We Made It!

Well, 4 days and about 30 hours on the road later, we finally made it to our initial destination of Durango, Colorado.

New Mexico out the window.

Colorado out the window (much better than New Mexico)

Unfortunately for my back and tail bone, it's not our final destination but we will hang here for a few days enjoying the visit with Rick's brother, Vince, who lives here. We drove for about 9 hours today but with the time changes working on our favor, we had enough time to go with Vince and his friend Holly for a nice bike ride along the river and then enjoy a yummy meal at a local Mexican restaurant. By the time we were finished eating and walked back to Vince's place, we were starting to feel the toll from the long day we had had. But first, Vince had a pretty cool ride to show the kids.

I think we will have plenty of room in the truck on the way back because Reed is going to drive himself back.

Millie has not taken a nap in the truck while we have been driving but Reed has had no problems taking a nice long nap each day. Today he stared at his crayons until he put himself in a trace and passed out.

Wild Ride

We nearly left on time this morning. We were shooting for 6am but it was 6:13 before we pulled out of our cozy spot at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. We made it to the Oklahoma State line around 8am and that's about when things started slowing down. The interstate through Oklahoma was terrible. It was about the equivalent of riding a bike on a cobble stone road...for about 3 hours. If that wasn't bad enough, then the wind started picking up. And by picking up, I mean picking us up off the road! It was insane and we had to slow down. Our rig was a load in itself but adding a 35 mph head wind certainly didn't help. By the time we made it to the Texas state line, I thought I was going to die. The truck started really running hot so Rick slowed down even more to make sure that was not the end of the line for us. That helped a lot but it felt like forever before we got to our final destination for the day. I was never so happy to see Amarillo! Of course, I have never seen Amarillo but regardless, it was nice. The wind was blowing so hard at this point that we could barely see much of the land because the blowing dust.

We finally pulled in to our home sweet home, the Oasis RV Resort! All we could manage (we meaning the kids, my mom and I) was to run from the truck to the trailer while hanging on for dear life. I yelled, Aunt Em Aunt Em, let us in. Millie thought that was hilarious and then asked if were going to blow away to OZ. We were kind enough to let Rick take a sand blasting and get everything hooked up for us. I was hoping to go get some photos of the Cadillac Ranch which is just about a mile away from us but it was so dusty there was no way we could have walked out in the field. We did see it as we drove past so that will have to be good enough. We did see the World's Largest Cross on the way into Amarillo, largest according to them of course. I'm not sure of it's official standing as far as large crosses go but it was pretty darn big.

There is no logical reason that photo should be clear. I was on full zoom, through the truck windshield while bumping around so much I could barely keep the cross in the frame. I am truly amazed.

So now we are hunkered down for the night listening to and feeling the trailer shake around like the washer during it's spin cycle. I love that I will probably get car sick just sleeping tonight. That will make the 9 hour drive tomorrow really pleasant. The kids are in bed but I can hear them both singing. It is still pretty bright here because it's only 8pm but it's 9 at home and they got up early this morning. We have another full day of driving tomorrow and hopefully this wind will not be as crazy and we can get through the rest of Texas, New Mexico and on to Durango, CO with no problems. The kids are super excited to see Uncle Vince!

Shitter Was Full

Ellen: What are you looking at?

Clark: Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...

Eddie: Shitter was full.

Clark: Ah, yeah. You checked our shitters, honey?

My Stick's Bigger Than Yours

Today we let the kids play in the lake water. So far so good, they all seem healthy.

Here they are just before going in.

There they go. Wait, come back! There's still time to change your mind!

No one ever listens to me. As you can see, Reed had already fallen down and unfortunately he was in a little far and his whole head went under. I nearly fainted.

Millie was pushing this log around and it truly looked like an alligator from where mom and I were sitting in the shade.

Then they decided to have stick fights. So safe, I see this not going bad at all.

Then it looks like Reed and Rick were comparing sticks to see whose was bigger.

Later in the afternoon we went to a little class the park ranger put on about different kinds of fish. Millie thought it was going to be a little more festive and I don't think Reed ever did know why we were there but he sat there and listened like a good boy.

And we had time tonight for a fire so we had to have some s'mores. They are much easier to make in the microwave.

Our stay at Lake Dardanelle will end in the morning as we head on to Amarillo, TX. I wish we could explore Amarillo but we have to keep moving if we ever want to get to Colorado. So our next 2 days will be nothing but driving.

I did learn a few more RV tricks today. Pay attention because this is very important and may save your life. Do NOT EVER flush the toilet while the vent fan in the bathroom ceiling is on. Trust me, it will create an airflow that is in the opposite direction of what is ideal.

It Will NOT Kill You, It Will Only Make You Stronger

That's what I kept repeating, out loud for about 5 minutes as I stared at the shower in the camper and for the entire time I was in the shower. You know what, it didn't kill me, but I gagged the whole time. I have officially survived a full 24 hours of camper living. I washed breakfast dishes this morning and again, gagged the entire time I had to scoop soggy eggs out of the water because there wasn't a garbage disposal. You would think I was an worthless city girl but I'm NOT. I just have serious bathroom issues and anything involving water really.

There is a "nice" beach and swimming area here at the lake and the kids are dying to swim. I looked at Rick and he knew that was all him. Even if I weren't still healing from a surgery I had several months ago, there is no way I was going near that water with any part of my body. It causes my blood pressure to sky rocket just to think of the kids in the water because they are basically an extension of me. But that is when I will just keep repeating "It will NOT kill them, it will only make me stronger". But I will be thinking IT CAN KILL THEM, THEY WILL GET SOME WATER BACTERIA, CATCH E COLI AND DIE! Believe me, any of my high school friends that were in CYCLE with me will remember the Deam's Lake incident where everyone that swam in the lake spent the next 3 days puking all over the camp site, in the bathrooms and behind every tree. Now, I'm not saying this is where my fear of lake swimming and camp ground bathrooms came from, but it certainly didn't help any.

Wish me luck and keep praying for us. We have a long way to go.

Hook On Day

Yep, Hook On Day. That's what Reed proclaimed as he woke up this morning, and kept repeating all morning, and all afternoon and all evening. He calls trailers Hook Ons so he was pretty excited to get this trailer hooked on Rick's truck and get going on our trip.

Our goal was to leave at 5am but considering we had to clean the house before we left and make everything perfect in case anyone looked at while we were gone, it took a little longer and we were rolling out around 5:20am. The kids were absolute jabber boxes the entire way to Lake Dardanelle, Arkansas. Millie never slept and Reed slept about an hour of our 12 hours of driving. They never even watched a movie, Millie read, wrote in her journal and drew pictures in her sketch book. Reed did some coloring and played with some race cars and was just mostly silly keeping us entertained by talking and signing to us.

We finally made it and I am sitting here in our Hook On as I type this. The kids are sleeping in the bunks, my mom just went to bed and Rick is about ready to head outside to sleep in the hammock.

Our first day of travel was not entirely without incident. We had about a 30 minute stop to fix a panel that nearly blew off while we where driving. It's not on the way it should be but the hinge broke so Rick just screwed it in. And just in case anyone decides to do something like this in the future, here is the first in my series of RV tips...

1) Make sure the refrigerator door is latched tight before you leave or you may end up with your food all over the trailer. This in no way happened to us I just want to throw that out there as a friendly pointer.

2) When it comes to finding state parks, don't rely on your GPS. It may take you 9 miles out of the way to the wrong side of the lake.

Our New Home

It's brilliant really, not sure why we didn't think of it sooner. I mean, we move so often that this makes total sense. No? Well, I guess it will just be our home for the next 2 weeks then. Please pray for me as we take off with this monster to travel through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois maybe. We don't quite have our return route planned yet. This lack of precise planning goes against everything I stand for but since my life the past month has been totally consumed with our move to Indianapolis, this vacation kind of took a back seat and I have not thoroughly planned it out. Rick says "No worries, it will be fine, we don't need reservations." It gives me scary flashbacks of our last family adventure that I like to refer to as "30%".

We were going to leave today after lunch but Millie decided to wake up throwing up so we stayed home and will leave at 5am in the morning (as long as everyone keeps their supper down tonight). WARNING - I will have a house guest at the house while we are gone so if there are any crazies out there reading this, don't even think about it.

So please pray for us during these next 2 weeks...
Patience to put up with Rick's driving and keeping the kids entertained for about 6 days of driving.

Courage to be able to use the shower in the RV without totally freaking out and having a panic attack.

Safety for good weather so we don't have to dodge tornadoes while sleeping in a trailer.

Strength so that when all goes wrong, I don't walk out on Rick and fly home.

Blessings so that when Rick's brother moves into our house this weekend while we are gone that he doesn't turn it into a total bachelor pad.

And for the rest of this trip I will be referring to Rick as Eddie...

Oh, that uh, that there's an RV. Yeah, yeah, I borrowed it off a buddy of mine.

Yeah, it looks so nice parked in the driveway.

Yeah, it sure does. But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.

Lasts - Part 4 - Kindergarten

Millie's last day of Kindergarten. She has had a blast in Kindergarten this year even though she told me all the time she wishes it would be harder. I am really hoping the curriculum at her new school will be a little more challenging than Kindergarten was for her. If not, I will continue to have "Mommy School" at home so that she stays challenged and continues to learn new things.

She is going to miss being an Amherst Shark and I don't think the idea of being a Little Acorn has quit the same ring to it. She will be fine though and hopefully she will love her new school enough that she will be a proud Little Acorn.

At the bus stop with one of her best friends and neighbor.

There she goes :-(

Has it really been 9 months since these photos were taken on her first day to ride the bus?

Lasts - Part 3 - Pre Pre School

Reed's last day of school. This may be one of my hardest to say goodbye to. Millie started at Beaver Ridge when she was 1 1/2 years old. Exactly 1 day after I first heard the term "Mother's Day Out". I was desperate for a break and Beaver Ridge saved my sanity, this is NOT an exaggeration. She started in the 1 year old room and graduated from their Preschool program when she was 4 to move on to Kindergarten this year. Reed began in the 1 year old room as well but only made it to the 2 year old room and now we have to leave. I have him signed up for a preschool in Westfield and I am sure we will be happy there as well but it is still hard to say goodbye to Beaver Ridge, we have always been very happy there and the teachers and staff really love Reed. There were many tears today as he went around and said goodbye to them all.

His favorite thing to do while wearing his favorite shirt!

We 'heart' Beaver Ridge!

Reed will miss his teacher as well.

Lasts - Part 2 - Tennis

Ahhh, Millie's last tennis lesson at Cedar Bluff Racquet Club yesterday. I am very glad I decided to sign her up for tennis lessons last March because she has done such a fantastic job. It's my favorite sport to watch her play by a long shot so I really hope she sticks with it. I have to mix a few different sports in here and there so she doesn't want to quit tennis. I think I love the 1 on 1 aspect of it, it's very thrilling watching her play and I love the quiet atmosphere although it's very hard to keep my mouth shut when she's doing great. I guess I have an inner cheerleader in me somewhere, way way down deep.

Lasts - Part 1 - Little Gym

It's really starting to set in that we are moving. Reed had his last Little Gym class today. I have been going to The Little Gym every week for about 5 years. We started with Millie and when she was old enough to start playing other sports, Reed began going. It's hard to believe we have lived in Knoxville for a little over 5 years. If anyone is keeping track, the only place I have lived longer than that is Floyd Knobs. So of all the places I/we have lived (Evansville, Illinois, Greenfield, Evansville again) Knoxville is the only place that has felt like home other than Floyd Knobs. Blah, blah, blah...so back to The Little Gym...

This looks like he's eating bubbles...well, he is.

So proud of his medal.

Field Day

Millie had her class field day last week and I was very excited to find out it was on a Tuesday. Since Reed has school on Tuesdays, I was able to go.

This was an obstacle course where they had to do several different things.

Looks like Millie's teacher was giving her a pep talk.

She was ready to get set for the Hip-pity Hop. This is the only event I heard her talk about before field day, I was beginning to think it was the only one she was doing.

She flew on the roller race!

Ready for the relay.

Volley Bop

Cutie!

I thought it was interesting observing how each kid approached these events. Although they were not really 'races' because there were no winners, some kids took it very seriously and were in it to win. Some just enjoyed it and were being silly entertaining all the parents who were watching. Others didn't really seem to know what was going on at all and didn't really want to be there. I'll give you 1 guess which category Millie fell in.