Roving Cooks

And we’re off! I kept intending to take more pictures of the “getting ready” phase…but ultimately was too focused on actually getting ready. We pulled out of Cedar Grove on Saturday January 9 at 12:04 pm after a late night of working through the last items (things like pack the shampoo after a last, really long shower) and the miscellaneous items (like the seemingly endless supply of cords); and a full morning of packing the final boxes for under-the-RV storage and a final run to the storage unit to drop off things that didn’t make the cut. Special thanks to Nana who hosted Grayson and Madelyn for Friday night sleepover night!

Day 1: Destination – Iowa CIty, IA. 300 miles. Estimated time: 4.5 hours. Actual time: 5 hours, 2 stops. States: Wisconsin -> Illinois -> Iowa
The kids overall did great. Madelyn was overtired and worked up a cough after snacking, convincing herself that she was “coming up with a cold”, but did finally doze off. Grayson commandeered the men’s room for about 20 minutes at stop #1; thankfully Greg convinced him it was not ok to remove all clothing onto the floor and…I think…apologized to the line that formed throughout the gas station. Jackie and Greg learned what DEF is after the truck warning sounded.
Night 1: Radisson Cedarville (we’re doing hotel/house nights until we get south to de-winterize). Excellent gymnastics showing by Grayson from one bed to another. Area of improvement: children sleeping in their own bed.
Day 2: Destination – Omaha, NE. 248 miles. States: Iowa -> Nebraska
We left Iowa City after breakfast and stopped in Altoona, IA to see the Moai Dude (found on the Roadside Attractions Map) and get some wiggles out. We arrived at Nana and Papa’s house in Omaha mid-afternoon and were glad that we had the “extra” set of blocks to level out the RV on the sloped driveway.

Days 3-7: Hung out at Nana and Papa’s house. Greg and Papa Doc worked for the week, while Nana and Jackie had fun with the kids. Monday we had the Omaha Zoo practically to ourselves, and it is amazing! Madelyn was determined to see the tiger, so that’s the direction we headed. Along the way, we went through the desert, gorilla house, and my favorite – the sea lions, who spent a few minutes playing with the kids. Wednesday night the kids had mac & cheese movie night with Nana while Jackie & Greg jaunted up to (North) Sioux City, SD for a night and joined the ~885K Americans with SD residency. Yay!

We head south for the winter Saturday, January 16!