It’s me, Nate.   Yea, I know it’s not Wednesday, my assigned day.  Before you turn in unhappiness and irritation because I have once again hijacked the blog entry of a fellow writer, hear me out.  I may have something worth listening to.  Don’t be too quick to judge me or my insight because of my age. 

So this whole road trip thing has been something I’ve been disgruntled about from the first day I realized it meant I’d be captive in the back seat.  Notice I say captive…not captivated.  I don’t know how many times I tried to explain-using toys, color crayons, facial expressions and hand gestures- that caged animals don’t thrive.  I would think you big people would get that the only thing worse than a caged animal is perhaps, a caged toddler boy and his baby sister.  Some people are slow learners. 

Mostly, our sequences of screams and inconsolable outburst have done nothing to burst the happy smiles, excited voices and clicking cameras of my traveling companions.   Lyla turned out to be less than helpful, with only one bad afternoon out of 5 days on the road.  So the opposite of what we discussed and planned.   Clearly her comprehension skills are lacking; like I said, some people are slow learners.   But to be honest, I tried to be grumpy for long periods, and acted like nothing was exciting…but THERE WAS SO MUCH COOL STUFF!!!  Sometimes I got caught smiling, wide eyed or pointing in joy. 

Perhaps I was too quick to judge this whole road trip thing.   Perhaps there is a lot to learn on the open road and from that map thing that Momma insists on using.   Just as I suspected, there have been a gazillion stops for pictures.   And there is talk of many stops on the road back.   We’ll see.  But so far, this road trip thing has given me many first experiences:  My first time in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and now South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho on the way back home;  my first time seeing fire flies;  my first time riding a tractor;  my first time with sparklers; my first time seeing corn fields, huge rolled hay bales, baby cows, bean fields, silos and so many parks;  my first time eating cheesecake;  my first time meeting more cousins and other family; my first time at a family reunion with so many meatballs and potato dishes…and no beans;   my first time seeing a movie in a theater. That’s a lot of firsts and that’s not even all of them!   

The journey that brought us to Minnesota was supposed to be horrible.  Instead, it was amazing.  The week in Minnesota was an unknown for me, and I expected to be overwhelmed.   Instead, it was a week that brought me more family to love and be loved by.  It was a week that gave me stories of people I won’t get to meet, people who are sleeping in the clouds, but people that Momma says are part of her and who she is.  That means they are pretty cool.

The journey home begins today, another 5 days on the road.   Instead of making a story about what it WILL be, I’ll just wait and see what it IS as it comes.  Momma would think that is very wise of me.  This road trip thing has taught me not to be too quick to judge, and the time in Minnesota has been more fun than…than…than playing with all my cars at once, taking a bath, riding a tractor AND eating blueberries.   Don’t tell Momma though!