Sunday, June 28 - On My Way!

What a day!  I was better prepared this morning than I realized but still was a little late to Rosie’s 9:20 soccer game at the tournament.  What a great soccer day…Rosie’s team (co-coached by Marc) won their first game and then so did Logan’s team.  During the break before the championship games I ran over to SuperTarget for my few groceries and last minute supplies.  Wow…it is amazing how little food I have along compared with when traveling with 3 or 4 kids!  Good thing, since I have so much more “gear” than usual.  Anyway, the championship games were intense at times but both teams won! 

I was so glad I had stuck around later than I planned….how could I miss that?  I finally left for Aberdeen at about 4:10.  Jack had used a labelmaker to make me a few things that are now stuck onto my steering wheel and dashboard:



I stopped to see Paul Bunyan's anchor in Ortonville, MN.

I  rolled in here right at 10 pm, to Watertown, SD.   It’s a big city park campground with a LOT of standing water around for several miles…the mosquito population is thriving.  They were happy to see me, in the dark unable to find my headlamp, flashlight, or bug spray.

© 2009 Tara Morrison

Counting Down...

The last load of laundry is drying, everything else is in the car, and I'm still working on the kids' schedules, researching mileage on various drives, etc.  I'll be leaving from the soccer tournament tomorrow...hopefully I'll be delayed by both Rosie's/Marc's and Logan's teams being in their respective championship rounds!  I'm feeling a little guilty about being away from my kids for so long...but I know I have taken them on some FABULOUS trips and will continue to do so.  They have loved our month long journeys to Montana the past two summers and I know our travels have shaped the amazing little people that they are becoming.  I feel a little better about it because of something Logan's teacher told me after my (much shorter) Arizona trip last winter...that he is VERY proud of me for doing these things!  That helps.  And, we asked how they all felt about it when this was being planned.  They all told me to go and have a great adventure!  I put Jack to bed and we marked on his calendar the date that I'll be coming home.

So I think I will actually be ready tomorrow a.m. other than the fact that I haven't done any of the grocery shopping...it will give me a good excuse to stop along the way tomorrow.  My destination tomorrow is Aberdeen, SD. I'm deliberately taking a slower, less traveled route in order to spend some time around a part of the Missouri River that  I haven't been to before.  There are two disputed burial sites for Sitting Bull near the Missouri River...one in SD, one in ND.  I plan to visit both.

Here are my traveling companions.  My friend Judith brought me a St. Patrick figurine yesterday.  You guessed it...he drove the snakes out of Ireland so he will protect me from rattlesnakes  :)        The bobblehead bear was given to me by my friend Jen before the kids and I left on our first month long trip and he has even hiked with us!

 

© 2009 Tara Morrison