South Dakota Here We Come

The countdown commenced about Day 16. Each morning the little boy wakes up and immediately tells me how many days are left.

WE’RE DOWN TO TWO.

That means the anticipation is reaching its peak. Even though I still have two summer classes to finish converting to a new course development system, final grades to turn in for my online classes at the 11^th hour tomorrow night and plenty of packing left, I’m just as excited as he is.

That is when I’m not worried or stressed out by all these things left to do. I just brewed a late afternoon pot of coffee. I normally avoid coffee later in the day, but I was not going to make it without a major pick-me-up.

We’ve mapped out most of the trip. I gave my reasons for driving in a previous post - all of which I'm second-guessing at this point. We need to drive about 6 hours a day to make it to South Dakota by Tuesday. With a baby in the car, 6 hours could easily turn into 12 before we reach each destination.

The little boy is excited about staying in the different hotels along the way and the dinosaur fossils we hope to see once we make it to South Dakota. I’m most excited about our stop in Chicago on the way back. Because we are staying in rinky-dink hotels along the way and a small cottage once we arrive in South Dakota, I figured a nice hotel was in order by the time we make it to the Windy City. The Ritz Carlton was calling my name, and I was happy to oblige - all thanks to those credit card reward points!

I’ll try to give updates throughout the journey. All that depends on how tired I am after hours in the car, how willing the children are to get to sleep each night when we get to our hotel, if there is free wi-fi at the hotels we stop at along the way and if there is wi-fi at all in our little cottage in South Dakota!

Let the next adventure begin!