The Dakotas are great, but mess with my head a little

Well, we are here in South Dakota and it is great. This state has a lot going for it; the Badlands, the Black Hills and Custer Forest. We have enjoyed it all. The natural beauty is amazing. As soon as you enter the Dakotas you feel the Native American influence, which is no surprise since they have lived on this land for so long. I knew general info about Custer's last stand and Wounded Knee, but I think as a young girl sitting in American history class, I didn't grasp the magnitude of what happened here in these hills. What a shame. The killing of the Lakota and Sioux Indians was truly a horrible thing. I have been trying to wrap my head around how to speak about it to the boys. We went to a beautiful Lakota museum in Chamberlain, SD. We all learned so much about the Lakota, what they stood for and how they met with terrible injustice at Wounded Knee. I tell you one thing, it makes it a lot harder to be all psyched about the statues in Rapid City or the craziness that is Mt Rushmore. Yes, we drove by Mt. Rushmore and it was huge and impressive. But, we spent much longer at Crazy House, in deep respect for a monument going up to celebrate the first people on this land. Crazy Horse is bring built without any federal monies. It is going to be so beautiful when it is done.
I think Coltrane summed it up best, though.
ME: Hey, Coltrane, check out Mt. Rushmore. See, they carved the heads into that mountain.
COLTRANE:Mom, I think nature does a good job all by itself to make a mountain pretty.

Love that kid!

Survived our first midwest storm

We had the local radio station on
most of the night last night. Huge thunderstorms were coming through with hail, damaging winds and tornado potential. Eek! It was a little to the East of us, so we stayed put and hunkered down. It arrived at about 10pm. Damn, what a light show. The RV was rocking and not for a good reason, if you know what I mean. It passed after about 30 minutes and all was calm. Today we woke up to sunny skies and 85 degree weather. All is good.
Off to the Badlands today to stay at a campground in Interior, SD.
I forgot to mention the Corn Palace. We went there yesterday. So cool. Here are a pic or two.

He will be born in a small town in Iowa...

We have been checking out some funky places listed on the website, Roadside America. One of then was intriguing. It said " The future birthplace of Captain Kirk". What?!?!?!
Well, shit, we just had to check that out.
Come to find out that in a Star trek episode it mentions that Cpt. Kirk was born in a small, Iowan town in the year 2282.
The little ( and I mean, little) town of Riverside, Iowa must have thought " hot damn, we are sitting on a gold mine here!". They contacted the powers that be, who in turn agreed that Riverside was as good as any small Iowan town. There you have it. Cpt. Kirk will be born. We know this for sure. We saw the marker that says so!
Damn, i wish I could be around for the party that is going to happen in Riverside, Iowa in 2282!

Iowa- not just corn

Well, despite the incredible 100+ degree weather, we are loving Iowa. It is quite beautiful here. There are lots of trees and rolling hills, with gigantic farmland in between. We drove through some very small towns to get to the state park where we are staying. The towns had many Amish families and we saw many folks on their porch trying to escape the heat of their non air conditioned house.
Iowans seem to be a hearty bunch. There are folks in.jeans cooking over an open fire. We have spent a good part of the day in our RV listening to music,coloring, eating, playing video games, etc. Kids are happy, parents are happy. The heat is supposed to break tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be a chilly 89 degrees!

St.Louis

Wow-what a city! We have had the best time here. There was so much to see. The zoo in this town is incredibly nice and free. The otters and hippos were our favorites. We went to the arch and saw this really cool documentary about how the arch was built.  We saw the City Museum which was this magical place that I can hardly explain using words. It is full of found art and wackiness. It was like a strange dream inside. You can touch and climb everything, so it is art that is so opposite of a traditional art museum. The concept is awesome and the place is inspiring. If you are ever in.St.Louis you need to check this place out.
Man, so much is.St. Louis to see. The Townsends have been such awesome hosts. They have shown us so many of Alex's favorite places to eat, hang out, etc. I can totally feel Alex all over this place. Today we saw this big mural that was painted of Alex. It was beautiful.
I am going to try to post some pics of st.louis....

It was meant to be.

Kerri made the best stirfry last night, and the choice of beverage was unparallelled.

The guy at the fire-breathing-dragon store told us Stag beer was good for diabetics, too, since it has no sugar. In any case, it was damn fine lawnmower beer!

Steak and shake

One of my high school friends kept telling me about a chain in the midwest. We went today and holy yum. They had amazing burgers, fries and milkshakes. We got there during happy hour when all drinks are half price. Damn, it was good. Here is a pic of us enjoying our food and wearing silly hats.

When your kiddos discover Pink Floyds The Wall

So, we went to the rock an roll hall of fame a couple of days ago and it was cool. We saw some amazing stuff. They had a huge Beatles collection. By far, the boys favorite thing was the installation from the Wall. They had a huge brick wall with big puppets, etc from the movie and the tour. Very cool. The boys wanted to know all about it. Try to explain The Wall to a 5 year old, I dare you. Tis no easy task. When we got home that night they wanted to hear the album in its entirety. They loved it! They fell asleep to it. It was one of those special moments.... first steps, first words, first listening of The Wall. :)
PS I liked the Kim Gordon and Kim Deal sections. Everyone loved the Ziggy Stardust outfits, but how could you not?!?!
-kerri

Turning 40 in Erie!

My birthday has been great so far. We went to Presque Isle and rode on these really cool surrey bikes. Then, an amazing lunch. Carl and the boys surprised me with a chocolate dessert with a birthday candle at the cafe. Now we are going into the city of erie to look around. Back to the beach to camp out tonight. First week of the trip is over and I hope they are all as good as this one has been.

Carl and coltrane hang with sasquatch

First stop, the central leatherstocking region, to celebrate Coltrane's 8th!

We are in Blossville,NY for a couple of nights. We drove the RV through Hamilton College: look kids, this is where mom and dad first met! They were less than impressed. There has been so much construction there in the years since we graduated, that it was hard to recognize places. We drove by the house we used to live in, and had trouble figuring out just which one it was. Duh.
Anyway, Coltrane has rented a paddle boat for his birthday, and Emmett and I are patiently awaiting our turn out on it. Happy birthday, Coltrane!

July 4th!!!

Happy Independence Day!
We made it to Carl's Dad's place in Fairhaven, VT. He and his partner run a BnB out here. The kids are in heaven. It is warm and sunny outside and there is cable and video games inside. Life couldn't be better.
We are here for a couple of nights. Tomorrow we are going to head to the Great Escape amusement park in Lake George, NY. We have free passes because the kiddos took part in a reading program with 6 Flags. It is supposed to be 85 degrees and sunny tomorrow with moderate humidity. Sounds amazing!
On Wednesday we visit my Grandma and the boys' great grandma who lives in Rutland, VT. Then, we are off to Erie, PA by way of upstate NY. Not sure where we are staying in NY yet, but we both think it would be fun to find somewhere to park at Hamilton. We have to take the kids through the Glen and show them our old haunts.
- Kerri

Leaving in two days.

Well, the time has come. We will be driving away from the house and town that we have lived in for 7 years. EEK. I think we are all up and down with emotions. It is super exciting to be going on this adventure, but also sad to be leaving such good friends and family that live all around us.
The house is an empty shell and the RV is looking sweet. I feel at home in the RV already. The kids seem to love it. I made spaghetti dinner in the tiny kitchen last night and we all ate at the tiny table and it totally worked out.
Our first stop is Fairhaven, VT, where Carl's Dad and partner live. After that, off to central NY with a stop at our alma mater- Hamilton College. Then, we are going to party in Erie, PA with some of Carl's high school and college friends. We will also be celebrating Coltrane's 8th and my 40th (!!) Birthdays. That is about how far we have gotten with the " plans".

Clay Away!

Dede knows what is good! Thanks for the clay, I foresee much sculpting in our futures.