Vermillion SD to Sheridan Wy 638 miles 8 hours & 42 minutes

Yesterday my loving husband and I did something we've never done in our 14 years together.  We put a giant suitcase thing on top of our mini van, filled it with stuff one needs to live on the road and in a mini van for 8 days and we took off on a road trip.  Like a for real road trip, not a cruise to Minneapolis.

We have to be in Seattle on Thursday July 17th and we decided to drive there and most people were like "Why not just fly?"  and "Oh that is going to be a long drive, gas is expensive, you'll never get hotels during tourist season."  So much hostility towards the road trip option, so much negativity. I do understand the hate for the 1500 mile road trip because I have kids.  Which brings me to the reason we decided to do this:  no kids.

I love my babies, I truly do.  Like momma gorilla, carry them around by the feet, give them all day piggy back rides, pick the bugs off their nappy little heads kind of love them.  I feel like I need to say that before I say this:  I dislike them on car rides.

It starts with who gets shotgun (we had to make a frick'n schedule so no one would die in a fist fight) and it never ends.  The length of the car ride matters not.  Trip to HyVee for green onion brats = who gets control over the music (in our house it's either the grown up or the person not riding shotgun).  Everything is an argument: where every one's gear sits,who gets to charge their phone next, who made the bad smell, who has to sit next to Liam and answer his endless, breathless stream of 5 year old questions.

"Momma do you think it's a good idea for me to wait until I'm 12 to watch Jurassic Park?  I feel like it's pretty aggressive for 5 year olds."

So we said yes to 2.5 days alone in a car, because...no kids.  We said yes to 1500 miles because in 14 years, we've taken zero real road trips and all our mini road trips have been with children, speed racing to the destination to get the hell out of the car.

So here we are, alone together for 8 + hours in the swagger wagon on day one and so far kind of overwhelmed by how fantastic it's been.

Once we cleared the Mitchell SD exit, Brandon was further west than he had ever been.  I have completed to I90 trek to Wyoming more times than I can remember.  At some point I became desensitized to the beauty of western South Dakota, but seeing it with Brandon made those miles new again.  

I miss the city and so I forget the importance and the beauty of wide open spaces.  I miss the city and so I forget to listen to the peace in the quiet.  Brandon misses the city, but he knows when something is worth his time, worth exploring, worth acknowledging.  When to say yes that, but don't ignore this.  

As we wrapped up our first day, we faced 1.5 hours of Wyoming I90 to Sheridan.  The wind blew in a dark band of intimidating clouds.   Immigrant Song made a perfectly time classic rock radio appearance as we raced to beat the rain.  Thunder, lightening, but the sunset continued, guiding us west, peaking under the storm clouds.  I realized that I was in the presence of a phenomenon my friend Regina loves to document.  The Wyoming sunset.  So, for my friend Regina...my first Wyoming Sunset in 22 years.