Day 3

This morning I cooked eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns for 9! After a great breakfast in Indiana, Michelle and I clean and organize as the boys play football in the campground with Tim and Matt. During breakfast, Ethan earnestly and lovingly told Matt that he is "really going to miss you." Later in the camper, Michelle and I and Ben talked about the changes her children will be experiencing and I think the gravity of the move to California is beginning to really hit her. As she slices up cantaloupe and I organize so we can move the camper, we discuss making it all the way to Iowa today. Since Sarah and Hannah did not take in Lake Michigan yesterday, Michelle leads everyone to the beach while Ben and I clean and pull the camper out. One last look at Lake Michigan and we are off! In just a half hour, we cross over into Illinois and since we cut Chicago from our trip in order to see other things, we all search the horizon for the Sears Tower!
Wait for it, wait for it, and THERE IT IS! Off in the distance we can see its foreboding dark shadow that reminds me of a tetris piece. Ben comments that even though we are not in Chicago, the Windy City is affecting us as he is having one devil of a time keeping the camper on the road due to the wind on the highway. The weather is dark and cloudy and overcast but the temperature is 83 degrees. Our goal is to make it to Riverside, Iowa this evening because Ben would like to visit the "future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk." Many of our trips have these little "television" digressions and it makes me recall visiting Walton's Mountain in Schuyler, Virginia in 2002. Today will be a long day of traveling, and tomorrow we will depart from the Jordan's in Omaha, Nebraska.

Most of the day is spent in the car today. I am so enjoying my mobile broadband card and I am going to hate giving it up at the end of the trip. The wind leaving Chicago and all through Illinois was stressful on Ben's driving. I suppose that is par for the course in the Plains States. We take our breaks at Truck Stops which are the most interesting places to me. Not only can I buy a coffee there, but I can check my email, take a shower, buy a DVD, or buy all the latest technology for computers. They are amazing and each one costs me money as the boys find something they want. Mostly, the boys and I enter the truck stops in search of the state magnets as it is now a TRADITION that we get one from each state and put it on the hood vent and light over our stove in the camper. Unfortunately, we could not get one in Illinois, and I thought it might be the end of the trip for all of us! Eventually we headed up a large bridge and crossed the Mighty Mississippi which divides Illinois and Iowa. Bennie took pictures and really got excited as almost every test he took in Social Studies this year and every studying session with him involved the Mississippi in someway. As we enter Iowa, I am sent on a mission by my husband to investigate Riverside, Iowa, the future birthplace of Kirk. Apparently we can buy "Kirk Dirt" there or stop on by the local florist shop called "Flower Trek" or have a drink at the local saloon which goes by the nomenclature "Bar Trek." I know that Ben and the boys will enjoy seeing the giant Enterprise model named the U.S.S. Riverside. Friends, I hope I survive this one! After this visit I think I should make all three of them go shoe shopping all day long with me.

As we enter Iowa, Bennie says "Is this heaven?" Of course, I answer, "No, it's Iowa." We have watched Field of Dreams a few times! I put the Field of Dreams into the GPS and we are not far, however, I don't know if we will venture to it.

Do you remember how something as little as a fridge magnet could make you so happy when you were a child? We stop at a Truck Stop just over the Iowa border and, praise God, they have an Illinois magnet. Bennie is complete again:)

After many miles and commands from our British speaking GPS voice, we arrive to Riverside, Iowa. Ben is delighted as we pull into a parking lot and see a Shuttle Craft (Next Generation style) parked immediately in front of us. Without directions, he heads off to find the "birthstone" of Kirk. Knowing that he does not know where this is, Michelle and I hop in her Explorer and go "exploring" in this strange new world. We ask where the birthstone is and we are told it is directly behind a hair salon. What? Really? That is so strange, we agree and take off in the car to find it. We find it, tell the guys, and then we try to find the U.S.S. Riverside, a giant model of the Enterprise. I see a teenager sitting in his car, and I ask him. He says, "It's right back...wait a minute. It is always there...where is it?" He then sends us on a "mission" that results in little satisfaction. We all gather at Kirk's birthstone, take some pics, makes some cheesy jokes and decide to hit the road in search of our next campground. On our way there, we decide to stop for our last "restaurant" meal together as a wandering group of vagabonds. We stop at a sports bar named Buffalo Wild Wings and order nachos, quesadillas, and salads. They have very cool games that you remove from power ports, so the kids play games and trivia while we talk and laugh and enjoy settling down for the night. I found a tiny little campground on the Internet with Wifi so we decide to camp for the night. Bennie is more than crabby and angry that he has to sleep with Ethan again. Bennie continually vacillates between loving and loathing his brother. I suppose that is all par for the course with brothers. Tomorrow will be another big day of driving and we will reach Omaha, Nebraska, visit Michelle's daughter and new granddaughter, and then head to South Dakota to Rushmore ourselves. It has been very fun camping with the Jordan's, shopping at WalMart's together and cramming all 9 of us into the camper. I must add that Iowa is absolutely gorgeous.