Unexpected Surprises

Trying to keep 9 people organized in 300 feet of space is going to be the end of me!  I am trying not to stress about the constant mess in the trailer and the van.  We spend lots of time reorganizing and re-strategizing the most efficient way to survive this trip.  We have a plan that we are loosely following.  Everyday we have to bring Roy back to reality from his fantasy world of traveling 500 miles a day in 8 quick hours. As of Sept 6^th we have travelled 1754 miles averaging 292.33 miles a day.  We have made it to Sioux Falls, SD. Roy also has this fantasy that we will be up and out the door everyday by 8 am.  So far we have never made it out before 10 am.  Somewhere in his calculations he forgot about the time zone differences and the kids who need 12 hours of sleep a night.

So yesterday, after getting a late start, and finally getting out the door, we went through the Badlands of SD.  We only got out once to look at them because of course we were running very late.  We drove slow enough and took pictures out the window.  On the other side of the Badlands, right as you pull out of the scenic route and get back on the highway, there was this sign for an “Original Sod Homestead from the 1900’s”.  I looked at Roy with pleading eyes and he threw up his hands in resignation and pulled into the homestead.

What we thought would be a quick 30 minute stop turned into hours.  The homestead was partly dug out of a hill and partly on top of the hill.  There was also a chicken coop, a barn, and an outhouse. They had clothes that the kids could dress up in and they got to play and pretend they were settlers of the 1900’s.  The house was filled with tons of period stuff to play with like a wood burning cast iron stove, a butter churn, a fully stocked kitchen with pretend food, a foot run sewing machine, a pump organ that Steven actually got working and played on, a model T Ford, and of course a gun for Caleb to play with.  He went straight to work shooting all of the prairie dogs that were heckling us.  Oh, and we had the whole place to ourselves. 

The kids had so much fun and there were many photo ops.  They could have stayed there all day pretending if we had let them. We ended up eating lunch there, and the rest of the drive was peaceful, with happy kids and parents. I think we needed this unexpected surprise to remind us that this trip is about spending time together as a family FIRST, destinations second.

~Hollie

-Badlands, South Dakota