We split this morning at 6 a.m., and the girls did their sleeping routine while I finished listening to the last of my The Moth podcasts and caught up on my This American Life Podcasts. (Great! Now what will I listen to during grown-up iPod time this trip?)It was another day of getting miles under our belt. Our goal this trip is the East Coast, so we opted not to dilly dally through our Western travels. The plan seems to be working. We picnic breakfasted in Rock Springs, Wyoming, then had a picnic lunch in Optimist Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Our Librivox entertainment of the day was “Understood Betsy,” which we all greatly enjoyed.
We were headed for Buffalo Bill Historic Park near North Platte, NE for the night, but the exit at Kimball, NE called me. I pulled off to give some friends nearby a call – maybe they could meet us in Sidney for dinner, I thought. But there was no onramp to get back on the interstate there anyway, so it became readily apparent that we were just meant to drop in on this rural family. It’s not often people just SWING BY their house, particularly out-of-towners. Their place is quite far off the beaten path, but the girls agreed they’d rather stop short today to visit, and then pay the price tomorrow with a longer drive then.
We were rewarded with nice company and a fantastic lightning storm; among the most spectacular I’ve ever seen. E learned what it was like to have an intense wind come up while she was attempting to escape into the house. The screen door ripped out of her hands twice while she was trying to get back inside. “Now I know what they mean when I read in books that the door wouldn’t close!”
Very, very, VERY cool ... I'm jealous and must live vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteWe did a similar cross-country trip a few years ago ... drove from San Diego, CA to Toronto, Canada to Boston, MA to Greenville, SC to Phoenix, AZ and back to San Diego in three weeks time. The kicker was that we did the drive with our three-year-old triplets and 11 (turned 12 while on the road)-month baby. It was AWESOME. We loved it. And since then, I've many a time entertained the thought of selling off everything, taking the kids out of traditional school and hitting the road for a couple years. It would take at least that much time to see it the way *I* want to see it!
There is so much to see and do and learn in this country. Truly a classroom surrounds you wherever you go.
Enjoy yourself and be safe! :)
Thanks for the nice comment, Trips! How you could have done that trip in only three weeks I don't know! I feel like this trip, at 10-11 weeks, is far too fast. We're working on slowing down and cutting out some of our previously scheduled stops so we can enjoy more fully the stops we do make. Then again, we don't know WHAT we'll cut out! SO MUCH to see and do here! :)
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