Midwest

Our first two nights were at a five star bed and breakfast. These were our hosts Hum and Craig.

Craig is Elsa's favorite, but Randi persevered and got a purr.

Guess where (hint, the gateway)?

Nestled in the heart of the Ozarks within earshot of the freight train lines.

Don't we look like we really know what we're doing?

We're on our way

We're on our way. Nine and a half hours of driving. Every time Randi drove it was a deluge. Every time Ann drove it was dry and sunny. Who has better karma?

Souvenir shopping for all our friends at the gas station/Arby's in Ohio. Which lucky friend will get the four foot doll? 

We've arrived in Indianapolis. They greeted us with warm colors.

Things are a little behind the times here in the midwest. Dinosaurs still roam. Here they are breaking out of the Children's Museum.

Cool glass archway in downtown Indianapolis. 

Oldest pub in the city. Great food. Good drinks. We didn't eat here.

What do you think of when you hear Indianapolis?

Woman turned to stone after spending too much time on her "to do" list.

Hey mom, what's for dinner?

Packing the car

The twins help to assess the situation. Too much stuff and too little car.

Can I bring my emergency radio?

Our packing consultant was worth the price!

I won't take up too much room :)

Putting up the tent!

Tonight we practiced putting up our new tent. Ann is a natural camper. While I read the directions (which are sewn in permanently to the tent bag for people like me) she just calmly put together poles, velcroed straps, and figured out all the nuances of the assembly. The challenge was that our front yard is a bit slanted but that didn't deter us. We even put the fly on! After it was assembled we brought Charlie into the tent and reveled in our accomplishment. Then came the hard part. Nowhere in the directions does it tell you how to fit the tent back into that little bag. They give you three easy steps that turned into 30 minutes of hell for us. Suddenly all the tent flaps and zippers and fly were a pile of ripstop nylon unable to be deflated! We sweated our way through folding and refolding and lying on top of the tent and then rolling the tent (like 10 times) and we persevered. The tent is back in the bag but the bag doesn't close. 

Booking hotels

Booking hotels and campsites is crazy. We use trip advisor and have now been scared away from hundreds of hotels. People who write hotel reviews revel in sharing gory details that include bedbug infestations, leaking toilets, mysterious stains on their pull-out sofa bed and rude employees. Most places begin to look like the Bates Hotel after perusing the reviews. Suddenly, sleeping in the back of the Suburu looks very appealing to us!

Getting ready

Here is what we will be visiting in 9 short days. Scenic views, beautiful lakes, and lots of hours of driving. We can't wait.