Exhausted from yesterday's marathon of driving, everyone – including me – slept for over 9 hours last night. In a row! I didn't wake up once. Interestingly, while Mike and the kids proclaimed how refreshed and rested they were, I woke up feeling groggy and sluggish. We ultimately decided that maybe it was too much sleep for me, and that my body no longer knows what to do with a regular, normal person's amount of zzzs. Still, we were all ready and raring to go after a quiet continental breakfast at the hotel. We got some real coffee down the street, stopped to find another geocache (after spending entirely too long fiddling with the app on Mike's phone) and headed onwards through Iowa.
Again, the ride was smooth and uneventful - "Are we there yet"s and random roadside potty breaks notwithstanding - and the day was more or less filled with miles and miles of this:
and this:
It was only six hours of driving, but the last couple of hours seemed to. take. for. ever. We were all thrilled to see the sign that signaled that we were almost to our destination.
We met up with some online friends for the first time, and it was fun, easy, and comfortable... like we hung out all the time. We ate at a local pizza place, and chatted and chatted while the kids all played video games, ran around like horses, compared notes about their siblings, and became fast friends.
It was a lovely ending to another great day, and I can't believe how lucky we are to 1) be taking this trip at all, and 2) to have so many great people to share it with along the way.
Next stops: Champaign, IL; and Fort Wayne, IN
Like the Path Less Taken on Facebook
