Are We There Yet??? And Other Questions Asked Over 6,000 Miles: A Day of Driving

June 16 - I knew this morning that today was going to be a long day. But this is what I signed up for, right? A lot of car time for the next 6 weeks. A lot of refereeing. A lot of thinking time and a lot of reflection. That's a good thing for an over-thinker, right?

I planned for days like today. I mean, I really tried to think of anything that would preoccupy the girls and thus, keep the peace. I Googled and Pinterested (these are verbs right?) anything I could find related to kids and car trips. Some things I did, others I knew better then to even attempt (like having a gift for the girls for each new state, or creating a binder all nicely organized with maps, games and other fun things - all things way, WAY, out of my skill set. Irregardless of skills, I just couldn't be bothered) and after 5 days on the road, they have utilized maybe 5 things each. Again, I have WAY over packed.

Some things we prepared for that have yet to be touched: A bunch of dry-erase markers of which I found on Pinterest telling me how much their kids played tic-tac-toe and colored on the windows. Fail: I have tinted windows. I also went and bought 2 new cookie trays because another thing I found online was that these are perfect to write on, color on, and use as an eating try. Fail: all food we have is finger food and the kids haven't colored or used it for anything. Folded, laminated maps of the US. Fail - I thought the girls would LOVE to see where we are and where we're going and possibly help alleviate that pesky question of "Are we almost there?". Turns out I'm the one that loves to look at maps, not my kids. And ironically, they must know how long 6 weeks is because they haven't asked that question once.

On long drives like today, the only thing worse then the gps telling me I had 648 miles to reach my destination, was watching my expected arrival time slip further and further in to the distance with every gas, pee and rest stop we took.

A little jump rope to get the blood flowing

Frisbee - fun for all

The girls were so tired after how hard they played yesterday that they zonked out for several hours - a huge win for everyone.

The driving through Wisconsin and Minnesota was relatively easy. But South Dakota unleashed it's winds among it's barren plains. It was so windy I thought for sure the bike rack would get blown off. As I called ahead to make my camping arrangements I was told that Wall, SD was having tornado warnings. Hmmmm, that could make for an interesting night.

Not much out there.

For as far as the eye can see.

As I was driving along South Dakota's notoriously over-signed highway I saw one that read: "1880 Town - Kids love it!" I checked out where it was on the map and with it shaving 60 miles off my drive tonight I figured it would be a great place to stop and maybe we'd check it out first thing in the morning.

Just .2 miles up the road was a great KOA campground that we have hunkered down in for the night. No tornado warnings and calm winds. Hoping to sleep well tonight (if I ever get off the computer).