Traveling with the Munschs: Day 2-driving from 8 am to 6:30 pm

Today's post will likely be a bit random. I jotted down weird things in my journal to cover in tonight's post. And it was a random sort of day. Except for the constant of driving. All ever loving day. It doesn't even seem like the same day now as it was this morning.

We woke up to rain. And to a blinker that was out (but then magically fixed itself). Then we drove in rain and wind forever.

First thing this morning I thought I'd try out one of my pre-trip plans. I dreamed about how nice it would be to listen to a book series as a family. I envisioned mutual laughter and suspense and hours of listening. Today we made it through approximately 35 minutes of Narnia. I think if I can persuade the boys to listen some more, that they'll really enjoy it. Heck, if we listened to an hour a day we could be done by the time we get home. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

After Narnia, Jason and I made it our personal mission to find the best XM radio station (rest assured we did not pay for this service, but signed up for the free sixty day trial). Anyway, with all those stations we thought we'd have a tough time choosing. But in reality, there are like six stations we could tolerate. All we really wanted was Mix 97.3 without commercials and across the country. We ended up with The Blend, Hits 1, The 90's, 2k, Radio Disney, and Alt Rock. We were really hoping the Alt Rock thing would stick, but we kept flipping back to The Blend. Old habits die hard.

Meanwhile, in the back of the bus the boys were enthralled with Mary Poppins. They were completely quiet for three hours. THREE HOURS. None of that 90 minute Pixar stuff. What a great movie.

For lunch we pulled off I-90 at a "parking spot" and ate cold sandwiches in the camper. So, apparently there are not rest areas in Wyoming. At least not where we were at. And let me describe a "parking spot" to you. It has no amenities. Unless you consider pavement an amenity. No garbage cans. Nothing. Ours didn't even have a solid division between the interstate and the location. It was really just a little jut out on the interstate with a couple of lines dividing the two. Seemed legit. And super safe.

While we're on the subject of legit things on the interstate, I'd like to touch on "exits". There were some bizarre things going on. Like exits that could only be reached from one side of the interstate, veered sharply to the right, then turned into a dirt road ten feet later. Wha? Or exits that where just ninety degree turns into someone's yard. Convienent. Except you could only come into your driveway from the east and leave to the west. Weeiirrdd.

While I was not studying the exits I noticed several unfamiliar things. There were a lot of sheep. South Dakota does t have sheep like Wyoming. South Dakota also doesnt have a lot of permanent snow fence. Wyoming has miles and miles and miles of it. Who's maintaining this stuff?

Sometimes I would look up from a map or book and think, "are we even moving? I think I can run faster than this." It was a long day. But just when you thought you couldn't stand one more second something new or unusual would appear and suddenly the wind in your sail was restored. This renewal would also happen every time you ate something. Snacks really are magical.

You know what I thought would be magical and is really sort of terrifying? Driving in the clouds. Yikes.

Well, I'm exhausted from sitting on my butt all day. I really wish I had a bed outside, because that's where I want to be: in a bed and outside. We arrived at our campsite just in the nick of time-people were getting hangry. And by people I mean me. We had frozen pizza for supper and all is right with the world. It is amazingly beautiful at our campground.