Road Life

Day 7: Rapid City, OH to Cody, WY

I do believe we have settled into road life. Anyone notice how I was able to focus on South Dakota and not the kiddos in my last post? Yeah, we've all gotten better at how this road tripping thing works. Our days begin around 6:00am when sunlight breaches the perimeter of the blackout curtains in our hotel room. I'd like to blame the children for our early rise, but it's me. Always me. The light wakes me up and I try to pretend it didn't. I try to squirm back under the covers and tell myself they are not hotel sheets. But it is of no use. I know they are hotel sheets and so I am never fully comfortable. I walk to the bathroom as quietly as I can and when I open the door to try to sneak back into bed unnoticed, I am greeted by Ruby who sleepily says, "Mommy? Breakfast." Then the dog wakes up. Then Leo. Last of all, Pauly.

We grab breakfast in the hotel lobby. Waffles, always waffles. A half cup of "coffee" to keep the edge off until we can find the nearest Starbucks. An unforeseen event took place on our very first morning of the trip that has now become a regular feature: Explaining to the kids what they are watching on the news as we eat breakfast. We never watch TV at breakfast and I rarely watch the news with the kids at all because, well you know, "If it bleeds, it leads." I find that I also have to explain the commercials since the kids are mostly used to commercials in between kid shows and not grown-up shows.

Leo: Mommy, why are those doggies so sad and in those cages?
Me: Oh. Those doggies are in need of help and rescue.
Leo: Why are they all so sad?
Me: (swallowing a piece of waffle hard) Well, unfortunately... those dogs have been... mistreated and/or hurt and are in need of loving families to help them get healthy and be safe.
Leo: Was Lucy in a cage like that before?
Me: No, not Lucy. She was a puppy when we got her and was only in a crate for a little bit at the pet store.

I got up to get coffee and came back to this-

Leo: Mommy, those children on the TV have nothing to eat.
Me: Yes, my sunshine. Those children have nothing to eat. This is a commercial to ask people to send money to help them get food.
Leo: Why don't they have any food?
Me: (considering this teaching moment) Well, not everywhere in the world is like here. In some places, like the places in the commercial, the land in which those children live for some reason cannot produce the food they need because of drought or famine or other reasons like that. And sometimes it is because access to food resources is limited due to poverty or corruption of ...
Leo: Hey mom, look!!! Ninja Turtles!!
Me: Wha? ... Oh yes, Ninja Turtles.

And with that, we finish up breakfast, make our pilgrimage to Starbucks (thank you dear friend who gave us the generous gift card!), and hit the road. Pauly and I listen to the "Freakanomics" podcast. Leo gets to play his iPad and Ruby has happily been entertaining herself with "Pinkalicious" and "Fancy Nancy." When those cease to amuse her she sings to herself and watches the world go by out her window. After a couple hours we grab lunch where the locals eat and get back on the road. I pop in a movie for the kids and when that's done they either fall asleep or we talk, play games or sing to the radio together. All along the way we "ooh" and "aah" at the changing landscape. We arrive at our city of the night, unpack and then hit the town or park to see the sights.

We arrived in Cody too late in the evening to drive into Yellowstone last night so we settled for an awesome steak dinner in a saloon instead. BEEEEEEF. Wyoming was a sure change from South Dakota. The heavy overcast for much of the day probably had something to do with it. Wyoming just felt stark and bare and somehow more lonely at least for the first 3/4 of the drive. But that's okay. I love melancholy, too.  The landscape definitely changed as we drove and suddenly we found ourselves climbing snow topped mountains and were alternately driving between clouds and sunny skies with each curve around the mountain. We left the mountain and the terrain changed again, but this time the sun lit the sky to reveal what to me looks like true cowboy country. This is where I imagine cowboys and massive herds of cattle making their way against the elements and I hear John Mayer's "Badge and Gun" playing in my head ...

"Give me my badge and gun, give me the road that I may run, give me that peaceful wandering free I used to know... Give me my badge and gun, give me the songs that I once sung, give me those jet black, kick back lay down nights alone. The house is safe and warm but I was made to chase the storm, taking the whole world on with big ol' empty arms."

On an unrelated note, this meandering about the country has made me consider more the importance of states rights and local governance because the life I'm seeing being lived out among the middle is vastly different from anywhere I've been on either coast. Not talking about any specific issue. That is all I'm going to say about that.