Here's the best way I can describe it. Imagine your typical small-town festival fireworks grand finale.
Now imagine that volume of fireworks going up from every house in a small suburban subdivision.
Now imagine it going on for over 2 hours. We're talking a small armory.
And now imagine that the subdivision is right across the street.
It's gonna be a long night. Amazingly the babies are sleeping through this but it's only a matter of time.
I'll post a video here, but this is a poor representation. Literally every time I turn the camcorder on the spectacle dies down.
Had a very rough night getting to sleep last night - I remember being very uneasy and anxious on the 2007 trip until about the 4th night, until the rhythm of life on the road sunk in. So I expect those restless nights for a while.
Today was an uneventful (aka boring) day. Got up to unhook in a fairly major downpour, and headed west. Grey, dreary, rainy weather pretty much the whole way. Iowa is more like Kansas than Kansas is. More fun trying to fuel up the Chevy in regular gas stations...ended up having to turn around in some Industrial parking lot in Urbandale twice. In fact, the most interesting thing that happened en route was Faith literally howling in agony...because her foot fell asleep. That's our daughter. Drama queen? Try drama goddess. Anyway, her bout of "spikey foot" (that's what she calls it) ended without any amputations.
Meanwhile, Steph is catching up on naps during the drive. Lots of naps. =) We're at the Sioux City North KOA. Yeah. Steph and I actually did compile our top ten list in the car today during one of her awake periods, and...this one won't be on it. It's not bad, but there's nothing good about it either. But, we did manage to meet up with the Towners for the big Specter Family Blog/Team Towner Crossover Event. I'm going to step aside and let Steph post about that now.
Here she is:
We were so excited that the Towners agreed to come out from suburban Sioux City, IA to North Sioux City, SD to spend the evening with us! Gina and I were in the band together at XU and became fast friends when we discovered that we were both language majors (she was French) and both wanted to teach our languages. I'm pleased that we have remained friends even after she and her husband Cliff, who is a band director, moved to IA. Now, Cliff and Gina have two kids, Laura who is 3 months older than Mari, and Nathan who is 2 months older than the twins. Nathan and Laura are so so cute and sweet. We'd met Laura once before when the Towners were visiting Cincy but it was our first time to meet Nathan. It was neat for me to watch Faith, Mari and Laura play together this evening and to see how similar Nathan and the twins are developmentally. It was a special treat for Robby to be able to "play" with another boy! ;-) So we grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs (special thanks to Zayde who did the grill work) and got to catch up. I'm so excited for the Towners as they embark on the adventure of moving their family to Lincoln, NE so that Cliff can finish up his doctorate full-time at the University of Nebraska. Go 'Huskers!
Wanted to add one more thing to Matt's comments about the fireworks. Our poor pup, Salsa, is one unhappy chica about these fireworks. When we were outside hanging with the Towners, she was freaking out inside because of the noise. Poor thing. She's better now that I'm in with her. The thing is, she's 9 years old now. That's not old, especially for a small dog. But she's certainly not getting younger and the cataracts in her eyes have really started affecting her eyesight. She sometimes doesn't see FOOD (her FAVORITE thing) right in front of her face. Poor thing. She really needed some puppy valium tonight. And Mambo who literally barks at moving blades of grass hasn't "said" a word.
Matt here again - FYI the fireworks are dying down. It is so smoky outside I can't see the other end of the KOA. Tomorrow we finally make it to our first real destination. Tune in to see where we are!
Pics of the day:
Baby zone (Nathan, Hannah, Robby):
Big girls (Faith, Laura, Mari):
A little bit of South Carolina in South Dakota:
Bud has an idea:
Salsa wonders what is going on:
Matt
