Smooth sailing and wild riding

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Today is the first big driving day we attempted with our three kidlets. We have never driven 7 hours with them, and this will certainly set the stage for the other big drives we have coming on this trip. We got up early, determined to leave the campsite early, and actually left at 11 am.

It was a cool 62 degrees driving today and Joe redistributed our weight between the camper and minivan, which made driving much more smooth and Joe’s anxiety about breaking down less. The kids did beautifully. I was so proud of them. They all stayed in their seats for the mostpart, and they were entertained by 2 movies, books, and lots of drawing. Our kids are currently hooked on Star Wars, and I think I will be able to recite much of these movies word for word in a couple of months. The drive was at times very flat and boring. Joe kept on making jokes about how he was going to choose to go straight (which was the only option). He cracks himself up! In reality, there were parts of Wyoming where we did not see many other cars or people. I am amazed that these little towns can keep populated. Then we hit the Bighorn mountain range and the topography changed dramatically. All the sudden we were in mountains, hills and canyons. We drove over a pass that was just over 10,000 feet. Both Joe and I were psyched that our minivan made it.

We finally arrived at the Cody KOA at 6:15 pm. We were determined to make the Cody night Rodeo at 8 pm. What a great time we had with the kids. The rodeo was an authentic Western Rodeo held in an outdoor ampitheatre under the stars, with the mountains as a backdrop. There were cowboys, cowgirls, bucking broncos, bucking bulls, barrel racing and calf roping. Both Joe and I were impressed at the skill of the riders, the cowboys, and the clowns. It was very cool watching 2 cowboys who were in the arena the whole time manage the animals after the riders fell off. Some of the animals were very dangerous.

Ethan was wide eyed and kept thanking us for taking him to the rodeo. He loved it. Elise was somewhat engaged and Simone crawled about most of the time. At one point, the MC asked all the kids under 12 to come into the arena. Then, they let 2 calves out and asked the kids to chase them. There must have been 150 kids running after these two calves. Joe and I lost sight of Ethan and all the sudden we realized that he was at the front of the pack. He said that he can’t wait to tell his friends that he almost caught a calf at the rodeo.

The lead MC did a great job at telling corny jokes (which Ethan thought were hilarious) and of getting the crowd cheering. At one point, they asked everyone from Minnesota to yell and there were many more people from MN than I expected. Then, he asked everyone from California to yell and we all looked at each other and yelled as well. I guess we are actually easing into the idea that we are going to live in California.

Tomorrow, we are going into Yellowstone for 4 nights. There is a very good chance we won’t have internet so I will post when we emerge.

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