Arrived...finally

After what felt like too much driving, I finally drove up my parent's driveway. Over 1500 miles and about 6 hrs of sleep.

I left Mn, ND after 10:30 pm and drove until Miles City, Mt. where I slept for almost 2 hrs in the car, and than drove again until Bozeman. It was perfect. The kids' slept the entire time and I covered most of the boring stuff at night. Later, we visited the ph 2.5 balanced lake of Anacada mine (it is an old strip mine that they are letting fill back up with water) in Butte. The best part of that day was our visit to an old mining Ghost Town in the mountains. The road was scary, but my car did very well. It was one of those logging/back mtn. roads that start out nice and pretty, but you turn up a corner and find yourself hugging the cliff on a narrow rocky road with absolutely NO WHERE to turn around. It was great! If I had had a truck or SUV (in good condition) I'd have been going faster than 5-10 mph. :) And, Hannah was loving the view!

When we arrived at the parking lot you had to walk down a path, and it was like stepping back in time. The air smelled of pine needles and the path was soft under our feet. You could also hear the buzz of working bees on the wild flowers. Neat. The kids' had an awesome time walking through all the old buildings and making up stories of this and that. They loved it! They said it was better than playing at a playground.

Thankfully a volunteer at the old town told me of an easier way to get off the mountain, and we made it back to civilization in quick (safe) time. We went to a lovely park in Missoula that is along the river and hosts an absolutely fabulous old-fashioned merry-go-round. It is fast too! So, the kids' played in the park and we went around the merry-go-round a few times.

The town of Missoula is amazing. I love the vibe there! I'd be very content to live there. There are three amazing kayaking/fishing rivers nearby and the town is crawling with bicyclists, hikers, runners, and college students. A Starbuck's agent told me that people often arrive to go to UofM and never leave. I think that if I lived there, Mark would never have to worry about me again. I'd have so many women-friends of like interest that he might become concerned I was changing my "status". (a joke)

Than after we left Missoula the tough part came. I was working on only 2 hrs of sleep. I'd drive until my eyes crossed, than find a SAFE place to pull-over and sleep until I woke (averaged 1.5 hrs) and drive again. Repeated this until I hit Umatilla, OR and than just drove until I got home. When I finally went to take a nap, I slept until 9 the next morning!

Well, I'm glad to be home and off the road. Kid's are adjusting to the pollens/animal-duff and other various forms of aerial pollutants. We have Hannah junked up on allergy medicine (alternative and non-alternative alike), Natty is "always" hungry, and Noah is just kicking it around. He already went rafting down the river today.

Later.