4 hour journey back up the mountain. About little more than 45 minutes into our journey, Andrew looked up from the book he was reading and said, "Do you smell smoke?" We pulled over to the side of the highway. My mother's boyfriend pulled the casing from the engine off of the motor since it was between the passenger and driver's seats, and looked at it. We all sat huddled on the seat in the back of the motor home and watched while he peered at it. And then, it happened. It burst into flames. It wasn't like a tiny spark, it just POOF, lit up on fire. We all freaked out and ran towards the door. A cop had pulled over to see it happen and grabbed and extinguisher from his car and ran to spray the fire, but ended up spraying my mom in the face instead. After she got out of the way, he was able to put the fire out completely. After another hour on the side of the road, all it needed was a little gas, and we were able to get back home without incident. The motor home made it back to Show Low, were it promptly died, never to be started again.

So, lesson learned? Do not buy a motor for $800. It will most likely burst into flames and cause police to spray you in the face with extinguishers.