I hope not to be finished with Day 9, since we’re not done with it, though the rest of the day will be pretty down. We finally arrived at our destination after a leisurely breakfast in southeast Indiana. At the Waffle House, Levi decided to order his own food. He proceeded to charm all of the waitresses and, when finally time to place his order, clearly stated “I would like waffles, scrambled eggs and…ummmm…oh oh oh! And syrup!”

The drive was wet, with only a few ice patches here and there and we arrived safely at the same time predicted by the GPS (unlike the five hour difference from last night). Levi is currently napping (yay!) and we are enjoying the company of our hosts, old family friends of my (Lisa’s) parents.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday, and one from this morning:

Portillo's Hot Dog "Stand" - fantastic place!

Lisa at Second City Theater...and Amelia's head sticking out from my coat

Andree and Amelia - bonding!

Yay for friends!

Amelia the princess, commanding her kingdom

Next up: Sharing our mission work at Grace Presbyterian in Ohio!

Well, so much for blogging daily!  But, I promise I have a good excuse!  Chicago day was busy and we didn’t get home until midnight and then yesterday was, well, busy…but more on that in a second.

So, Chicago!  The Windy City, though it didn’t seem to have more wind than any other place we’d driven the last few days, was cold.  Single-digits-plus-wind kind of cold.  It was rather unpleasant.  But, backing up, my aunt Judy had offered to keep Levi for the day so that we be more free to enjoy ourselves in Chicago, which was wonderful!  Levi enjoyed the day off just playing, anyway.  Our lunch plans were cancelled at the last minute, so we had a leisurely morning and hit the road around 11am.  We picked up my friend, Andree, in North Chicago and made our way downtown.  Our first stop was lunch at Portillo’s, a famous hot dog place.  It was a neat place to eat, but also had some amazing food.  I got a beef and cheddar sandwich on a croissant that was the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten.  Ever.

After leaving there, Matthew and Andree (and Amelia) let me indulge in my geeky side and we went over to the Second City theater.  Second City is tiny, but the people that have started their careers there have been huge.  Half of the cast of Saturday Night Live started sketch and improv comedy there, as well as several other famous comedians: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrel, even way back: Peter Boyle, who was in my favorite show of all time, Everybody Loves Raymond.  Anyway, I was super excited to see the lobby and look at all of the pictures and experience the nostalgia.  And I was grateful that Matthew and Andree went along with it.

Later that evening the four of us had dinner with another couple at a great classic Chicago pizza place.  Us three girls had gone to school together for a long time (a long time ago) and it was fun to reconnect and that they both happen to be living in Chicago now while their husbands go to medical school.  We were able to catch up and share our upcoming adventure with them.  And, of course, Amelia was an angel

It was a late evening, like I said, and we didn’t get home until midnight.

And then there was yesterday.  I woke in the middle of the night and was up on and off very sick.  The morning I spent in bed while Matthew packed our things and Levi was spoiled (in a good way) by Judy.  We didn’t get on the road until around 11:30am and it was already snowing.  The roads weren’t really that bad, but the traffic down through Milwaukee and Chicago was awful.  It took us five hours to get a mere 150 miles!  But we kept trekking because it was supposed to go from snow to ice and we wanted to be as far as possible.  We drove until 1am when things suddenly went from snowy and decent roads to icy just south of Indianapolis.  We called our hosts, who are on the Kentucky side just outside Cincinnati, and let them know we wouldn’t be coming in until the morning.

We found a hotel just as the roads got really terrible and now it’s just after 8am and both kids are still sleeping.  We’re about to head out to breakfast and then make our way the last two hours to our destination.  I’ll have to post the pictures another time.

I can’t believe it’s been six days on the road!  Today was spent here in Wisconsin.  This morning we visited my (Lisa’s) aunt’s church, specifically sharing our ministry with her small group Bible study, as well as anyone else we ran into while exploring the church’s campus.  Elmbrook Church is quite large and it was an exciting experience.  We had fun sharing our mission work with so many new people.

This afternoon brought good naps for Levi, Amelia, and Matthew while Judy and I ran a few errands.  Tonight we had a fun dinner with my cousin and his family.  It was really neat to see our kids playing together!

And now, a few pictures!

Amelia LOVED the exersaucer...

"Oh, Meerkat...I'm so tired."

Amelia's first swim (sorry, it was warm in there, thus the steam)

Amelia fell over, and Levi thought it was funny enough to copy.

Aunt Judy (our host in Wisconsin) helping Amelia fall asleep

Levi and Grant...cousins' kids makes them...third cousins?

My cousin John

Tomorrow: Chicago!

We have arrived!  1700 miles from Boise, Idaho to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in less than 48 hours.  Technically, it took us 46.5 hours.  Not bad, huh?  We are SO relieved to not have another push like that on this trip.  Actually, nearly all of our other drives are around 300 miles, with a few 400-450, so it will feel like nothing!  The kids did great – they are so fun!

I realized this morning that I forgot to blog about our presentation at United Reformed Church of Nampa on Sunday evening.  Oops!  I blame the extreme lack of sleep.  Regardless, our presentation was a little bumpy, but fortunately, most of the wonderful people at URC are also parents and, from what we can tell, found it amusing.  You see, I was holding Amelia and told Levi to stay put in a chair that would sit right behind us while we presented our video and upcoming mission work in the fellowship hall.  No problem, right?  Well, Matthew began to speak and I stood up with Amelia.  Levi, with a sudden lapse in attention, didn’t see me stop three feet in front of him, but jumped out of his chair, shouted “Mommy!?” and began to run straight back down the center of the room all the way into the kitchen, shouting for me the entire time.  Looking back, it was adorable and amusing.  He was caught by someone he’d met earlier before he reached any real sense of panic.  I followed him, traded Amelia for him, and held him while Matthew was left to talk about our work alone.  Levi wasn’t in any mood after that to sit and let me do my thing, but I was totally fine standing the back, offering Levi snacks, and praying that we didn’t seem totally incompetent.  I don’t think we did, of course, but prayed for it all the same.  There were other little things that could have gone better, but you know what?  The people at that church are truly friendly, heard our mission, promised to pray for us and hopefully will be praying about whether they can and will also support us financially.  We are excited to have had the opportunity to worship with this group of believers and we hope to see them again soon!

So, now that I’m caught up, today’s drive began with a tasty continental breakfast at the hotel and taking our time this morning, not hitting the road until 9:30.  I, not realizing how tired I still was, slept the first two hours of the trip.  It was beautifully sunny and pretty through the rest of Nebraska and into Iowa.  Then, the snow hit.  Ugh…I took this picture of a jack-knifed semi facing the wrong way in the median.  I took it because it was so horrible looking and I hadn’t seen anything like that and thought it might be a good picture to describe the road conditions on the highway for the rest of the trip.  However, as the miles passed, there were SO MANY semis and trucks and cars in the ditches that the picture became fairly meaningless…there was a car about every five miles across the entire state of Iowa!  But, before any of you think it was a horrible drive, let me tell you: after five years of living in the Land of Winter (Fairbanks, Alaska), driving in those conditions is second-nature.  No problem.  A little scary on the ice patches, but we can handle it.  I remember driving my last winter in Fairbanks – sliding on ice had become so common that it was no longer scary or even an incident…it was as simple as any other part of driving: deal with it and move on.  And I didn’t even slide today.  Neither did Matthew, though he’s a far better and more experienced driver than I was, so it’s not even worth mentioning.  The snowy conditions remained all the way through Illinois and Wisconsin.  They have a fresh layer of snow here just outside of Milwaukee.  I hear the worst snow storm in over thirty years is headed toward Seattle, so I say we got out of there just in time.

Tomorrow: Presentation at my aunt’s Bible study, rest, dinner with extended family

It’s the end of Day 4 of our Epic Road Trip to raise support for our mission work in the DR Congo and we are happy, healthy and exhausted.  After leaving Nampa, Idaho at 9:30pm last night we have driven 1200 miles in the last 24 hours.  Matthew and I traded off during the night and into the day, stopping for a long breakfast at a McDonald’s somewhere in Wyoming to let Levi conquer the PlayPlace.  We also visited several truck stop bathrooms – they are SO nice…nicer than any other public restrooms we’ve ever used.  I highly recommend them.  We were sad to be driving through the beautiful mountains of Utah (Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City) and Wyoming in the dark and getting into the plains just at dawn.  The only snow we had was at our McDonald’s stop – and it was blowing sideways!  The wind was incredible and chilly.

At some point (the hours have blended together in my tired brain), within an hour of each other, one child had a huge blow out and the other one threw up after becoming overheated…both car seats are less than fresh smelling!  But, other than that and some crying from being stuck in the car seats, the kids have done wonderfully!  We moved Levi next to Amelia so they can interact and it has been so fun to watch.  Amelia admiringly watched Levi play and Levi was seen holding Amelia’s hand while they both slept, as well as offering all his cars to her (we found several in her car seat).

We pulled into our stop for the night, Lincoln, Nebraska, around 8pm and have checked into a hotel.  After dinner Matthew took both kids swimming in the pool and everyone got a bath (okay, my shower is still pending) and now we are ready to crash!

Tomorrow we have about 500 miles to go to get to our “real” stop: Milwaukee, Wisconsin!  We will be staying at my (Lisa’s) aunt Judy’s for three nights, including a quick trip into Chicago.  We are looking forward to a few nights of continuity for the kids!  Thanks for your continued prayers.  And if you’re not my friend on facebook, you missed out on a few clever updates from the road (in the few spots we actually had cell service) referencing the Oregon Trail and the old computer game.  It was fun to drive and reference classic parts of both Matthew’s and my childhoods!

Next stop: Sleep and 500 miles to Milwaukee

Last night went MUCH better – all four us got sleep!!!  We said goodbye to our friends that hosted us last night – it’s so fun to have friends that we got to know while living in Alaska who moved to Boise and be able to see them again.  It was a great morning worshipping at United Reformed Church of Nampa and are looking forward to evening service and then presenting our mission work at the fellowship time that follows tonight.  We are currently enjoying a laid back Sunday afternoon with the pastor, Nick Smith, and his family at their home.  Levi is napping (you have no idea how excited I am that he is getting a good nap!), Amelia is chillin’ and I am able to post some pictures!  Yay!  It is sunny yet again and only slightly chilly.  I saw pictures of the snowfall back in Washington and the -60 in North Pole, AK on facebook, so I am happy to be here today, at least in terms of weather.  (Although, you need to know how much I LOVE snow and I do miss it…I’m expecting to see some very soon.)

We were able to meet with our ministry partnership coach while here in the same town as MAF headquarters for a shady-looking hand off in a Chevron parking lot of more supplies.  And tonight we will make the push as written about last night.  Honestly, unless I reread that post I’m not sure what else I wrote about.  Ah well…and now, some pictures!

iPod, iPod to radio connector, GPS, phone...one big, necessary mess

Stud

The Columbia River in Eastern Washington

Sunset just outside Walla Walla

 Next Goal: 1700+ miles in <48 hours

We made it to our second destination this evening in time for dinner and the football game with our friends’ neighbors.  The drive was completely uneventful and the sunny skies through the Blue Mountains of Oregon made the rolling hills even more beautiful.

Last night, however, was less than perfect.  Amelia, after sleeping all day in the car, made the  decision that sleeping was not only not an option, but was to be fought with screaming.  Thankfully, our hosts never even heard a peep.  Neither did Levi, who was asleep in the same room in his “Special Bed” (the pack-n-play, which is too small for him, but he likes it).  Once Amelia finally got to sleep we did get a few hours of rest, but Levi woke at 5:30am and told me he was “all done sleeping.”  I convinced him to sleep, but only in our bed.  So, the four of us slept in one bed.  Not terribly restful, but everyone was in good spirits today, so I guess it couldn’t have been too bad.

The morning was slow-paced and leisurely, which was great after such a long night.  We left around 11am and drove, making only one stop somewhere in northeast Oregon.  We got into Boise just as it got dark.  Now I’m preparing for our longest stretch of our trip.  As I have much to do, I am sadly unwilling to spend time uploading pictures.  Tomorrow will be a long day (though fun) and we have our first presentation of our ministry for the trip.  After the evening service we are hitting the road for an all-nighter.  Our goal is Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Tuesday evening.  It’s just over 1700 miles.  Please pray that the weather will remain calm and that we can enjoy the Oregon Trail and maintain our sanity!

Tomorrow:  United Reformed Church of Nampa and off towards Milwaukee

Could we pack the car any more?  Nope, we could not.  We had to abandon a few things, but got to bring most of what we wanted.  But the car is packed.  My (Lisa’s) dad was kind enough to take some departing pictures for you all to enjoy.  We did clean up a little before the long haul, but you get the idea…

Our trunk. It closed. That's all that matters.

The backseat. Amelia was happy as long as she had her meerkat.

Levi and his toy tray...

That last minute stuff...

"Congo or Bust"

On the road!

After running a few errands before getting out of town, we left Auburn, WA around noon.  The mountain passes had hardly any snow at all and we had a brief stopover in Ellensburg before continuing on to Walla Walla.  The kids did awesome – Amelia slept nearly the entire time and Levi alternately ate, played with his cars, and slept.  I even got to take a nap while Matthew drove the entire day.

Tonight we are staying with great friends and leaving after breakfast tomorrow morning.

Next stop:  Nampa, Idaho

Can you believe we have a 2.5 year old boy who has never seen Thomas the Train and doesn’t even know his name?  I’m kinda proud of that one.  I even saved Cars until after his sister was born…although now I’ve seen Cars so many times it’s not even funny (the frequency…I actually still like the movie).  Anyway, that’s neither here or there, except in my blog title…today we are LEAVING on our ROAD TRIP!

Packing was an all day affair yesterday.  It started out poorly with the touch screen on our phone (not a smart phone, just one of those pay-as-you-go phones) no longer responding to touch.  It just gave up, I guess.  And since there aren’t any buttons, we swapped out the SIM.  My father-in-law had a stash of old phones from the same carrier…anyone remember the Treo?  We now have one…and we can’t figure out how to turn it off!!  Ha ha ha…I suppose we have some sitting time coming up to figure it out.

The challenge with packing for this trip is that our car is this:

…and we have four of us and a month’s worth of stuff…clothes, toys, snacks, MAF supplies, emergency gear, two car seats, etc.  We haven’t finished packing the car, but Matthew is a master of real life Tetris and has test-packed it and everything *should* fit.  We’re simply wearing the same four things all month long and to everyone who is lovingly opening their homes to us, please note that I will have laundry to do.  🙂

My mother-in-law treated me to new shoes (adorable Africa-friendly sneakers in my favorite coral color) and the use of her Costco membership to stock up on snacks.  My parents lovingly shared any other trinkets we needed for this trip: two-way radios, emergency supplies, their grandchildren, etc.  They even offered the use of either of their (much larger) vehicles, but sadly, the gas milage is king on this one…and our little Taurus is in excellent condition and ready for some cross-country winter driving.

Anyway, it’s 7:30am and I am the only one up (yay for quiet!), but I should probably finish packing those last minute items that are essential to bring and often forgotten.  I am working from at least three lists that are mostly redundancies, but saving my sanity.  We maxed out my little iPod Nano and hopefully in just a few hours we’ll be hitting the road.

Today’s destination: Walla Walla, Washington