Beginning Mileage: 94,626

Official leaving time: 9:24 am

Official time “Are we there yet?” was first asked: 9:38 am

Our neighbor was kind enough to take our picture before we headed out on our first long trip without the journey van.

Things are a little more squishy in the minivan, but thankfully Scott is a practiced packer.  He pre-packed a week ago just to confirm what would make the final packing cut.  Things that had to be jettisoned: one bin of food, one bin full of snacks – snacks are stored in the consoles between the seats, four bins of clothes were pared down to two, the Dutch oven, and the bin full of toys – instead we brought two shovels as the only toy the kids played with with any regularity last summer was a shovel. Scott wants me to let everyone to know the kids are not deprived as we also brought some sidewalk chalk, a Frisbee, a slack line, a soccer ball, and two sand pails. The kids also each have a backpack full of books, coloring supplies, workbooks, and tiny toys.  Thankfully we have a stow-and-go van so some things are stored below each of the kids’ seats and where the back seat is normally located.  Also making their first appearance on this trip is Scott’s chuck box, a 100 quart – 5 day cooler, the movie player in the van, and my new road bike.

I added tape to my bag at the last minute as the kids always seem to need tape for some project.  Brooke first asked for the tape an hour into the trip and this is what she did with it. Cody was happily eating a snack of rice cakes and laughing at his silly sister.

We stopped for lunch just over the border at a rest stop in none other than Scott County, Iowa.

Since we have the minivan and all the bikes don’t fit on the roof (Scott had two roof rack carriers on the journey van) we have a bike rack on the back of the van.  We love the little bike rack.  In fact, Scott spent a year and a half looking for the bike rack on Craigslist.  When one popped up at a pawn shop in Rockford he called my friend Meghan and she was kind enough to venture into her first ever pawn shop to get it for us.  (This is a shameless plug for Meghan, but since I am writing and editing in it goes!  Meghan has been driving out from Rockford once a week or so since May to run with me through the hills of Veteran’s Acres.  She even removed a mosquito from my eye that accompanied me for about a mile before I decided he had to go. Now if that isn’t love I don’t know what is!)

Since we have the bike rack in the back and the minivan versus the journey van every meal is a little complicated.  It used to be that I could hop in the back of the journey van mid-journey and serve up some sandwiches or crackers and cheese.  Instead, now we have to take the bikes off of the bike rack, undo the canoe strap, and carefully pull off the large duffle bags of sleeping gear.  It isn’t that big of a deal, but definitely not quite as convenient as me hopping in the back en route.

We had a typical lunch of PB & J and turkey and cheese sandwiches with a little Gogurt on the side.  Cody created a new creation of jelly rolled up in turkey.  He is not a quick eater and he gobbled that up in moments so it must have been good.

Brooke took a few pictures at the rest stop.  Cody was working the first of many water spigots for this trip.

Ahh…  I just plugged myself into my music for the first time. While I love the adorable wee ones, one of them starts to act like a caged animal when we first start traveling.  It gets better with each day, but I am listening to one of my favorite songs right now to remind me to “Lay ‘Em Down”. “Lay Down” the little bits of tension creeping in, not the cuties.  Although a nap would be a very nice gift for everyone right now. The group that sings the song is appropriately named Need to Breathe. :-)  Thankfully our beautiful child pulled things back together again in under twenty minutes.

The next best thing to a nap is a Popular Mechanics for Kids Video.  Yeah!

A gallon of gas just over the border in Iowa is $3.35.  We just paid $3.69 a gallon in Illinois because we wouldn’t have made it all the way.

We stopped at the site of Jesse Jame’s gang’s first train robbery. Brooke wanted to know what they took and what eventually happened to them. Cody suggested that Jesse James was looking to take steering wheels from the train. Scott was in the middle of explaining that there are no steering wheels on trains when in true Up (the movie) style Cody excitedly shouted, “Look guys! There are animals over there!” We will have to address the lack of steering wheels on trains later…

The picture of Cody and Brooke with the Lake behind them is from our camp site at Lake Anita in Iowa.  The grass path led down to a four mile biking path.  Incredibly beautiful site.  The picture of Cody with his plaid shorts, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sweater, and Spiderman hat is definitely one of the pictures I will be sharing with his first serious girlfriend, just like my Aunt Wanda shared my fabulous satellite hair with Scott.  In all seriousness it became surprisingly cool once the sun went down.  No complaints though considering we arrived to 73 degrees, sun, and slightly windy weather.

We had a dinner of pork chops and shells and cheese. It was quite windy while putting up the tent so it was a team effort to get it up. The kids gathered fire wood while Scott cooked dinner. They headed out on a short bike ride while Scott and I enjoyed some wine, the birds chirping, and the sunset. Cody stopped riding his bike before Brooke, “I have to rest my legs. I’m so tired. Wait! I’ll go collect firewood. Wait! I forgot I can dig!” The shovels are yet again the preferred source of entertainment and my fears of Cody’s lack of ability to focus are renewed!

:-)

Brooke helped me set up the mats and sleeping bags in the tent and then promptly pummeled me when Scott wanted to take a picture.

Cody’s mouth is open in the picture with the fire because I prompted the picture with asking them to shout, “Fire!”  Scott has cultivated a fine sense of pyromania in both our children.  I, on the other hand, stay safely away while using the zoom on the camera. :-)

While looking for sticks and scattered downed firewood Scott found some wood that we had never seen out in the open: purple heart wood.

Brooke found a piece that looked like an owl on a branch.

Scott invited our camp neighbor to come enjoy our fire.  She happened to be a middle school social worker from Milwaukee on her way home from Wyoming and Colorado.  The kids had fun telling her all about our day and our previous adventure to Alaska.  At home we start the bedtime process at 7pm.  Last night we didn’t crawl into the tent until after 10:30.  The kids didn’t make a single attempt to be silly.  Everyone was asleep in a matter of moments.  It was perfect sleeping weather, even a little chilly, but the kids and I had hats on and were snuggled deep into our sleeping bags.