ARE WE THERE YET????????

Notice the all caps in the title. My friend Sharisa once told me that she felt like I was yelling at her because my emails were in all caps. I am yelling this time. Pioneers have been on my mind a lot on this trip because of all the historical sites we have been to on this trip. All I can say is that they covered 1200 miles in about 4 months and if I had to take a 4 month trip with my kids I would cry, scream, throw a tantrum, try to lose them, or leave them at a gas station. We need to be seperated and sent to our own rooms to decompress.

Which one of my funny Oregon friends put their Tamara Voodoo doll in the shower yesterday? Five miles before Oregon, Missouri it started raining. No kidding. Our entire trip we have had beautiful blue skies until Oregon, Missouri. It only lasted 20 minutes but it was enough to scare me into getting my flippers out. I have to say Missouri is really pretty though. Lots of trees just waiting to get their leaves and not as flat as Nebraska. I can see why the Mormons wanted to settle here. I can also see why Brigham Young didn't say, "This is the right place." in Nebraska or Wyoming.

Yesterday we went through Iowa, Missouri and now we are about five miles past St. Louis in Illinois. Our driving has dramatically changed. For the 900 miles through Wyoming and Nebraska I put the Chevy on cruise control at 82 and just drove passing a few cars and lots of semis. After we left Omaha yesterday morning is was quiet for a while but as soon as we got close to Kansas City the traffic piled up and didn't give up all the way to our hotel. We sat for 30 minutes in Hanniba, MO and didn't move. Columbus was crazy. We stopped there at 4:45pm to get gas and everybody had left work at 4:30pm. INSANE.

For about 18 years I have counted Utah drivers as the worst ever. It has only gotten worse with cell phones. A MAV driven by someone talking on a cell phone are you kidding me? (For all of you without books on Mormon slang, a MAV is a Mormon Assault Vehicle. Usually a Suburban driven by a teenage girl or a young mom with 6-8 kids in the back.) I was wrong. Utahans are not the worst drivers. St. Louis drivers top them. I can't even describe the feelings when I was crossing the bridge in downtown St. Louis that runs right next to the Arch. Three major freeways merge into one and the number of those funky old Oldmobiles with the added hydrolics bouncing past me at 80 mph was a little distracting. With the construction and everything I got lost. Right at that point Dane messed his diaper, Kale had to go potty - BAD, and the movie had just ended. We starting looking for anything familiar that would signal a safe place to get off the freeway. Thanks goodness for Lowes. We let KI go potty, changed Dane's diaper and found a very friendly clerk who actually lived in Illinois and just worked there in Missouri. She gave us better directions than Mapquest. Not hard I am learning.

Our drive yesterday should have been about eight hours including stops. It ended up about 11. Even Reagan, miss go with the flow Reagan, is OVER IT. We have changed our plans a little and Erron is meeting us in Nashville today. He didn't have anything else to do and honestly he is a life saver. We will stay there tonight and go on to Knoxville tomorrow. Tennessee State Museum here we come.

Kale's favorite part of yesterday was laying on the bed in the pioneer house at the Independence Visitors Center. Dane won't say what his part was because he just doesn't want to remember. Reagan's favorite part was the history stuff. We added five new states to our license plate list. Don't ask me what they are because we left the paper in the car.

We had our group hug this morning and now we are ready for breakfast.