Our first full day on the road

“And, Lord, thank you for getting us safely to Indonesia.  Are we in Indonesia, Mom?”

  “Indiana.”

  “OK. Indiana.  Amen.”

And so the Tiday’s have begun their journey across the United States.  What an adventure!

  We left home at 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday the 29th after getting both kids home from camp.  The camper is packed with room to spare but very little excess.  Everyone has met their quota of 5-6 shirts, 3 shorts, 1 bathing suit, half a towel, etc., etc. Care has been arranged for all living beings we have left behind and we are heading west.

  As we drove through a bad storm last night our side door decided that it would beep incessantly.  We just couldn’t convince it that it was shut and locked.  Added to the incredible lightening and  strong winds, I was a pretty tense driver.  Thankfully that was only for an hour of my five.  The camper handles really nicely and is a joy to drive.

  Nate and I decided that if we remembered 85% of the stuff we need, that would be pretty good.  Figuring that we brought 100 items, we are keeping track of all we notice that we are missing.  So far we have left 3% behind in Carlisle: the first two movies of Lord of the Rings, an extension cord,  and our 2 rolls of quarters.

Luke and Gabe have been awesome travelers.  Luke has an office set up in the back of the camper where he sits editing videos and writing rap songs.  He says that the camper is a lousy recording studio and has asked for some additional computer time to do recording when we stop.  

Gabe has listened to/sung the musical Godspell about 4 times straight through while playing various games or editing photography.  He got some good bird pics at a rest stop during breakfast.  He is gearing up to play me in checkers as soon as I finish this entry.

We have about 40 total hours of driving before we reach our destination in Arizona.  With 15 hours under our belt we are getting used to our home away from home and enjoying the change from the usual routine.  Ahead of me I see a huge twin bridge as we cross into Missouri, our destination for our second night.  Instead of sleeping in the back while Nate drives (I was bounced into the air repeatedly last night, but the kids slept like babies), we are visiting Aunt Grace and Uncle Troy in Springfield.  Delightful!