Travel Log: Arrival and hanging out in Crab Orchard, NE

Our second day of travel on Sunday was an early start, and we were actually ahead of our schedule. This was completely unintentionally, as anyone who knows me also knows Im incapable of being on time. Ever. But I got lucky, because we pulled out of South Bend, IN at 5:30am (slated departure time was supposed to be 5am. See? Told you!) and once we were on the road just a short while, our clocks turned back an hour! Sweet! I LOVE the Central Time Zone.

By the second day, the kids had found some sort of rhythm and were still miraculously NOT Killing one another. Success. We only hit one small glitch. I say it was small, because I wasnt driving at the time. But due to the unfortunate flooding in the Midwest, our route was closed. And the GPS decided to test our trailer pulling skills and redirected us into the heart of Omaha.  Luckily, midwest cities don't seem as congested and tightly drawn as east coast cities. We made it out alive and in one piece, which is always preferred. Although, once we made it to the Payton residence in Nebraska, my resolve to remain in one piece would be tested again.

We pulled in, and got settled into our spot in the driveway next to the guest house. We determined that the older kids would stay in the "big house" but that my smaller boy would stay with me in the trailer. This has worked out great every night except the first night, when we knew storms were on their way. Now, just like cities are different out here, I've quickly learned that storms differ greatly as well. And so does the reaction of people who live here in Nebraska. Versus, let say, me. Who was scared out of my mind.

We got thunder and lightning first, which I didnt love but I can handle. Then came the golf ball sized hail. See below. Ignore how freakishly red Sean's hands are. In my haste to take the picture, I didnt fix my settings on the camera. And he turned into a lobster somehow.



Once the bulk of the storm passed, or so I thought, I retreated to the trailer to get some sleep. Somehow, riding in a truck and doing nothing really took its toll on me.

Needless to say, I got no sleep that night. I had been asleep for maybe an hour when the second half of the storms landed. And as I laid in bed, all I kept hearing was boyfriend's earlier observation on the weather scanner that tornadoes were touching down all around us. And I was having visions of the trailer being Wizard of Oz'ed right off the ground. Because let's be frank... tornadoes seem to zone right in on trailer parks. Every single time. That was all I kept thinking all night, until finally the rolling and rocking of the trailer got to be too much. So I grabbed my little man and ran like the wind over to the big house at 3am, through the mud and rain and lightning. See lightening below:



Thankfully, every day since has been ridiculously lovely, as it has been every time I've been in Nebraska. The sunsets are amazing, and I am lucky to have a set of inlaws out here that I adore. And by that, I mean that they are not MY inlaws (which is probably why I like them so much). But job well done to my best friend for picking such great inlaws.

Next up is Omaha tomorrow and Lincoln of Friday! Im excited to explore and see what they both have to offer. Not to mention I get to see my blogger/real life buddy Chandra on Friday, who is the lovely author of the Earthfood Experiment (link is over on the right!).  In the meantime, here's a small example of everything I get to see each day here in Nebraska. Which would explain my very half assed blogging this week. I'll try to be better!! But we all know that focus is just not my thing. Relaxation? Yes, I excel at that.