Today was another long day of driving. We were in the car from 8:45 am until 5:30 pm, so almost 9 hours on the road. We again hit traffic which added about an additional 30 minutes to our ride, but we only made 2 stops today! That was pretty impressive for all the kids and the dog too! By the look of things Jimi and Hunter were both too tired to have to stop.
While their van appeared to be quiet, ours was nothing of the sort. Although we did get a 20 minute nap from Joey, the rest of the ride was full of questions and general child chit chat. After just 15 minutes into the ride I was asked the first “how much longer?” of the trip. This question came over and over again through out the drive today.
Not all questions were directed at me. Like when Benny was playing on his tablet, and Joey leaned in and says to Benny, “Brah, Brah! Hey Benny do you want to be my Brah?”. He continued his conversation with Benny about his game, throwing the word “Brah” in there with each sentence. I have definitely seen their relationship grow as they spend more and more one on one time together during this trip. Joey and Benny can be like oil and water at times.
We have seen so many neat things along the way. While we were playing road trip BINGO, we saw two deer walking on the edge of the highway up a hill. I have never seen dear so close to a highway before. Although the highways out their are much smaller and less crowded then the highways back home, it was still a site to see.
We drove over the Mississippi River today and saw the Gateway Arch. It was beautiful. I have never seen anything like that before. This beauty is referred to as the Gateway to the West. It was built as a monument to the expansion of the west and is the tallest man made monument of the United States. I wish we had more time to stop and explore the arch more. Maybe one day we’ll come back.
As we neared Kansas City and were all eagerly awaiting being out of the car, the GPS added an additional 30 minutes to our commute! I have to admit that even I was a little irritated by the additional time added to our already long travels. As we made our way through traffic we come up to what was causing the delay and quickly realize it was a traffic accident. There is a motorcycle laid down on the ground, a car on the side of the road and all lanes closed off but one. The site was being cleaned up as we drove by and all people involved had already left the scene. My husband rides a bike so my children are all aware how dangerous it can be and how when you are in a car you need to be extremely careful around riders.
Seeing all this made me feel so grateful that we have had such a smooth journey so far and made me think of the people that were involved in this incident. Something that I have always done with my kids since they were very little is that when we hear lights and sirens we stop whatever conversation we are having and we pray.
They are normally short and sweet little prayers and one of my kids will ask if they can say it. It is just a time for us to think outside of what is going on around us and put others first. The prayer is normally less than 5 minutes and starts with thanking God for keeping all of us safe. Then we pray for the safety of then men and women going to help. Lastly, we pray for God to help those that are involved and if God decides it is their time, we pray that they have let Jesus into their hearts so that they may go to Heaven.
I feel as though taking those moments to think about others and show empathy helps all of us realize that while we may be tired and ready to be where we need/want to go, it can always be so much worse. It helps put things in perspective. The prayers that come from my children during these times are some of the most selfless things I have ever heard. This is one tradition that I am so glad has stuck with us for the last 11 years of parenting.
When we got to the hotel we were so excited to be out of the car and hungry. We ordered some Kansas City BBQ. It was so yummy. The meat was very tender and the BBQ sauce was so flavorful. We have heard about this cheese corn side that they make. It was AMAZING! For all of you that know me already, you know I love food!
As exciting as this adventure has been so far. I am ready to get into IA and start to get settled into daily life. Although the first 10 days of daily life will be in a hotel, it will still be the start of our daily routine. There will be so much to do in such a short amount of time. From finding a job to finally having a house of our own there. In case you do not know already, we are renting for the first year and have big plans to buy land and build a home there. Once we get to IA I will start laying out our long term plans for this.