Day 8

Since we left the grocery store last night in Ennis, Montana, we’ve driven another 524 miles. The kids mostly slept well in the car, which makes sense because they’re exhausted. Levi, though, tends to toss and turn when he’s asleep, so being strapped into a carseat is hard on him. Poor boy cries in his sleep without waking up. Stopping to take him out isn’t really an option, because we need to get to where we’re going so he can get out and stay out, but I feel terrible for the little guy. That really is a very long time to be sitting in one spot!

I drove until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more, and then I woke up Jeff. He took over and managed to make it to Spokane, where he found a grocery store, parked, and was out like a light. I woke up at about 4:30 and started driving, but like a couple of days ago, realized after about 45 minutes that I really wasn’t awake enough to drive safely. It was frustrating to stop again; we were only about an hour away from my mom’s farm, and I just wanted to get there and be done, but it’s better to get there alive (minor details, you know). A 30-minute nap on the side of the road and I was good to go. We pulled into the driveway at about 6:15 this morning.
All of the kids were thrilled to see Grandma, and even Lily, who hasn’t seen my mom in months, reached out for her. We unpacked all of our laundry and started the first of about ten or twelve loads, while my mom painted the girls’ toenails sparkly pink, much to their delight. Having a day to unwind and not have to be somewhere, doing something, is a much-needed break. My brother, his wife, and their two kids arrived from Michigan just an hour after we got here, so it’s been happy chaos here all day.

Today was also the perfect opportunity to clean out our van. Holy cow, there is a ton of stuff in there! After a week on the road, this was a great time to reassess what we’ve brought and what we really need, versus what did we throw in the van that we haven’t used and probably won’t at all. Jeff came up with an entire Army duffel bag of extraneous things, and we’re packing it up to ship back to our house from here. I’m going to box it and probably print the shipping label online, and then have my mom send it in a couple of weeks so it doesn’t sit on our front porch the whole time. Things we’re sending back include:
· Extra backpack child carrier (the hope was that Jeff could carry Levi on long walks, and I could carry Lily, but with a boot on my balance is off, so it’s just not safe. There’s no point in continuing to hope that that plan will work.)
· Andrew’s Scout uniform and some of his extra clothes from camp
· Books I brought to read that I’ve already finished
· Electronics, such as the boys’ cellphones, that we’re not using. We’ve been in so many places without cell coverage that we’re just using walkie-talkies.
· All 15-20 of our rechargeable batteries. At home, yes, we can recharge them. On the road it’s just not worth the time and hassle, and we can get 48 AAs, Kirkland Signature brand (Costco), for just ten bucks.

One of the ways we’re trying to keep the van clean is by having each child keep their things in a box. Before we left Dallas, I found containers that are just bigger than a notebook, maybe 10”x14-15”, and about 4-5” high. The lids are attached, so they open like a book. I bought one for each of the kids, labeled them with permanent marker, and told them that anything they wanted to take had to fit in that box. Aspen brought books and a couple of toys, Levi loaded his with board books and lots of cars, Kendra brought a story tablet, pencils, and books, along with Bananas the Monkey, and Jaden brought a Calvin & Hobbes book or two. Two or three times a day, at different stopping points, the kids spend two minutes getting things back into their boxes before we get out of the car. It’s really helped keep the mess to a manageable level.

Mom and Walter, my stepdad, took us all out for dinner and then bought the kids ice-cream cones at Mickey D’s. Since the farm is quite a ways from town, we’ve still logged over 100 miles today. Total including the drive here, 625 miles.