Woke up this morning and looked out the back window of the hotel room… I am so glad I moved the Highlander behind the U-Haul last night!!! I was afraid it might not be there when I woke up!

It was a bit drizzly as we exercised the dogs this morning, but not too bad. Woke up to more poop and pee… Yippee! That makes 7 out of the 10 dogs that just let it go! I am so immune to the smell I think I’ll quit buying my Old Spice deodorant and just splash urine on me in the morning! It seems we never really got into a rhythm this trip. My April crew made it with no troubles at all. Then again, I am traveling with more geriatrics.

As Kim was putting the last Frenchie in the car before breakfast, a father and his 3 boys came out of their hotel room packing shotguns. I thought she was going to freak out. She really needs to get used to country life! Right after that a family of 7 came down the stairs dressed in their Sunday best. My oldest daughter, Alyssa, looked at me and stated they must be going to a dog show! I couldn’t help but laugh and told her they were most likely going to church as it was Sunday. She balked and said I was wrong as they were piling into a big red dog van! Funny,,, Reality for one is so different for another. I bet I’ll be paying for therapy at some point in life for her! We were excited to go to the restaurant for our “free” breakfast provided by the hotel. As we were overflow, we ended up in the bar under a Dewar’s sign and a martini photo. I guess this isn’t Disneyland! When the food arrived I probably would have had better luck eating the tops of one of our cardboard boxes in the van.

After breakfast, I was happy to make it to the Starbucks this morning for my breve latte (a latte with steamed half-and-half instead of milk) and for the ability to log on to the internet. Amazing how we have become accustomed to this tool. What ever did we all do without it before?

We traveled 30 minutes in front of all of the major wind and thunder storms throughout Nebraska and Iowa today. We just missed 2 tornados that apparently touched down near Des Moines. Thank goodness for XM radio and the weather channel! I have to say I was a bit unnerved through the whole event as Alyssa pointed out the start of funnel clouds as we moved down the highway. At least she learned something in Science this year!

I received a very nice call from Ryan Chambers of Sunnybrook Kennels near Iowa City, Iowa with an offer to run the dogs on his property. Had we been in the local area we would have stopped in a heartbeat as the dogs would have loved it! I bet they are sick of being cooped up just like the rest of us. It is generosity like this that reminds me how wonderful Labrador breeders are!

Amazingly enough we made it to Indiana tonight. I was determined to get past Chicago today no matter what. If my calculations are correct, we should be at the farm by tomorrow night. Kim still thinks we are not going to arrive until Tuesday! Won’t she be surprised!

Every day we all ask each other what our favorite part of the day was. As I reflect on today’s events, I think we all agreed it was shopping at Cabelas in Nebraska today. I bought 2 jackets (Gortex and Down) on clearance that were killer deals. One was originally $300 that I got for $49.95 and the other was originally $240 that I got for $35 bucks! I have to admit after sales like that I could give a crap about cleaning out the crates this trip!!! I just love a great deal!

In all seriousness, I am amazed at the breed that we all have chosen to care for in our lives. These creatures have been through an ordeal and a half and still pop out of their crates happy and with a wagging tail. To them, the patch of grass in the back of the next video store or gas station is just another new adventure. Funny, I am finally seeing it that way too after traveling 45 hours and more than 2/3 of our trip.

As I get ready to crawl into bed with my clothes on again (I have been way too tired to get the luggage down from the Thule at night) I look over at my sleeping wife and children (who by the way have argued most of the way!) and realize it will all be worth it. I can only hope this night’s 4 hours of sleep will feel like 8 hours given the distance I plan to cover tomorrow.

My final post will hopefully be tomorrow night from the farm. You can bet I’ll be “hitting the sauce” as I brought some killer Pinot and Merlot from the “other” coast. You know, I believe I have earned it!

Cheers,
Michael

Bud, you make it sound like a walk in the park! Ha!
Im glad all is fine, bet you count the inches before you are home! See ya!

Boy, I'm glad you made it to Indiana. Looking at the weather map this morning, I thought for sure you were in Chicago or St. Louis. They are having extremely strong winds and rain!! Maybe you will be ahead of the weather from this point forward. Best of luck with your travels, the scenery starts getting better now, lots of trees, and rolling hills, not as many mountains. Hope to hear from you in your safe haven in NJ

Michael, your travel blog has been enjoyable! Thank you for sharing with us. Good luck with the remainder of your travels. I bet the margaritas will taste devine once your are at your trip's final destination....HOME!

Safe Travels,
Aarone

I have enjoyed reading your blogs every morning. I really hate to see it end but in the long run we know it will! I worried about all of you last night when I was watching the weather. Glad to hear that you made it thru! Safe travels thru the rest of your adventure!

I hear exhaustion in this post ! Those dogs do need a good run , you are most welcome to stop here in God's country , NW ohio nothing but farm ground here, and open that van up and let the stink out !

All I can say is thank goodness for Starbucks! Hope you will be all snug in your own beds tonight!

Michael you should have been twittering this trip. But then you aren't suppose to text and drive.
I hope the last leg is uneventful.