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That Gwen. Girl knows how to Cracker Barrel.
Well we’ve officially been on the road for our road trip around the US for three weeks….with three weeks to go….and three kids in the car. (I know! We’re crazy!) But it’s been SO awesome thus far. There’s no way I can catch you up in one post so I’ll just tell a couple of stories from the road and then eventually give the big events their own posts and a longer update for my email newsletter subscribers (sign up here so you don’t miss it!)
We were in St. Paul, MN for two nights and y’all….I LOVED it. It’s such a gorgeous place and while I know my southern bones couldn’t last a winter there, I was tempted to stay forever. Not least of all because of the great time we spent with friends. We spent almost an entire day at the lovely home of Nell (of Whole Parenting). Our kids ran around and ate popsicles, Benjamin obsessed over their cat, and Nell and I could have talked forEVER.
She also set up a ladies night with some online friends I was dying to meet in real life and I wanted to stay up all night talking and eating Trader Joe’s Vanilla Meringues.
We went straight from St. Paul to Badlands National Park and ya’ll. YA’LL. It was incredible.
This is just an iPhone pic (sorry! I’ll grab the photos from my big camera when I have good internet again) so it can’t possibly capture the sheer awe of the Badlands. But it was truly incredible. The kids loved it, too.
Benjamin: “Well, this is definitely a wow!”
We drove way into the park to camp (because there’s a huge biker fest in South Dakota near Badlands and the other sites were packed and loud) and when we got to the site, it looked like Aslan’s Country. Just gorgeous.
Everything was idyllic until we got settled in our sleeping bags and heard the rumbling of thunder. Then the clear, beautiful evening turned into a torrential downpour. And not just rain, but WIND. Serious wind. Pull our tent stakes out of the ground wind. And lightning like I’ve never seen (and Florida thunderstorms are no joke.)
I definitely thought we were goners and were just going to get carried away on the wind if the lightning didn’t finish us off first. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I was so afraid. I prayed the Memorare the whole time and did a lot of involuntary trembling. Daniel was freaked out, too, but he pretended it was no big deal which gave me comfort at the time even though this morning he told me it was all a facade. It makes me feel better that I wasn’t just being a fraidy cat. Daniel doesn’t get freaked out by just anything so it must have been really something.
Benjamin slept through the entire thing (?!) and both of the girls fell asleep during the storm so apparently my trembling and frantic prayer didn’t scare them. Lucy did ask me why I prayed so much during the night when she woke up the next morning.
We just arrived for a brief stay in Casper, WY before going to Grand Tetons National Park! On to the next adventure, right? Hopefully with less terrifying weather.
Links:
A Six Year Journey: This Ain’t the Lyceum (Grab the tissues. Kelly is so awesome.)
Seven Reasons I Prefer Being a Mrs. Mom: A Knotted Life (This is a fun one from Bonnie. Although, being in the South, no child has ever called me Mrs. Stewart. Always Miss Haley. And according to regional etiquette, that’s perfectly polite.)
There Is No Pro-Life Case for Planned Parenthood: NYTimes
Sponsors:
Be sure to give some love to this month’s sponsor! They keep the lights on around here.
Wishing everyone a beautiful weekend!
Lots of love,
Haley
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“This is definitely a wow” — love that!
He’s a cutie
The Badlands are super gorgeous! And I have been there for some of that wind – it truly is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. We have a picture of my husband holding his jacket in the park – it’s standing straight out to the side. Glad you all are having a good time.
They were just incredible! And it was such a clear beautiful day…and then the storm came out of nowhere!
I grew up in Spearfish, SD but now live in Louisiana and seeing these pictures brings back such great memories! I hope you’ve enjoyed your time in my home state.
We loved it!
I remember being so surprised at how much I loved the Badlands! I’m looking forward to taking my kids sometime. Rapid City is kind of notorious for crazy thunderstorms… when we drove through during one I was freaked out a bit, but I’m sure it was much scarier in a tent!
It was one of the scariest things of my life. I’m glad the kids didn’t realize how terrifying the situation was!
The Badlands are so beautiful & otherworldly! We, too, experienced some crazy, tent-pole-snapping weather while camping there! Like you said, one minute the weather was gorgeous & the next minute this massive, crazy, swirling-cloud storm cell moved in & we were literally holding our tents up from the inside so as not to have them totally collapse on us form the wind/rain! While my husband & I wondered whether we were safer in the tent, in the van, under the van, or making a mad dash to the cinder block restroom facility so as not to be blown away by what we were certain was an impending tornado…our 2 littlest ones were lulled to sleep by the roaring weather. Amazing.
we loved spending time with you guys so much. The kids can’t stop talking about “the ballerina, big boy, and baby”–come back!!!
I would have braved that scariness to see a view like that. Even though storms scare me, I like the wildness of them. Back in 2004, my mom had to pull me back in the house because I was standing outside during Hurricane Charley watching the trees bend over to touch the ground. I am so jealous of you right now, even with small children in tow, because I have wanted my whole life to visit all of Laura’s places. Maybe in a few years! God bless and safe travels!
We camped at the Grand Canyon 10 years ago and got hit by a scary thunderstorm like that. There we were, camping under these HUGE trees and the lightening was insane. I was positive one of the trees was going to be struck and we would be crushed! I desperately wanted to make a mad dash to the car so we could sleep there but my husband (then boyfriend) tried to assure me we’d be ok in the tent. Thankfully we didn’t have kids then because I would not have been in a good mental place to reassure or comfort them!
South Dakota looks beautiful!