Finally, the first blog post of the trip!

Hello all,

It took a while for the first blog post of the trip but we are finally to a spot where I could get online. I have a lot to tell you, however, so here are some highlights from the road trip to Montana:

DAY 1 (Sun, 6/14): Fairfax, Va --> Pittsburg, Pa
1. We drove through an awesome little town in West Va. called Beverley Springs which had a huge farmer's market downtown (in what appeared to be a town with barely 10,000 people in it).
2. There were ads for a chainsaw carving festival in another small town in West Va., now there is some range!
3. We drove by Fort Necessity, the place where George Washington established his less-than-stellar military career by surrendering to the French in what would become the Seven Years' (or French and Indian) War.

DAY 2 (Mon 6/15): Pittsburg --> Newton, Iowa
1. Elizabeth, Pearl's cousin once removed (the 5-yr old daughter of Pearl's cousin TIna - Elizabeth is the oldest daughter and the 5th of 7 kids!!), brought me a crispy strip of bacon after waking me up on the couch at 730am! It was the least she could do!?!
2. Mosbey was absolutely exhausted after being run ragged by the 7 kids the night before.
3. West of Peoria, Illinois there was a town and creek called "Kickapoo"!! HA!!! KICK-a-POO, thats awesome!

DAY 3 (Tues 6/16): Newton --> Gilette, Wyoming
1. Deciding to forgo camping for a hotel room in Newton because of a massive rainstorm, then getting to take a wonderful, hot shower the next morning.
2. Pearlie acting all goofy after being all hopped up on sugar!
3. Doing the USA Today crosswords puzzle with Pearl and ALMOST finishing!?!
4. Seeing arrays of cool wind turbines in NW Iowa. Good for you Iowa, use that free energy!!

DAY 4 (Wed 6/17): Gilette --> Bozeman/Belgrade, MT
1. Getting to meet Pearl's Unlce Tom who she adores and I think was pretty cool.
2. Seeing crazy thunderstorms (but missing them) as we entered the Rockies, and being able to see the whole storm because we were on the plains and there are no trees!! Look for pics on Flickr sooooon.
3. Catching a cool Kojo Nnamdi show (and finally seeing how to spell his name) on XM (we listen to it all the time on NPR) about localvores in the DC area (we hope to become one soon!!).

DAY 5 (Thurs 6/18): in Bozeman, MT
1. Playing with Pearl's friend Lila's daughter Lorelei at a park while Mosbey ran around off his leash and met all kinds of other dogs, kids, and adults. Then Lorelei provided great comic relief by trying to splash me with water in a nearby creek and falling into it! It was a great preview of life with our children!!
2. Meeting Pearl's friend Chris and listening to him play some good jazz in a coffee bar in downtown Bozeman. This town very much reminds me of some of the cooler parts of Magazine Street. Lots of small, indy shops, bars, and dogs everywhere!!
3. Having my 3rd pancake breakfast of the trip by Ann, Pearl's mom's good friend. I am being spoiled rotten!!

Okay everyone, hopefully it won't take 4 or 5 days till the next blog post!

All our best,
Steve (and Pearl and Mose)