Quick pick

In order to upload a pic here, I need to wait till morning, shrink the pics by 25% and then hope I can get one at a time. Until next time, this is probably all I'm going to get to the site:



Badlands was great. Today we're doing something cool and a little unusual, which I will post about later. This is not exactly a 'do-nothing' day but it's our first more laid-back day so far. Right now, though, I have to go let the dogs out.

Matt

Busy day bad internet

So much to say, can't get a thing to upload. Don't have much planned for the morning, will try to post more then. A good day.

Matt

Morning

It's 6am local time and the old body clock is at work. I'm up before anyone else. It doesn't help that this far north the sun comes up pretty stinkin' early too. Actually, I like it. Reminds me of our trip to Mackinaw.

Yesterday morning I jogged around the Sioux City campground a few times - this is causing me problems now. At home on the treadmill I go slower but with more incline. Outside, at an RV park, things are pretty flat, so I had to increase my speed more than I am used to. Outside there's also no such thing as TemperShock Cushioning. Parts of my legs really hurt and are hard to move. Getting through the badlands today will require a strong dose of Ibu.

Random thoughts not covered in the last few posts.

Peoria is bigger than I thought.

Iowa has very cool and unique place names. Driving through the midwest can be pretty dull in that respect. So many recycled or plain old boring town names. But Iowa towns are like highway DIBELS nonsense words (shout out to my elementary education peeps).

The girls are really being challenging. Steph and I are trying so hard to not be harping on them, and to give them chances to succeed but they're just really pushing things and forcing our hands. I hope they can find their travel groove here soon.

People might be starting to wake up soon. Gotta go.

Matt

Fry Bread

Okay, here goes.

Greetings from our first official 'destination' - the Badlands of South Dakota. Tomorrow we'll explore Badlands National Park. The Badlands formations are really amazing - and especially since they seem to not belong there. Spires and rocks just jut out of the middle of the prairie and then stop randomly, like God was just learning how to use the 'terraform' tool. I am really looking forward to taking some walks and getting out into it all.

But to recap today:

Our drive was again uneventful. The morning shift was frighteningly quiet. We arrived here at the Badlands/White River KOA at around 3 or so local time (we're on Mountain time now) and let me tell you, this place is nice. Steph and I will discuss tonight, but it's definitely top 10 and might be top 5. Only about 5 miles away from the park but feels very secluded from the crowds there. Shaded. Level. Well-kept. Nice pool and wading pool for the little kids. Nice playground. And the "Kook House" is a unique touch.

You go into the main store, pay for your food, and then walk your order out to the little building where they will make you a Fry Bread specialty. Indian Tacos. You can argue the cultural worth of these things (and there is quite a controversy around the whole thing...) but you can't deny the deliciousness. Fried dough so thick you need a knife to cut through it all, seasoned beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, piled high. Or for dessert - cinnamon fry bread a la mode. Good night. I am trying to upload pics - not having much success:

Anyway, I love this campground. I'm looking forward to taking some nighttime walks around the grounds as well. Glad to not have to drive all day tomorrow.

Stick around - more adventures to come!

Matt

Day 3

Hey all - not much to say at this point - will hopefully post more later. Internet at the Badlands/White River KOA is spotty - the only downside of a nice, isolated location like this. Simply can NOT get a single pic to upload without the whole thing freezing up.

We're here for 3 nights, so hopefully the problem resolves itself a little bit so we can get more information out.

Matt

Fireworks are legal in South Dakota (Day 2) - pics added

And they are not legal in Iowa. Which means, for the uninitiated, that if you are in the legal fireworks state very close to the illegal state...and you happen to be there on the 4th of July...

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

Pics part 2 - main post below

In honor of Mari's problem...it just so happened that I managed to take like 3 pics in a row at Coney Island with people with mouths full of food - gross but funny. Enjoy:





And this one doesn't have chewed food, but a classic expression on Hannah's face.


Check in tomorrow night!

Matt

Day 1

A good first day!

Got up at 5:30 and I was literally dancing around the room to some dumb song on Q102 (Steph chooses the radio station) because the day was finally here.

We were PERFECT getting ready. Out the driveway exactly on time, loaded and hooked up with time to spare. The inverter worked like a charm, the battery is fine.

And out we went.

Driving the trailer for that long is not as easy as just driving a car, but it's not TOO bad. A little frustrating at first that you just can't go as fast as you want, but after a while your mind and body adjust and you fall into the groove. Passing slow trucks is a little stressful, it takes a while, but all in all you get used to it.

Stopped for lunch/fuel at a Pilot station in Covington, IN. First time pulling into a gas station with the trailer. Not too bad...had to back out but had plenty of room to do so - I am starting to understand the secrets to backing up with the trailer. Someday I might even be able to back into a space.

Fuel. Yeah. When the Suburban is towing, we can get about 225 or so miles per tank. That's it. It drops FAST.

Lunch on the road is a challenge - basically in the old days it would be a bit of a free-for-all in the RV with the slides in at a rest stop or gas station, everyone kind of jostling each other reaching for various food items. We decided a few days ago that adding the babies to that mix is just too much. So someone stays back in the Chevy and feeds the babies until someone else is done eating, then they take over so the first person can eat. Today it was me feeding the babies. Well worth the mess to not have to drag them in and out.

After lunch, the girls switched over to the RV and it's a good thing too because MARI PUKED!!! All over. If she had been in the Chevy that would have derailed the whole day - in the RV, my mom had a spare set of clothes, she could wipe everything up, bag up the nasty clothes, all without my dad having to stop the car. She's been fine since and all is well we think.

Pulled into the Galesburg East Holiday Best Trav-L-Park at around 3:30 local time. Or was it 2:30? Not sure exactly. Checked in, pulled in with no problem.

This is a very nice RV park. Steph and I have had a little project going, to rank our top 10 favorite RV parks we've stayed at. This one might make 9 or 10 - there's nothing particularly special about it, but it's all the little simple things that make it so nice. Really shaded, simple layout, level sites, clean pool, decent playground...and it probably helps that the temp never got above 80 degrees.

Girls played on the playground, twins crawled on the grass.

Got everyone set up and hooked up and headed out to Coney Island...a local hot dog establishment. Now this was probably not the best location to bring our particular crew. No high chairs, no frills...just really good hot dogs. Steph and mom took one for the team and held the twins while they ate and managed to feed them enough to keep them from screaming. It really was a neat little dive and we would have loved to go with fewer bodies to worry about...but it ended up okay.

Downtown Galesburg has some nice little areas...not all strip mall sprawl like so many places. Carl Sandberg's birthplace, a historic church...and they were having a dwontown street party in one neighborhood...again, with fewer people, on the 2003 trip for example, we totally would have stopped and looked around...but with 8 people stuffed into the Suburban...not this time.

Got back, had a pretty casual evening. Just about all the stuff is put away now. All in all, a really good first day, puke notwithstanding.

Here are a few pics:

Faith swinging, twins watching. Note the nicely maintained pool.


Mari on the big slide:


I love this one - you may have to click on it to get it full size for the real effect. Check out Steph saying a silent prayer for patience:


The girls in front of Coney Island - nice effect with us in the reflection.


Home for the night:


More to come soon!

The Journey Begins

We're up.

All is well again...

...battery is charging, fridge is on. The open road awaits us.

Thanks to all who have had any small part in us getting to this point.

Here goes nothing.

Matt