Gassed Up and Headed Out

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it."

- Charles Dudley Warner

Kevin had meetings to attend in the morning before we could get on the road. This made for a semi-laid back morning. We're used to waking up before dawn to start traveling so it was nice to have some extra time to straighten up the house, prep the food we're bringing and, much to Kevbo's chagrin, pack more items ;)

The Vonder Meulens

The Hesses

We left by 2:26pm according to Chuck and this was unplanned perfect timing. We missed rush hour in all the cities we went through and were able to make it to Des Moines, Iowa, by midnight. This was probably pushing it but it set us up good for Saturday, so we'll have more time to spend in Sioux Falls. By the end of the night all the kids were curled up somewhere comfortably and Kev and I were listening to the soothing sounds of Tool to keep us awake.

But the trip was more than going from here to there, so here are a few moments we'd like to remember:

• As  I said, I packed my old CD case filled with movies, music, and I threw in a couple of Brian Regan CDs. These comedy routines were invaluable for two hours of our trip. Brian Regan is a funny guy, but probably what was more entertaining was all the belly laughter from the kids. If you ask them, I'm not sure if they could come up with a more hysterical person than Brian Regan. In fact, Louie may be dressing up like him for Halloween, he loves the guy so much. We also revisited Louie's 1st Birthday by listening to the soundtrack of LOUIE'S HOEDOWN -- thank you, Uncle Joe! 

• I cannot stress enough how nice it is for the kids not be on top of each other. Whether they're at the table coloring, watching a movie on the couch, or taking a nap on the bed it is easy for them to do their own thing without getting in each other's personal space. Because fistfights did breakout while traveling the van just for looking in a sibling's direction.  

• For one portion of the day's travels we swapped Benny for Ryan. Louie, Charlie, and Ryan entertained themselves for hours on end by attempting to get following cars to honk at them. They made signs like, "Honk if you like pizza!" and "Do you like the Astros?"

• It was nice to have the cabinets and fridge filled with snacks and drinks so we didn't have to stop, and when we did stop for gas we didn't have to buy anything there. The kids loved             eating Grandpa's specialty trail mix! We made sandwiches at home and had a picnic dinner       at the Krisdala Baka Rest Area on 74 in Illinois. It was great because it had plenty of picnic       tables and a playground for the kids. 

Kevin's amazing artistic shot !

• For those of you who are interested, we filled up in Reading Thursday night for $2.05. Saw that it was $2.15 in Indiana, then filled up for $2.07 in Illinois. When we stopped for the night in Des Moines it was $2.04. Feeling thankful that we didn't make this trip when gas was $4/gallon. Also, we're getting 7.5 miles to the gallon in this hog. 

•   Speaking of gas, as big as the RV is there's no escaping the gas that three boys make. Blech...