The original plan was to fly to Europe on August 1st, but because museum scheduling was still up in the air, and because Delta was having a great deal on transatlantic flights, we decided that the kids and I would drive back to Connecticut and fly out of JFK in New York. Because all of Ed's family was coming to Utah for a family reunion, we thought it might work to caravan back East with them, but despite our many efforts, and my mother's desire that I not drive with the kids alone, nothing seemed to come together. I decided that what I most wanted to do was to visit my old home and friends in Chicago, so I thanked everyone for their concern and set about making my own plan. Our departure date changed a number of times, but it didn't really matter. I did't have to be on the East coast until August 23rd for our flight, so everything until then was flexible. The third week of July we hosted all of Ed's family and had a wonderful visit with them. Then as they left for the family reunion, we left to start our drive.
We loaded our three duffel bags, one cooler, one bag of swim stuff, and six small daypacks into the car on Monday morning, July 27th, and set off at 8:30 am. The goal for the day was Casper, Wyoming, with a stop at Martin's Cove. However, I had had a bad cold for the five days previous, and woke up Monday with what I knew was a bad sinus infection. As I began driving out of town, I knew I would never make it if I tried to drive with that kind of headache and fatigue, and that I would probably kill some kids from irritation. So (forgive me, Dr. Ben), I drove to the Urgent Care to get some antibiotics. I don't think I realized just how overwhelmed I was until the nurse called me back and asked how I was doing. The tears started coming and as she checked me in I cried and cried as I told her what we were doing. She was so kind and just listened and sympathized. Then she filled in the doctor so when he came in the room he was ready to give me whatever I needed, plus an extra course of antibiotics just in case I get sick later during our travels. Then I drove to Macey's pharmacy and they were equally kind and helpful (and fast). So two hours later than planned, we were finally on the road, and I felt much more capable of the task ahead. And honestly, at that moment I was just so grateful to live where so many people are genuinely kind and compassionate.
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| Here are the kids playing in the doctor's office. |
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| Mary, however, had already gotten carsick from reading on her laptop driving around town, so she laid down on the floor in the doctor's office and stayed there until we left. |
Despite the fact that after we stopped at the doctor and the pharmacist we had to stop two more times for carsickness before we got to Heber, we finally got underway and began to move along at a reasonable speed. The drive each day went surprisingly well. Each child has her/his own electronic device: Abby and Joe have Ed's and my old iPads, Mary has our old laptop, and Linda and Isaac each got a new netbook. The plan has been that they will be able to do schoolwork and read books on these so we don't have to haul anything extra with us; also, Mary, Isaac and Linda will each have to keep a blog of their adventures. I have been only disappointed in the netbooks, and they seem to cause more trouble than they solve. Their wi-fi capabilities are weak, their Windows 8 system is buggy and frustrating, and they spend more time loading and updating than they do working correctly. As a result, Linda and Isaac were frequently whining to me and begging their siblings to let them use their devices. As a result, for the final day of the drive I stopped at Walmart and picked up a couple of cheap movies, bought a Weird Al album on iTunes, and burned some CDs of their favorite music. I also have been experimenting with Old Time Radio Shows, and those seem to capture their attention well.
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| This was when we were still in our own neighborhood. They were buckled in the car with screens turned on before I even had my shoes on. |
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| Joe hugging his iPad. |
All in all, the kids have been getting along much better than I thought they would, for which I am very grateful. Mary and Isaac are also being helpful, and they have all been mostly obedient. I'm sure that's due to my mom and my mother-in-law's prayers, because I know they were both unhappy that I was attempting this drive on my own.
Monday, Day 1: The kids wanted to drive straight on to the hotel instead of stopping at Martin's Cove, and I was somewhat tempted, since we had gotten a much later start than anticipated. But I figured that the next four months are going to be full of late starts and unexpected delays and opportunities to be tough, so we might as well start dealing with it on the first day. The kids complained (of course), but they really liked Martin's Cove (of course), and although the the hour we spent there didn't change their lives, they remembered enough of the stories of the handcart pioneers that they were able to make some connections and put things in context. Afterwards, we managed to arrive in Casper with enough time to find a Little Caesar's for some cheese pizza, then swim for an hour before bedtime, so everyone was happy.
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| It was very bright, and very windy. |
Tuesday, Day 2: I didn't realize our hotel didn't have free breakfast (or I wouldn't have booked it!), so we ended up at Denny's. We all had breakfast food except Isaac, who ordered "The Thing Burger" and loved it. I learned that except for Isaac, the other four kids could share two kid's meals and save $20, since we only ate half what we ordered. But the waitress complimented me on my well-behaved children, which made up somewhat for the cost of the meal.
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| Linda's chocolate chip pancakes |
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| Isaac's breakfast: "the Thing Burger" |
It was four hours from Casper to Mount Rushmore, and on the way we ran into the Prindle Bike Pile, a pseudo-sculpture of old bikes which likely began with some actual form but has since expanded into a literal pile of junk.
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| Of course, Abby cried because she couldn't take this bike home. She cries at almost every place we visit, because she can't buy or take something she has fallen in love with and can't live with out. |
Mount Rushmore was . . . fine. I would love to hike up to the top, but that's not an option. And really, you pay $11 for parking, walk through an outdoor colonnade, then stare at the mountain for a few minutes. After that, you're done.
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| These goofballs can't take a serious picture to save their lives. |
Also, the visitor's center was overrun by bikers from the Latin American Motorcycle Association, so after about an hour we headed into the town of Keystone for lunch. It was three days before the start of Sturgis, so there were bikers everywhere.
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| Yes, that's actually a real dog. He didn't seem bothered at all by his situation. |
We ate very bad Mexican food at 2:30 in the afternoon, so the restaurant was empty, then went to the hotel. It was a ridiculously small room, with two double beds and no room to even walk around them. At that point I had significantly less patience and good will than the day previous, so I put in my earplugs and told the kids not to bother me for 30 minutes while I took a nap. They watched tv and were quiet, and when I woke up, we got ready for the pool. Isaac discovered at that moment that his camera was missing, and I was the last one known to have it, when I took it from him in the restaurant to prevent it getting damaged. I was pretty upset, (especially since Joe lost his new camera weeks before we left, and we never found it) and told the kids that if Dad were here, he would tell me it happened because I was trying to be responsible for things that aren't my responsibility. And he's right. I felt bad also because Isaac hasn't been able to upload all his pictures, and they were gone forever. Isaac, however, comforted me and wisely said "It's okay, Mom. This is just one of those trials we have to face." It was a little funny, but mostly sweet because he was just trying to make me feel better. Of course, the next morning I found the camera in his backpack.
Wednesday, Day 3: Five hours to Sioux Falls, a stop chosen because it had a Marriott and a science museum. We arrived at three o'clock (thanks to the time change), and for the next two hours the kids wandered--alone--around the museum and entertained themselves. I tried to talk to them now and then, but it was as if they had completely tuned out, and now that they had some alone time, they were going to enjoy every second of it. It was a great place to stop for the afternoon.
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| All the kids have a backpack for day-tripping, but Joe is in love with his. He wouldn't take it off for the two hours we were at the museum. |
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| This is much more what Mary actually looks like than the Mt. Rushmore picture. |
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| I think Isaac stared at this marble run for at least 15 minutes without speaking. Amazing! |
The hotel pool that evening was a bit cold, and the kids wanted to go back to the room and watch tv, but when we finally left the pool there wasn't anything decent on to watch. So Isaac considered it the worst hotel ever. Cold pool and bad tv.
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| Their very first rodeo. Televised. |
Thursday, Day 4: The longest day yet--9 hours of driving time to Lake Villa, Illinois, about 45 minutes north of Chicago. My mom would be proud because I made good on a promise I made her: at about 1 pm I started to get really tired, so I pulled off the road and slept for 15 minutes while the kids watched a movie. After that I felt like a much safer driver. However, I made a regrettable tactical error when I made a long detour near Madison, WI to take the kids through one of the little towns I served in when I was on my mission. Mt. Horeb is known as the troll capital of the world because there are carved trolls all along Main Street and throughout the town, but it has changed a lot in the last twenty years. There was a street carnival on Main Street and a ton of traffic and an extra hour of driving for very few trolls. Oh well.
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| The highway through Minnesota was not smooth and felt eternal, but at least it had really good rest areas. |
Because we had all woken up so early, we still managed to arrive at the Hickson's in Lake Villa just before 6 pm. These were some of our best friends and neighbors when we lived in Madison Park apartments in Chicago, when Mary and Isaac were little. Jen and I spent nearly every day together taking care of kids and and our apartments and our student husbands. It was fun to get all the kids together again and see how they interact and how they've changed. Jen and I see the world in much the same way, and it was wonderful to sit and talk again like old times. They also have a pool in their backyard, so the kids went swimming after dinner and went to bed way way way too late.
Friday, Day 5: As a result, all the kids were fairly grumpy the next day, but that didn't keep them from being in the pool most of the day. Jen and I even got in for a couple hours in the afternoon and had a great time playing with the kids.
Saturday Day 6: The Hickson's were trying to pack to leave on a week-long camping trip that evening, so I tried to leave as early as possible in the morning. There was a very exciting (to the kids) garage sale next door, so it took us a little longer than planned. But we got on the road at 10 and headed into Chicago.
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