Alright already!

WOW!!! It is so nice to know I am missed. :) I have been having fun in Wyoming, and flexing with life. I have to laugh at how many times I've said "the plan is..." and then had to write about how the plan was changed. Once again, the Lord had a better idea in mind than I did.

We left Yellowstone before 8am on Monday, like originally planned. (Yeah!) I still didn't have any propane because at 7:30 in the morning, nothing was yet open. I figured that my fridge and freezer would be OK until I got to the interstate and could find a place to refill the propane tanks. The girls had woken up, grabbed some blankets and buckled into the truck for an almost 9 hour drive - and for what would probably be a 12 hour day.

My GPS kept trying to take me south through Yellowstone, out a park entrance that isn't even open for another month, so I decided to follow my Google Map directions instead. How odd it felt to drive north and east when I was trying to get home in southwestern California! I did enjoy the drive through the hills and mountains just north of Gardiner, MT, we even spotted 3 hot springs right outside of the town!

As I rounded a shaded curve, and emerged into the sun, my phone rang. "Kraig" is what was announced on the LCD screen. Cool! I was excited to tell him that I was actually leaving on time, and hoped to get to the Smith's home well before midnight. Insert change of plans here... Poor Miss Sierra, their youngest daughter had not been feeling good, and was staying home with a stomach ache. Oh, no. There is no way that I wanted to expose all 4 of my girls to a stomach bug. I'm sorry, but vomit is disgusting, and it would be 'horror movie worthy' if they were to get sick while in the trailer! So I decided to keep driving, but would keep my options open.

The drive was great! This time there was little wind as we crossed Montana and Wyoming. What wind there was ended up being a tail-wind! We stopped for breakfast and COFFEE in Livingston, MT and kept going. We found propane at a Flying J truck stop, and kept going. Our lunch stop was fun, we raided an Albertson's grocery store and then cooked corn dogs in the trailer for the girls to munch on while I looked at our map and campground directory. Yup, Sierra had succumbed to the flu, and I wasn't going to chance a visit to the Smith's home.

What a bummer it was to have to tell the girls that they would not see their friends in Cheyenne. The "Bigs" were already upset with me, because we had not managed to hook up with friends in Chicago. The girls were really getting tired of each other at this point, and had been looking forward to seeing Kayla and Sierra.

So, we continued south and stopped for the night in Casper, WY. Because of our early start, we were able to pull in relatively early for us (6pm), still light enough for the girls to enjoy the playground while I cleaned up the trailer a bit. I was able to talk to my mom and sister while hooking up for the night, sweeping the floor, and washing the dirty dishes that had piled up since I had run out of propane to heat the water to wash them.

As I was dozing off to sleep after playing around on the internet and downloading another book to listen to, I hear a beep from somewhere above my head. Hmmm. OK, what is going wrong now? *giggle* I was relieved to see my phone blinking to let me know I had a text message. Jennifer had sent a message to let me know that Sierra's fever had broken and she appeared to be on the mend. COOL! I text messaged back that we would head their way in the morning. Only AFTER arriving at their house did I learn that Jenn's message had come from Kraig's phone. So when I replied to the original text message, it woke him up! Oops.

How awesome it was to wake the girls up with the news that we would get to see the Smith's. So, the Lord had other ideas, and our plans have shifted one day. No biggie. At this point, I'm pretty good at rolling with the punches and making last minute changes. Hey, it keeps life interesting, right?

So, the girls and I have been hanging with the Smith's since Tuesday afternoon. We've been staying at the Governor's house, I'll have you know. :) The Smith's are renting the Governor's personal house while the Governor and his wife enjoy the mansion during his term in office. We've been able to meet Milo, the newest addition to their family. Milo is a sweet, lovable dog with gorgeous white and bridle markings. He has adapted quite well to two nutty goldens arriving on his turf. Poor dog just wanted to go to sleep tonight, but Abbey and Eli kept playing musical beds and Milo couldn't get onto his pillow. He is such a polite host!

Tomorrow the entire crew, Smith's and Stringer's will head to Colorado Springs. Different reasons, same destination. I doubt I'll have a good internet connection, but will try to get some pictures and words about our visit here up onto the blog. I learned today that the Lord has truly been protecting me on our drive. More on that tomorrow, but for now... Good night!