And So Began The Rest Area Tour....

Iowa was the next state to go through before getting to Minnesota, and it was for me the most difficult state to pass through. It was cold and raining when we pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot in Des Moines late that night and since we weren't paying for camping that meant we got to eat out. We had Fuddruckers for the first time in TEN years, and it was even better then we remembered it, and I could hardly believe we spent no more than we'd normally spend at McDonald's. Anyway, what was so difficult was that I wasn't going to get to see any of my unschooling friends. I stressed enough all the way from Albuquerque to Lubbock that we didn't stop and see Sandra and now Des Moines is making me feel like the worst friend ever. To my defense I did try emailing Heather from my cell phone but I don't think she ever got it. We always have the best intentions on seeing folks as we travel through, but we're on a mission this trip and just can't spare the time, or the extra gas mileage to go a little out of our way.

We're both using diesel which is averaging $4.70 a gallon, and we figured it's costing us almost a dollar a mile to drive...so even just eighty miles out of our way isn't cheap. Plus, we're heading to a job, and we need to allow as much time as possible for any unexpected delays or breakdowns. Joey wanted desperately to see his brother which would have added 300 miles and we wanted to see our old friends back in Fonda, which would have added an extra hundred miles, but instead we started the Rest Area Tour 2008.

Oh yeah, even when we tried to get a campsite we were denied because all the weekenders were out taking up all our camping spots anyway, so we really didn't even have a choice.....and it ended up being a blessing in disguise. It was easy to keep my commitment to no TV and already not being on the Net for weeks has made me not even interested in it, aside from checking my email from my cell phone, so we got to spend a lot of time just hanging out together and talking.

The rest areas weren't bad either. Besides's Iowa's rest areas being wi-fi hotspots, they have great playgrounds.

Most of the time it felt like Joey and I only had one kid, but the tire swings inevitably draw the boys out to play with us.

The best part though about the Iowa rest areas this weekend: The Boy Scouts were handing out free refreshments! Jewel got an apple, the boys got popcorn, I got homemade carrot cake for myself and coffee for Joey, then donated all the change I had in my pockets.

Jewel liked the boy Scouts.