We made it!

Sunday 7/15 6:00am - Today's motto is going to be "enjoy the journey" because that's what it is going to be... a long journey across the plains.  The portion of yesterdays drive that everyone was awake for included lots of beautiful scenery and although I think today's trip will also include some incredible sights they will be a little different. But there I go again looking into the future instead of the present moment.

Speaking of enjoying the moment. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing fireflies in the woods here last night while we were walking the dogs. I think being disconnected it mostly wonderful and is helping me stay in the moment more. I had to use wifi from Lin's phone to post last night and that is the only connection I have had since pulling out of our driveway. There are a few times that I was tempted to pull out my phone to look something up but I didn't and I survived. Even when we were a little misplaced in Murfreesboro while trying to get to Stones River National Battlefield I figured it
out from the little map I had printed out (which unfortunately had the bottom part cut off leading to our misplacement). I'm enjoying looking at the actual maps and my notes made earlier.

I feel so much better now that I have had a full nights sleep and am happy to have located Notepad on Aidan's laptop so that I can write this without having to be connected. Unfortunately I discovered the word products loaded on here for school have expired. Formatting might not be great but at least I don't feel like I need to rush and can write it whenever. Now off to get the camper prepped for departure so that I can enjoy today's journey!

Speaking of prepping the camper for departure...this is the not so glamorous part. Dumping the tanks!

Lucky for me Lin normally takes care of this part but today I had to help keep the hose in the sewer.

Monday 7/16 7:00am - Good morning from southeastern South Dakota! We made it and are now overlooking a beautiful lake on this crisp and sunny morning. I'm not going to lie it was a LONG day yesterday but overall we got along. Lin and I both had our moments at different times so that worked out well. Mine was in Missouri when I thought we were never going to make it out of the state and Lin's was toward the end. The drive was more hilly than either of us expected and it seemed like we were always going up which didn't help our gas mileage. However due to my conservative estimates in terms of gas mileage and price we are still well under budget.

Our campsite overlooking Lake Vermillion.

As for enjoying the journey - I would say I was mostly successful. We saw beautiful corn and soy fields, the Arch in St. Louis, crossed the Missouri River three times, watched an airplane acrobatically crop dust a field, watched a gorgeous sunset, and then got out of the truck at Lake Vermillion to a clear sky filled with more stars than I have ever seen and a sliver of the moon glowing red from the setting sun.

Lots and lots of fields.

Sunset enjoyed from the truck. Photo credit: Aaron

We also played a few fun games in the truck including license plate bingo and a one called Rubberneckers. My original plans had to be abandoned toward the end of the day due to traffic delays and an overall long journey but that is to be expected when one is travelling 760 miles in one day. So I would say I successfully enjoyed the journey - as much as anyone can enjoy a 16 hour trip!

Change of plans for dinner but it sure hit the spot! 

Enjoying dinner in the truck.

I think I'll post in the mornings since I wake up before everyone else and I can do it while drinking my coffee. The bulk of our driving is over and now we are going to soak up everything South Dakota has to offer.