Sundowner West RV Park / Salina

96-site campground right off I70, with a fishing pond and swimming pool.

Here I thought this was just going to be one of those monotonous long-driving days, but then the cap on my front tooth fell off into my sandwich and I almost ate it. I looked like a Halloween pumpkin. This was the cap from the tooth that had been knocked out on our 2001 cross country trip (see Olympic National Park for the gory details). Why does this always have to happen to me when I am thousands of miles away from my dentist? This was horrible. I dug through the lettuce and tomato, wiped the mayo off, and shoved the cap back on to that disgusting little stump. That lasted for about 10 seconds.

The kids were trying their hardest not to laugh, but not doing a very good job at it. They were dying to see what I looked like, but I clamped my mouth shut and ran into the bathroom. I just couldn’t make it stay on. I tried to call my dentist back home, but he was on vacation—Kansas, I hoped? No such luck. I was going to have to deal with this on my own. Then it came to me like an epiphany—a Wal-mart Pharmacy would probably have something to glue it back in with. I’m sure lots of people with dentures shop at Wal-mart.

We were planning to stop at a Wal-mart anyway that day. My nephew was getting married two days after we got home, so the kids needed to buy some shirts and ties for the wedding. When we got to the Wal-mart, I shoved the cap on my stump and proceeded to talk like a very bad ventriloquist. Once in the store, the boys made a bee-line for the electronics section and I went to the Pharmacy where a helpful employee helped me find some temporary dental glue. Thank god. As I met the boys in the clothing department, my cell phone rang. It was my mother from back home. She said something funny and as I laughed, my tooth flew out of my mouth and rolled under a rack of clothes. I clamped my hand over the phone and yelled at Andrew to find my tooth. I must admit, this was a trip low point—“Toothless in Salina” (it sounded like a movie). Andrew moved faster than I have ever seen him move before and retrieved my tooth. I dusted it off, shoved it back on, and told the kids to hurry it up. I just wanted to get back to the RV and glue my stupid tooth in.

Tooth back in place, I was ready to continue our journey home. The kids kept laughing every time they looked at me. They thought that today would be remembered as a trip highlight. I don’t think so.

We pulled into a nice campground right off I70 around 8:00 that night, just in time to watch them close up the pool. Too bad—it was still really hot out. Tom and Andrew fished in the campground pond, while I made a quick dinner. The whole time I ate, I kept checking the status of my tooth after each bite. So far so good. Only 4 more days to go.