Courtney's Blog July 31st, Day 26 of the Epic McFarland Journey!
This is just a travel day. We plan to get to South Dakota and close to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial so we can visit them the next day. When we were at Old Faithful, we saw a car with a roadtrip list painted on their windshield. One thing they mentioned was the Jewel Cave. We look it up and see that it is right near Rushmore. We add it to our list, and if we get in early enough today, we can see it today. There are multiple warnings that the afternoon tours fill up fast and that no reservations are accepted. We decide to take our chances and head over there. But before we do, we get Gideon a much needed haircut. Ahh...much better.
We keep driving and I see signs for another drive thru zoo. We decide to check it out and since it's much cheaper than the last one, and we had a blast at the last one, we decide to go! We get there and it is minutes away from pouring. We tell the kids we aren't going to go because it looks like it is about to rain. Gideon pipes up:
Gideon: "NO!!!!!! It doesn't wain on....what day is it?"
Adam: "Thursday"
Gideon: "Yeah, it doesn't wain on Fursday"
Oh well, not meant to be I guess. We keep travelling. The last tour at the Jewel Cave is at 4:30. We arrive at 4:00. We rush down the stairs only to be greeted with a "all afternoon tours are full" sign. We get the schedule for the next day and decide to try again in the morning. We are all hungry and plan to go to Pizza Hut. Something not a hamburger or a chicken nugget, AND, they even have a salad bar. Not sure if our stomachs can handle real food at this point, but we're willing to give it a try! During dinner, we start talking about how my CPA score is due tomorrow. If I pass this last one, my 10 year journey of passing, and failing and losing credit and restarting and paying thousands of dollars is over. There is so much at stake for me and the family. I am so ready to hear the score, and so nervous. Abby looks at me and gives me some wise words, "don't worry about the mess or miracle that happens tomorrow". I take her advice and enjoy dinner.
After the pizza, we head over to a famous pie place in town. Adam was supposed to get famous pie at one of our stops on Route 66, but they were closed when we got there. We decide to correct that issue, and get some yummy pie! The kids got ice cream. We then checked out some shops and played in a playground for about 1 hour. We played basketball with Abby who is AWESOME at it. She beat me in HORSE. I think the kids were happier about the playground than even the pool. Something new and different that reminded them of home.
We've come to see a lot of changes in the kids in these past couple of weeks. Some good, some bad, some heartbreaking, some encouraging.
1. The kids are playing together. They have always been cordial with each other and they occasionally rough-house together, but they are PLAYING with eachother. They make up games and giggle and have fun. I think we'll do more no-TV time when we get home.
2. Abigail's appreciation for things not-electronic has sky rocketed. She has also decided that she wants to help me as much as possible. Now she is my laundry buddy and she always pretends she is the concierge of the hotel and leads us down the halls and asks how our nights were.
3. As I stated, Gideon has stopped drinking milk. He assures me that he will drink it when we get back home, though. It's only because this milk tastes "weirdah".
4. Abigail has begun brushing her own hair and doing her own hair. I have been resisting the urge to correct her perfect part right down the middle of her head. I tell her to run her hands through it so it isn't so perfect. "I like it this way". Man, this is hard.
5. Gideon pees standing up now. Adam told me he started this trend because of the pit toilets. He didn't like the feeling of sitting on them. I don't blame him! They send a breeze right up your bum!! Anyways, I was saddened by this...just another way my baby is growing up. I can't even picture it happening. Then one night, I am sitting on the bed in the hotel room. I look at the mirror hanging on the wall so that you can watch yourself pee (remember I told you they have these?) and I can see into the bathroom. Gideon is peeing...standing up!!!! I am in awe. And then I see him go one handed! Oh, no, I think. This can't be good. He takes the other hand..and lifts the seat that he forgot to lift before he started peeing. He lifts it up right through his urine stream and looks proud of himself. I send Adam in to clean up the mess.
6. Gideon goes to bed at midnight. We put him to bed around 7:30 - 9:00 depending on the night. He doesn't fall asleep until hours later. There are times that Adam and I have to go to bed before he does. No wonder he's been crabby!!!
7. Abigail's summer bucket list has been completed. It was to 1) eat lots of ice cream, 2) swim in hotel pools and 3) read lots of books.
Some other things we noticed:
1. There are still video rental stores. Not netflix boxes. Like entire stores. They started in OK and continued through Arizona, then they returned again in Idaho.
2. No motorcyclists wear helmets anywhere but Massachusetts.
3. So many trains. There are so many trains moving through this country. We just don't know they're there.
Summary:
You snooze, you miss the Jewels. Lots of growing up and discovery.
Ended the Day at the Holiday Inn, Hill City, SD
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