rolling me down the Highway

We headed out to the Northwest, but first seeing some sights and some family.

My sister and her husband and 3 boys live in Bismarck ND, its been almost a year since I have seen them, and her boys keep getting bigger.  We drove as far as we could but traveling with a puppy means stopping way more frequently than we would need to .  Aaron didn't mind getting to stretch his 6'4  legs out though.  I found myself struggling with the natural traveling mindset, of make really good time so stop less and stop fast. Even though we had agreed to just take it easy and not to rush ourselves.  Aaron did it much better than I did, but I am really glad we took our time. We stopped in Sioux  Falls to check it out, and I was pleasantly suprised. It  was much bigger than I expected and we had really good weather, not to mention the amazing Blueberry waffle ice cream I got there.  We got back on track and 20 min. later we hit a Thunder storm in SD which normally would be fine to drive in except our wipers don't go very fast and the bug juice was smearing to a blur.  There was also construction on the Interstate... forcing us to drive 2 lanes with fellow truckers driving straight at us and their wind current felt like we would tip over every time.  The stress was too much so at the next rest stop we pulled over and waited it out.   

We made it to Fargo by 1:00 am, and we still had 4 hours to Bismarck, we decided to stop at a truck stop.  We were hesitant seeing how a van with a pop up parked in the middle of the night would seem vulnerable. we decided to not pop up the top and sleep in the lower part... except all of his screen printing equipment was on the floor. so I spread a small place over the top to curl up on.. and Aaron bridged the two bucket seats. Needless to say we only slept 4 hours, we left by 5am and I fell asleep by 5:45:) but Aaron let me sleep.  We made it to Ashlies by 9:30 and had breakfast and Aaron passed out. 

Traveling has really made us stretch our limits, we can really appreciate the comforts of a home.  

Day One and he isn't packed...

I was attending my good friends wedding the eve of our departure, and he was spending time with his family.  We hadn't really spent time together the last week we were in springfield, since we had so many people we wanted to see before we left.  I slept uneasily only because of nerves for our trip, and in the morning I woke to find that he had all his packing to do!! I kept my cool seeing how I was going to spend the next so many hours inside a van with this man.  I helped him go through the things he was keeping and giving to his brother, all in all after cleaning up the room we were living in, we had the van packed and ready to go by 11:00. Our goal was 9 but, "this is our vacation" he says:)  After taking my car to my dads to spend the summer, we said one last goodbye to the great Mudhouse, and left springfield by 1:00. 

After a few phone calls to my grandmother who was expecting us by 12:00, I could relax.  

Traveling in an older vehicle has its own set of stresses, since she leaks transmission fluid and oil, we have to keep a close eye on both of them every few stops for gas.  We arrived at my grandmothers in KC around 4 and my usual tardiness didn't surprise either of them, in fact my grandfather Darrel had already called it earlier that day.  After a wonderful dinner with non other than the broccoli and cheese casserole and potato salad, the boys went to the porch and grandma and I had a gossip session.  They really took to our puppy Frigg, who was bouncy around off of their furniture, and we settled in for the night.  

My alarm went off at 6:00 and i hit snooze but good ole grandpa's fist was banging on my door by 6:15, so i was forced to stay on our timeline.  We were greeted with fresh pancakes and juice before we left for ND. There is nothing quite like a visit to my grandparents. 

the beginning of the end..

Before we take off we have a lot of goodbyes that have to be said. They weren't easy, in fact I cried at every one of them. Here is an ode to those who we will miss dearly but will always love.

Nights at Black Box Revue with the coolest girl in the world Nikki....

weekends when Kim is in town, sweetest girl in the world....

Playing with my niece Harlie who is the most fun....

and cuddling my baby nephew Anderson......

talking to my sister Shelby who has the biggest heart...

playing putt putt with these two champs....

Aaron and his brother Jayson...

and his best friend Travis....

hanging out with Gwen and Phillip ..so much fun....

So many that i do not have photos of especially my parents...

 we will miss you all sooo much but will have many stories..

love

Brittany and Aaron

p.s.

these pics are in opposite order:(

Oh oh its magic...ya know

It finally happened we had been waiting 2 months for this day and it finally came. We now had the money to purchase the van of our dreams, and we werent disappointed. We picked her up and cruised around town all night, stopping for Bambino's and listening to rap on our new sound system.  We are now set to take off on our journey across the states to a new home, with new people and I excited, but scared at the same time. 

It should be fun...lets see

Planning

It feels like forever that we have been planning this trip/adventure. Here it is the 6th of May and we still don't have our vanigan. Though it is almost paid off, we are cutting it pretty close. The plan is, once we have the van, to load it up with our bare living essentials, and take off to Boise Idaho.. by the way of Robert Pirsig and his son. This is definitely the biggest adventure I have ever attempted. It doesn't quite seem real yet, This blog was formed for the sole purpose of documenting every moment... (worth mentioning that is) of our journey. But if there is anyone interested in following please feel free!!