WHEW! (Adam)

Wow, look at that, we missed a whole day due to travel! This technology thing adds a whole new entertaining dimension to roadtripping--looking for wifi hotspots whenever you stop to gas up or eat. Actually it's pretty ridiculous. Anyway, we didn't find any yesterday.

Right now I'm totally preoccupied with the awesome time we had today in the Badlands, SD, which I passed through on one of my trips cross-country to or from Seattle in the 1990s, and have always wanted to revisit--they are fantastic, enchanting, captivating, all of that, and I totally, completely recommend a visit. But first I'll try to recap from where we left off in Michigan.

We left Mackinaw City yesterday morning (really??) and drove across the Upper Peninsula to Wisconsin. In this part of the country they fancy a grab-and-go type of food called "pasties," which I saw so many signs for that I finally had to stop and get one--I was wrong, they weren't "pastries" with the R omitted, and Bethany was right, they are the British thing--a turnover with meat and potatoes and such inside. Good solid middle-American fare. (Pronounced with a short A--not like the less-than-bra things--but I forget which kind of short A.)

Anyway, Wisconsin went by with its farms and such, and Minnesota we experienced in the black of night, which is to say not at all. (To the guys at work--I gave a wistful wave in the direction of Iowa as we passed.) Same with the whole eastern and middle part of South Dakota--which has a 75 mph speed limit to recommend it. Finally we pulled off I-90 onto the Badlands Scenic Route sometime after 5 a.m., after about 1,000 miles and only a couple hours sleep for each of us--the grownups I mean--the kids sacked out in the back all night.

And speaking of the kids, let me just take a moment to state that they have held up far better on this trip so far than I ever imagined they would--really, really great. I don't know if that speaks to what natural couch potatoes my kids are, that they can sit around in the back of a minivan all day and not complain too much, or what--I'm sure it helps that my resourceful wife and mother-in-law bought and wrapped little gifts for them to open each day (talk about something that NEVER would have occurred to me). Meg is in a growth spurt or something, and asks for food about every 15 minutes, and Jed of course is naturally argumentative and wants to have a lengthy discussion about each individual decision that comes up, whether his opinion is solicited or not--and he also has an unnatural fear of stopping to eat at non-chain restaurants, or at chain restaurants he has never eaten at before--but on the whole the level of conflict has been lower than it sometimes is at home, which is amazing. So you should do this too--if your kids are as awesome as ours, and if you are as talented at parenting as we are. HA! Just kidding, believe me.

To close, before my next, all-Badlands-all-the-time post, we pulled off the Badlands Scenic Route as vague shapes were starting to loom in the distance, and both put our seats back to close our eyes for about 10 minutes before the kids woke up. Then we all got out and tromped into this otherworldly wonderland starting about 6 a.m. And right now, Bethany is sacked out in our Rapid City, SD hotel room as I sit by the pool while the kids splash around endlessly. We've crossed two time zones, so it's 6 p.m. or 8 p.m., depending how you look at it.

We love all the comments! Still waiting for one from Greg Feingold though.