Murphypalooza Day 11: Groundhog Day

After a first good night's sleep in the camper, last night was not-so-good.

We were quite happy to camp in a shady, wooded and breezy area because we are driving through a heat wave right now with daily temps over 100. So given our oasis of a camping spot, we went to bed last night in summer jammies, with every window open and it felt great. Until we froze. I have no clue how cool it got, but we were not dressed for it. We got up a hundred times to pull out more blankets for everyone (I resorted to towels at one point). And one by one, the windows were zipped up.


And yet, these kids are being so good. None of them complained about the temps and they all slept in. I love how resilient kids are. It was Mo and I who needed a boost this morning.

We used the stove for the first time to boil water for tea and cook pancakes. Then, after a very institution-like but much needed shower (I felt like I was showering on EAGLE again, but without as much stainless steel), we were on the road again. And FYI, active duty camps for free at Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds. High fives all around for Toad Suck.

We hopped on Route 40 West and just kept driving and driving. And today was the day. The monotony of driving, the scenery that never changed, the artificial feel of constant AC... none of us felt all that inspired. The closest thing to exciting was when we drove through Carrie Underwood's hometown, which we never would have known about except it was spelled out for us on the biggest state-made highway sign we saw. This is the "town":

 

Most everything else we saw looked similar. We couldn't even bare another fast food lunch so we stopped at a grocery store and had a picnic in Ozark, Arkansas.

Clearly, it's time for a break. So we decided to hang our hats in Oklahoma City for two nights, which means tomorrow we don't have to pack up and we don't have to drive much. Exciting! I'm looking forward to it almost as much as I am to seeing Isaac's face when we take him to the National Museum of the Cowboy.

But for now, I'm typing away while Xavier catches up on his Zs. Mo took the big boys to an old Route 66 drive-in theater... so we'll have to get the details on that adventure tomorrow. Good night!