Day 5

We started today in Sidney, Nebraska. Not too far out of town we saw a random coyote in a field, which was fun. That’s the second I’ve seen this trip (I think I forgot to mention the one in Kansas). The landscape around this part of Nebraska is beautiful in a rugged way. Very “out west” feeling. We saw a lot of trains, which Josh loved, of course.

This part of the west and the plains make me think of the trip John and I took to Montana in 2008 to interview at a church there. We didn’t take the job because we didn’t feel like that was the church for us (nor were we the couple they needed), but still…I love this part of the country and so does John, and we loved the people at that church, so everytime I’m somewhere that looks like Eastern Montana I feel this weird combination of excitement at what it would be like to move out there, maybe a hint of regret that we didn’t when we had the chance, and eventually the knowledge that God intentionally didn’t send us out there, so it’s okay we aren’t there. It is beautiful country, though.

I made a note in my notebook that we’d seen six antelope, but honestly, we’ve seen at least thirty more since then, so I’m not going to keep an exact antelope count anymore. Haha. I did see one with antlers, standing on the top of a hill looking very “king of the mountain.”

The landscape out here is made of rough, tufty grass, low bushes, and grey rock. Something about uninviting, rugged land looks like home to me. Maybe it’s my love for Alaska, which is gorgeous, breathtaking, and inhospitable all at the same time?

The tall grass here really did look like ocean waves. I followed the wind while it blew through the tops of the grass and it waved in the sun. It was really cool looking. It’s just something I’m sure I’ve heard described, but I didn’t realize how accurate the description was before and I certainly didn’t realize something so mundane as grass could be so beautiful.

I’d like to tell you that the way I was able to enjoy the sight of that waving grass was an indication that I was a happy traveler this morning, but honestly I was started to get a bit grumpy at our lack of progress. One particular stretch that should have taken an hour and a half took us two  and a half hours, and while I know that traveling is different with kids, we’ve traveled with them before, so this just seemed extreme to me. Even though we can’t catch the ferry until a certain date, I just somehow felt the need to hurry.

I feel that a lot, I’ve realized.

When we saw a sign for “the best coffee you’ve ever tasted” I think we took it as a bit of a challenge. Like, we had to try this coffee and see if they were anywhere close to correct in their boasting. We needed gas anyway, so we pulled off the road in Laramie, Wyoming. The coffee shop wasn’t near the interstate, which made me cringe a little because we just don’t explore towns. We pull over, we get what we need, we leave. The end. But my dad drove to the coffee shop, Coal Creek Coffee Company. Downtown Laramie was adorable. ADORABLE. I’m not sure how to describe it. For one thing, it had a beautiful view of the mountains, which were still dotted with snow. It was also clean and alive looking. Think classic western town, but with murals on some of the buildings (cute ones), and a hint of the culture of Savannah, Anchorage, or Asheville. Somehow the vibe was familiar to me, and it was just civilized enough and just frontier enough to make me feel at home. The coffee shop itself was a combination of industrial and cozy, with the kind of atmosphere that made you want to sit in a table by the window and read a book. Or maybe write. Oh, the books I could write there…It reminded me very much of Gallery Espresso in Savannah, which is one of my favorite coffee shops.

That stop made me remember that if we’d wanted to go fast, we would have flown. Driving isn’t just about avoiding being 35,000 feet above the ground (although I appreciate that part of it). It’s about enjoying the journey.

So I sipped my French roast coffee, sat back in my seat in the car, and watched the dark blue and snowy mountains and the rolling Wyoming landscape pass by outside of my window.

And I enjoyed the journey.

I’ve decided I’m moving to Laramie, Wyoming. In case anyone wants to visit…

Not far west of Laramie we passed two would-be hitchhikers. One had a guitar and one had a drum, so if you ever want to pick up musical hitchhikers, apparently this is the place to do it.

We also stopped at a rest stop near Elk Mountain. The wind there was intense. We read on a sign that it can get up to 70mph there. It wasn’t that bad today, but it was enough that we held onto the kids tightly. Haha. We ate lunch there, then got the boys to go to sleep, and continued across Wyoming on I-80.

We made it all the way to end of Wyoming, Evanston, and the entire drive through Wyoming was gorgeous. The mountain views, the wide expanses (although I don't think the sky is as big as Montana's...)...This was a great day.

Day 4

We started Day 4 in Hesston, Kansas. I realized quickly that maybe it’s the comforting smell of prairie and cottonwoods, but I like Kansas.

Hello, my name is Sarah…and I actually like Kansas.

I don’t know how to feel about that.

We passed a few cool things before I went back to being ready to get out of Kansas. One was Running Turkey Creek. I’m loving the fun creek names we’re seeing on this trip. People have some serious creativity (or maybe not) with creek names. We also saw a cool stone arch in the middle of someone’s field. There was a little hill (butte?), and a random stone archway. That was odd enough. But not too many yards away from it (twenty? Who knows…) there was a cross. It was really interesting and I can’t help but wonder why it was there and wish I knew.

We stopped at a grocery store called Dillons, which was funny because it was the exact same as a Kroger, just with a different name. The people there let us look at their smart phones to see the radar, which was nice since we’ve been internet-less and there was some serious tornado activity in the plains over the weekend, in case you missed that. It was really windy (REALLY windy) in this part of Kansas and the clouds were dark. IT was also raining. The people in the store told us that “the weathermen said it wasn’t supposed to do this here today!” and honestly the sound of their voices made it sound like there was more than rain coming. Of course, the grocery store had a designated tornado shelter area in the back, so I felt slightly better. That’s the thing about Kansas. They have shelters. Tornados in Georgia aren’t as big usually, but we can’t see them coming and hardly anyone has a shelter.

Tornados. Ick.

Anyway, we finally drove out of the bad weather, though we could see it in the distance. I used to dislike seeing the weather from so far away, but actually it was kind of fun this time. I really didn’t mind. The bad stuff stayed to the east of us, but we really didn’t miss it by much. I’m thankful God kept us safe and kept us out of it, especially since I don’t know how we would have known to take shelter unless we’d actually seen a tornado coming towards us.

Nebraska, interestingly enough, wasn’t as pretty as we remembered from the last trip. It was okay, and Valentino’s Pizza at the gas station we stopped at was amazing. Western Nebraska is way more western than I usually picture it as, so that was fun. It was 91 when we stopped at dinner time, so we got a hotel so my parents wouldn’t have to sleep in the hot tent.

It went down to 50 something overnight. Ooops. Guess we could have camped. But I didn’t really mind the nice hotel. Dinner was Nebraska steak. Yum.

Day 3

We started Day 3 at Devil’s Den State park in Northwest Arkansas. We’d gotten in a little later than expected the day before, so we didn’t have time to explore the caves, but we had a nice little campsite in the woods, so it was still an enjoyable stop.

Okay, we were also eaten alive by bugs. Thanks for that, Arkansas. But besides that it was a nice stop.

The park itself is down a switch-back-y mountain road, tucked away deep in the Ozarks. It’s a spot from my childhood that feels familiar and relaxing. The views are beautiful, and there’s so much land with expanses of grass stretching out underneath the trees that it kind of makes you want to get out of the car and run through the country landscape.

Cheesy? Uh, maybe. Also true? Yes.

On a road trip like this I usually find I’m in a hurry on Day 1. And on Day 2. By Day 3 I’ve started to remember to intentionally see the land we are driving by, to soak in the details that I might have viewed dozens of times but have never really noticed.

This time, I want to notice.

Oklahoma was as beautiful as I remembered it from last time (this was after about a decade of believing I hated Oklahoma, from our trip to Alaska in 2000). It smelled warm and grassy, with just a hint of something...spicy? Some kind of western smell. Maybe it’s a plant?

Once again we took back roads in Oklahoma, and those took us through Barnsdal and Pawhuska. In Pawhuska I unashamedly shrieked when I saw the building that the Pioneer Woman is renovating with her family. I saw her building. Okay, that sounds stalker-ish. We were bummed not to have passed her ranch this time, but I was okay with it. Really. It was fun enough to acciently drive by last time.

The clouds started to darken to a serious navy/grey just out of Pawhuska and I could tell if there was rain the distance, or three EF-5 tornados waiting to toss our truck around in the air. I’d already started formulating my tornado plan and was watching for flying cows (you’ve seen Twister right?), when I finally decided to stop fearing for my life (haha, mostly kidding…) and take some pictures through the windows instead.

I was in the middle of my picture thinking “You know, the Pioneer Woman takes pictures of clouds over her ranch like this sometimes…” when John yelled “Drummond Ranch!” Yep, we passed it again! And again it was when I was taking pictures that reminded me of hers…I can’t decide if that’s coincidence, or if their ranch is like Narnia and it finds you…?

Then we got to Kansas. Ah, Kansas.

Kansas.

So…Kansas.

It’s hard to find much to say about Kansas, although I will say that this trip it grew on me a little. I enjoyed the tufty green trees growing in the praire. They’re short, rough looking, and scrubby. I guess maybe they’re wind resistant?

We stopped for the night at the Cottonwood Grove RV Park, which reminded John and I of a horror movie set last time. It was nice enough, it’s just that last time we saw no signs that anyone else was there. Yeah, there were campers. There were cars. But no one ever got out. Pretty sure we heard Twilight Zone music. This time we learned that a lot of the people staying there are working on the oil fields in Kansas and have traveled from far away, so they’re basically living temporarily in their fifth wheels. That explains the lack of activity at the RV park.

While the bathrooms there were kind of traumatizing (SPIDERS. There. Were. SPIDERS. At least I didn’t see a brown recluse like John did…), it was still nice to sit outside like last time and watch the cotton woods blow through the air like some kind of Kansas summer snow. It smells warm in Kansas too. Warm, soft, and familiar. I can’t believe how much Kansas is starting to grow on me…

Day 2

Please forgive the fact that you're getting these several days after the fact. We haven't found wifi since Day 1 (we're getting gas now and I jumped on the gas station's wifi!!!), so I'm a little behind. Also, my computer's battery appears to by dying, maybe permanently...but I am writing posts and you should see them eventually, don't give up! =)

Day 2 started out a little on the slow side—partially because we were in Mississippi (I’m not sure what that has to do with anything…but it does) and partially because I’d only had one cup of coffee. Hotel coffee. Aka: Theoretically-it-had-Caffeine-but-I’m-Not-Convinced Coffee.

I spent the next seven hours or so looking for coffee.

Eventually we found a Starbucks. Don’t worry.

Back to the beginning of the day. Not much happened. We passed a creek called Dancing Rabbit Creek, which I thought was a fun name. I’m filing that away to use in a story sometime…

Speaking of stories, I’m getting all kinds of writing/brainstorming done on this trip. Something about just driving through the country, looking out the window, is really good for creativity.

The boys seem to be having a decent time so far. We’re having some issues getting them to nap, which is resulting in very tired kiddos, but I think they’ll get it. At one point yesterday we saw a crop dusting plane really close to the road. Josh thought that was pretty awesome. When it disappeared from our view, we saw a train on the other side of the road. So pretty much that was a four year old boy’s dream vacation, right there. Planes and trains.

The southern part of Arkansas (which we finally got into after a brief trip through Louisiana—pretty bayous there!), is mostly rice patties and nothingness, but by the time we got to Little Rock, it was starting to feel like home. We lived in Conway for five years, and while that isn’t long in the grand scheme of things, we agreed that Arkansas still feels familiar and homey. That was nice to discover.

After lunch we passed from central Arkansas into Northern Arkansas. Ah, mountains! The Ozarks are beautiful, the way they gently roll and climb higher. The views from several points were amazing, and it looks almost like you could just walk across the tree tops. Those views were probably my favorite part.

We stayed at Devil’s Den State Park and got to visit with a friend of ours too! Overall a pretty good day.

Crazy Alaska Road Trip Take 2 Day 1!

Ah, Day 1. You were everything Day 1 should’ve been.

We started in Georgia (obviously) at 9:35 this morning. That’s not entirely true. We actually started at about 5:45 this morning, but somehow it really took that long to get everything loaded (which is funny, because I really thought we were loaded last night…?) and the house ready to leave (which is also funny, because I thought it was ready last night…?). But what can you do?

At 9:54 we made our first stop for gas.

At 10:05 we had the first singing of “On the Road Again.”

At 10:21 someone started singing “Rubber Ducky,” an old Sesame Street song from the nineties that has come to embody the “I’m going crazy on a roadtrip” feeling that everyone gets eventually…Although it usually comes later in the day than this.

Haha, it should’ve been a warning. ;)

At 11:41 we hit road construction. Really? REALLY??? (I might have had a small Memphis in 2011 flashback…)

In all seriousness, it was actually a fairly good first day. The landscape didn’t change much, since we’re still in the deep south, but I tried to see everything with new eyes and take it all in, just to make today more interesting. But I couldn’t really escape the fact that today is just not the most scenic day of our trip. The tall Georgia pines gave way to Alabama pines, to Mississippi pines. Not much caught our eye, except a few pretty rivers and from the top of a couple of hills there was a nice view. There are subtle differences in the landscapes between the states… I can detect just the slightest difference in the trees especially. Mississippi in particular has…fluffier trees. I’m not sure how else to say that.

Random things from today…We saw a fish and tackle shop called “The Funky Skunk.” That was pretty funny. In a little town in Alabama, we had to take a detour through a random small neighborhood because something was going on on the bridge on the main road. At first we thought maybe the bridge was out, which I thought was weird. There were police cars and I thought I saw tanks, maybe…? And then there was a crowd of people on the bridge. Random, right? I’m totally googling that to find out what was up…

In other news, I’ve discovered that I probably can’t move to Mississippi or Alabama. At 2:23 I began the search for Starbucks. It told me we’d find a Starbucks that was on our route in a couple hundred miles I think. Over a hundred anyway. Just. Too. Far.

We stopped for the night later than we'd meant to, in some little town near Vicksburg, MS, and got a hotel since it was already so late. 

All in all, I don’t think any of us wish we’d flown yet, and in 2011, that was something even I wished (I hate flying, in case you are uninformed on that), so I think so far it’s going better. Which is a relief since we have twice as many kids in about half the space of the last trip!

Looking forward to CARTT2 Day 2! On to Arkansas, and beyond!

Leaving TODAY!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!

I keep trying to think of something to say, to update you, let you know we are supposed to be leaving in 2 HOURS.

But all that comes out is AHHHHHHH!!!!

Excitement? Totally wondering what we are thinking? More excitement.

Yes.

Here We Go!

Testing 1-2-3.

Facebook world,  blogosphere, anyone else...Here's your big chance to make sure you don't miss my Alaska Trip 2014 photos and updates, also known henceforth as Crazy Alaska Road Trip Take 2 or CARTT2. =)

Seriously, though? When we packed four adults and a 12 month old into an RV in 2011, I think we thought we were a little crazy to be driving 8,000 miles round trip. I think everyone else thought that too.

But why not take it a step further, right? This year the plan is to pack four adults, a four year old, and a twenty-one month old into a crew cab F-150, pulling a camper and packing a tent.

Go ahead and let that soak in for a minute.

We are ridiculously excited, crazy busy packing, and desperately wondering how to get a house clean to prepare for being gone for a month with two little people here to "help."

But I wanted to take a quick break to let you know my blog address again, to tell you that I'm planning to update daily (with pictures this year, really!!) and that I think should follow us. And comment. Because I love comments and I blog more when I get comments.

(In the words of one of my college professors "somebody please affirm me!!!")

Thanks for reading and hopefully keeping up with us during our trip!