On The Road Again-- GPA Day 10

Not a whole lot to say about today.  This picture pretty much sums it up.  It was good.

We did catch a Sacrament meeting in a downtown ward of St. Louis this morning.  That was good.

We did a very quick stop at the Church's visitors' center at Winter Quarters in Omaha, Nebraska.  That was good.

They had a replica of the tiny log cabins they built to house 12 people.  Makes our house seem like a mansion.  Which house I found myself day dreaming about on the long car ride today.  I think I'll be very ready to come home.  Do you see that little curly top down in the corner?  May I just say, he has a lot of energy.

A few thoughts on the Great Plains Adventure before I slumber:

---I can understand that man-truckers don't want flowery, girlie smelling soap.  But at our first hotel on this trip the bar of soap smelled like smoked bacon.  It was nasty to me.

---Abe thought the smoked bacon soap smelled good.

---I am a compulsive eater when I travel.  Good thing I don't travel very often.

---The Residence Inn in St. Louis was so comfortable and our room smelled wonderful every time we opened the door.  I try to keep my home smelling fresh, but it is an effort and I regularly fail.  We couldn't get our hotel room to smell bad.  It was marvelous.

---We're at a Ramada Inn tonight and it smells bad without any help from us.  Ramada Inn needs to find out what sort of miracle air fresheners The Residence Inn uses.

---Abe has remarkable driving stamina and I trust him very much behind the wheel.  Nonetheless, I never like to doze off because I figure two people watching the road is safer than one.  I would love to be lulled to sleep by the gentle rolling of the open road, but that's not really possible as I am on duty keeping my people fed, hydrated and happy. 

---We've covered 9 states on this trip--Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota.  We should have been more diligent in playing the license plate game.  Oh well.

---Our family of 8 has been a bit of a spectacle wherever we've gone.  The kids have been wonderfully well behaved, all things considered, and no one has said anything unkind or even grimaced at us.  That being said, they can't help but look on with a mixture of shock and sympathy.  I take no offense as I occasionally feel that way myself when I see a picture of our whole family and realize how many of us there are.  However, the lady who oversees the dining room at the Residence Inn was so kind and attentive to our family that I had to hug her when we said good bye this morning.  She gave Elinor a big hug and gave her a few bags of M&Ms and Skittles from the little market room to share with the other kids.  I feel like we should send her a Christmas card or something!  It made Elinor's morning. 

---I am fascinated by the Royal wedding.  There.  I said it.