Day 1,2, and 3

Okay, so we get 20 miles from home, pull into the Walmart parking lot to return a redbox video, and liquid stuff starts shooting out of the engine! It was like a volcano, India said. Welcome to the world we Aderholds travel in! It's always something. After letting it cool down, Noah figured out what was wrong, and thankfully, Gary was able to buy a new hose something or other and fixed it. Yeah! It's sure nice to have him around at times like this!!!! :)
While the guys' heads were under the hood, we hiked over to Qdoba for one last hurrah before we left, then took off for the west to see my aunt and uncle. Nice visit. Then to the Black Hills. Stayed with a very very dear friend from high school - well - actually junior high and gradeschool as well. I've known Jenny all my life it seems. She oozes hospitality and I am blessed to call her my friend.

We are now in Rapid City - otherwise known as - tourist haven. We start our quest for spotting license plates by state. Each one has a map of the US and we will fill in the state as we see them. We have a couple days here, so we should get most of the nation filled in before we leave.
Our new passion - vegan smores! Well, okay, not entirely vegan, since the marshmallow we got were made with fish gelatin. But, they're kosher so it's all good. My boys had never had them before, so you can imagine how crazy they went for them. Who wouldn't?! We used 80% dark chocolate - talk about a caffine rush! I thought they'd be up all night, but about an hour later, the whole clan was snoring. Maybe it works in reverse for these guys. Um, I just had a thought - long car ride, boys fighting in the back seat, arguing, punching, tormenting each other - perhaps a little chuck of chocolate would take care of that right quick! Hey, maybe I'm on to something here . . .

We plan to see Gary's sister today, and her daughter who just had a baby. We were going to play tourist while we were here, riding the 1880 train, doing the President's slide, and what not, so we'll have to get that in tomorrow. Funny weather though. Normally it would be 95 degrees at this time, and it's been rainy and cool - today's high is to be 73 degrees. Strange. Very strange indeed.
But, I do love love love the hills and the pines especially. There is something about the smell of pine trees, I don't know. I can fairly drink it in. Maybe it takes me back to grade school, coming out here for church camp or something. Anyway, it sure brings about a sense of peace for me. And it's beautifully breathtaking to look at.

Well, I will quit for now. I'm told by my chatty daughter that blogs are to be short. You all who know me, know that is one thing I am not - short on words. But I will try not to be too long-winded - if I can. :)
Blessings,
jill

The eve of departing - are we nuts???

Pack, clean, sort, file, fix, and mow. Do the laundry, make the beds, water the plants, feed the cats, stop the mail, pay the bills and drop into bed from total exhaustion. Is this anyway to start a vacation???!!! Well, probably not, but it has to be, since we're extending this 'vacation' for who knows how long and we need to get our ducks in a row before we leave.
Imagine 6 people in 240 square feet of space for weeks on end.
Imagine 1 bathroom, a table that seats 4 and a refrigerator the size of a shoebox.
Imagine you are the mom of 3 growing, rowdie boys used to having 6 wooded acres to run amok in - confined to this space, along with 1 pre-adult girl who packed 15 text books for taking college classes on the run.
And imagine all this, in a suburban that will only go 40 miles an hour uphill!
Oh, I know. It's way beyond crazy.
So, the plan is to buy a diesel 4 door pickup that will pull our little home better and that will get more than 8 miles to the gallon of gas along the way.
And we also would like to actually get a larger home - say a 5th wheel, with beds enough for everyone, since the two little boys refuse to sleep together on the table that turns into a bed - and so the younger one opts to sleep in a sleeping bag - on the floor!!! It's great fun trying to get around that in the middle of the night for a run to the bathroom . . .
Is my hair completely grey yet??
Okay - so tomorrow - God willing - we will head west. We will stop in a little town in northern South Dakota to visit my dear aunt and uncle and then head for the hills. The Black Hills. You know, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Crystal Cave, buffalo and Deadwood; home of Wild Bill Hickock and more casinos than the plains have prairie dogs.
I will try to document our travels as we go, and try not to bore anybody.
But right now, I have to take a load of garbage to the dump and say good-bye to the four cute little kittens our psychotic cat just had a few days ago. Too bad we won't be around to coddle them and spoil them to human touch. I'm sure they'll turn completely wild by the time we return, as I expect my children to do as well.
So, farwell for now. As soon as we do something exciting and unusual, I'll let you know.
We're off to the badlands. No trees, no houses, and no cell service for 5 hours.
Can you say -are we there yet???!

Our travel blog!

This is India, typing for Jill (who is my Mom) but I just wanted to say HELLO!!! We are going on a trip this summer and here is a blog to post of our journeys. I hope you enjoy it, and comment if you feel like doing so. :)

God bless!!!

India (for Jill/Mom) :)