Bismark ND

July 28, 2017

Weather: 85 and sunny (arrival at night 65 and moony)

Hours Driving: 16/17

States Drive Thru: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota

Miles: 1,118

Restaurants: Good Ol' Applebee's (actually my burger was yummy)

Movies: Rush Hour 1 & 2

Games: The Office

Books: Dream On Amber (liz), Red Herrings & White Elephants (Matt)

Hotel: Marriott

We hit the road a little later than we wanted to this morning but traffic wasn't an issue. Today was a long drive day. We put in a 17 hour drive. We have to be in Seattle by Sunday. We left around 7 AM. We hoped for 6 AM. It's more peaceful driving in the morning. The kids have been reading, doing some homework, watched a couple of movies and played a continuous game of The Office. We listened to a book, Paul had a couple of work calls and I slept a short time out of fear that Paul will ask me to drive. He's a trooper. But, when he gets tired, he has to stop. Have I mentioned his sleep disorder? Cinemarkalepsy. The inability to stay awake for a movie. He can drive for 17 hours but is snoring away 5 minutes into a movie. The struggle is real.

We had a nice peaceful drive today. It really hasn't been that bad. We ate blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins (gluten and dairy free and delicious, says all) for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch in the car. We stopped at Applebee's for dinner in Minnesota. Not my first choice but it was on the route and they had something I could eat. Everyone was a little slap happy at the table. A little embarrassing (for me anyway). The kid's mission in life now is to rip on Paul. They make fun of how long his stories are, his grey hair and his country music (I'm with them there). He is taking it well. He can dish it out, too. Though, my kids pretty humiliate themselves with little effort. With the exception of Elizabeth. Back to Applebee's, here's what I don't understand. Everyone knows how hard it is to get the darn electronics out of our kids hands these days, right? Why does Applebee's deem it necessary to put an electronic game on the table which Matthew glued himself to the second we sat down. Then, to add insult to injury, he managed to "unknowingly" say yes to purchasing the game that was later added to our bill. Honest to God. They make it that easy? Or...my kids are that....well, we won't go there.

We had 5 more hours to Bismarck, ND from MN to spend the night at our go-to Marriott. Day 1 down. Day 2 takes us to Bozeman, MT. It will be hard to be so close to Yellowstone and not go. They kids are begging to go. New adventures await us. See you tomorrow.Read more