L'aventure américaine

We have now been in Indiana for a week, but it has flown by. Life with two kids takes more effort than life with one and I feel like i am juggling diapers and tantrums and Mickey Mouse dolls galore. How did people have seven?! We are slowly moving into our rental as well as looking at homes to buy. Randal earns the money and I try not to spend it all. And my parents continue to do more than their fair share of work and childcare to help make this transition comfortable. Alas, I guess that I am THAT millennial who moves back with her parents.  Cute kids make up for it though?

Well, we projected it would take a week and it did. We pulled into my parents’ driveway yesterday around 3:30pm or so. Marian cried for the last fifteen minutes of the drive and Milo was so excited to see his dad. (A quote from him: “when I get to Indiana, I won’t have to miss my dad anymore.”) It was good to arrive, but will take some time to settle in. For now, I appreciated today- the first day with nothing to do in ages. My body appreciated it too and decided to saddle me with a cold that has been waiting until I take a break evidently.  It’s good to be here and have the family together. It is hard to be so far away from our Oregon home. 

It’s our last night in a hotel tonight and I think we are ready to arrive in Indiana. Milo has been doing so well, but this time of so much change is wearing on him. Marian is tired of the car. And you can tell that mom and I are wearing down.  We left Kansas today and made it most of the way through Missouri. They are not interesting states to drive through and we didn’t even make it the usual six hours. (Just a little over five). That leaves a bit more to go tomorrow than we had anticipated.  My friends got together tonight in Klamath and I was envious. As we drive further from Oregon, it becomes more real. And sad. It will be good in the end, but for tonight... I hated not being with such fabulous women. To close- these adorable kids watched each other for awhile tonight before bed. (Before they both became incredibly clingy... blurg ...) and now hopefully they sleep. 

Normally I write this post while waiting for Marian to go to sleep, but everyone slept through the night including my little eight-week old. I guess that keeping everyone up to finish a movie was a good choice.  Yesterday (day five of our adventure) was a success. We had a wonderful breakfast, made by Dominic who seemingly did not want to go to work, and Milo and Liliana ran around getting some energy out. It was great to have a place for him to play as well as a new friend.  But, we hit the road with Salina, KS as the goal. It always starts off well, but that last stretch is a rough one. Marian was not in the mood to be in the car yesterday for sure. We had lunch at Steak n Shake (not a great choice if you don’t buy meat, but the shake was delicious) and made it to our hotel around 6pm in one time zone (I’m not sure which).  I ordered takeout from a restaurant with great reviews and sent mom on a harrowing trip to get it (oops!). But the food was delicious and we enjoyed...

It’s technically day 5 of the journey, but I hope to go back to sleep, so we’ll still call it day 4. (I think; days get hazy on the road when you’re sleep deprived.) We had a shorter day of driving and it was great. We made it to Denver mid-afternoon and stopped at my friend’s house: Jon, his husband, Dominic, and their daughter, Liliana, who is just a few months younger than Milo. It was wonderful to walk to a park, do laundry, and spread out. But, best of all, it is great to catch up with Jon and his family. It feels like a very decadent stop on our journey east.  It also feels quite sad as we make the move from the West to the Midwest. Slowly going home and saying goodbye to dry air and big sky. 

It is almost ten o’clock and both kids are awake while hopefully mom is sleeping. Milo is quietly singing “slippery fish” to himself in bed where he takes up the majority by snuggling right up against his grandmother.  I have reminisced about how different this trip is than any other. Six hours is about the max that we can to before we all have meltdowns. Rest stops take 30 minutes to an hour. For example, this rest stop experience: 1) we stop to go to the bathroom and for Marian to nurse. I stay in the car with Marian as she nurses for awhile. Mom and Milo run around and go to the bathroom. 2) Marian throws up all over me. 3) mom changes Marian and I take Milo back to the bathroom so that I can change clothes. 4) I have to feed Marian again since her stomach is empty from all the vomit. 5) five cars come and go in the time it takes us to finish. 6) we finally drive away.  It’s a far cry from those marathon drives of the past.  But, nevertheless, it is an adventure and th...

We had intended to stay in Salt Lake City tonight, but after seeing a sign that announced it was still 230 miles away at 3pm, we adjusted our expectations and are staying in Wendover, on the border of Nevada and Utah. Good thing too as both kids were melting down starting about 12 miles outside of Wendover.  It is beautiful, but desolate out here and we certainly have to plan our stops since they’re so far and few between.  Throw a little toddler stress-induced constipation in there and you’ve got an adventure on your hands. Whoo-hoo!

Today was the first day of our trip across the country (technically yesterday was as it is 3am on day two, but I am hoping to fall back asleep and have day two really start at a more reasonable hour).  It seems like a fitting moment to restart the blog and share photos of this trip.  Leaving Klamath has been very hard. It is a bittersweet experience in general, but this week has been more bitter than sweet. Over the last six years, Randal and I have developed spectacular friendships. We have aligned with so many community oriented people and worked together on so many projects. We have learned so much from the joy of kids to the loss of Stephanie to the weighty decision of when does family trump career and friendships.  It is the right decision to move home, but it wasn’t an easy one. But, if I ever considered changing my mind, I certainly couldn’t now after Mom spent six weeks packing my house and is now embarking on this cross country journey with a 3 1/2 year old and a...