Day 1

The first day of our trip started very well. As usual, it is incredibly difficult to get the kids out of bed when we want them out of bed, but on days when we can sleep in, you know how it is, they are up at the crack of dawn. We have spent days preparing for this trip so this morning we are well prepared and fairly organized. This trip was born out of the relocation of my very dear friend, Michelle Jordan, and her four children to San Diego, California. We will miss her dearly as we have become close friends over the last two years. In fact, I am wondering how my life will change without her in it. She told us she would be leaving on June 6 to take on the strenuous task of driving cross country, so her intentions coupled with our desire to see Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota engendered what has evolved into a cross country trip for us as well. We will only be with the Jordans for two or three days, and they will leave us to see their daughter and sister, Meghan, who has just given birth to her daughter, Charlotte in Omaha, Nebraska. We fully intend on meeting back up with the Jordan's in San Diego when we reach California.

I am unsure if our sons, Bennie and Ethan, are fully aware of the magnitude of this trip or how fortunate they are to see so many things that many people live their entire lives without seeing. I mean, I have waited 42 years to see Mt. Rushmore, and I am looking so forward to breathing in its majesty. This has been quite a year for my family. In October over Columbus Day Weekend, we visited beautiful Washington, D.C. just a few weeks before we elected President Barack Obama, so we have been feeling so patriotic these days. Our Washington D.C. trip made me grateful for the wonders there and the fact that I could spend the time and share them with my sons and my husband. I am fully predicting I will feel the same way about Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Salt Lake, Hoover (which I have been to before) and all of the other sites we will be visiting.

So, on day one, we drive and drive. Our first stop is a small campground outside of Cleveland, OH called Woodside Lake Campground in Streetsboro, OH, so that some of us can take in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I intended on going myself, but Michelle and I loaded her teens with the GPS system and they went without us. Oh well, I have been to Cleveland twice now and neither times have I gone to the museum, so I think it is not meant to be. After a long day of travel, we were happy to set up the camper, watch the kids swim in the lake, and make cheeseburgers on the grill.

Probably the greatest part of the night was trying to decide how all 9 of us would sleep in our camper. We have a 30 foot Jay Feather and it does sleep 9, but we have never tested that claim before. I have good news: it worked well. We settled in, watched a movie, some of us read our books, and off we fell to sleep. Family and friends really enrich our lives. I am so happy we are taking this trip.