A rude awakening
We always check the forecast before bed, just in case there are any Tornados in the area. So far its been pretty tame, just rain. Originally there was a low chance of rain, so I opened up the rainfly and opened one of the moonroofs. After our camp adventures at the pool, the rain chance went up and we agreed to put on the Rain fly. It was only a 25% chance, but we both prefer to be dry.
At 3AM we woke up to the sound of the tent flapping in the wind. You see, I didn't stake down the awning before we went to bed. Truth be told, I only staked it down a few times this trip and none of those times did it matter. This time it would of mattered. It felt like we were in the middle of a Tornado!
With the awning flapping freely in the wind, and all the windows letting gusts of window and rain in. (The kids slept through all this by the way) Abigail and I quickly closed all the windows. I pushed awning up and hoped it would stay in that position. Finally we closed the door and tried to sleep through the noise.
Within minutes the awning was flapping in the wind again, but it was so dark out we couldn't be certain. By the time it was 4am we decided to break camp, and get out of there before the storm got worse. Fortunatley we had everything pre-packed the night before so it was a very quick process to break camp.
Unfortunatley we have no pictures at this time. Our My fear of tornadoes kind of threw the idea of picture taking out of the window.
Sunrise in the Badlands
We had to cut our Badlands trip short the previous day due to everyone being SUPER grouchy. Abigail and I decided to head back before sunrise and try to capture some beautiful, raw nature shots.
Road shot!
We drove further then we had yesterday around the Badlands, and took more then a few pictures. Its hard to describe how alien this area feels to me. It reminds me of a Sci-Fi movie based on a different world, with lightning off in the distance and a light drizzle. I half expected some creature to crawl out of the holes inside the clay mounds. Luckily we didn't encounter any creatures.
Not much color, but still an amazing sight!
Interesting fact if you decide to climb these clay mounds after a rain storm, they get slick. I climbed up ok, on the way back down I may of fallen and slid about 20 feet on my back. It looked like rocks, but the clay would crumble or turn into well, wet clay.
If Jenna was paying attention, she would of wanted to climb up with me..Riding my shoulders.
I can't get over how alien it looks to me
Jenna was watching her tablet in the Jeep. Abigail and I were able to enjoy a few minutes of quiet time.
Enjoying the peace and quiet
Jeep pose!
The Jeep Survives
After the sunrise didn't pan out the way we had hoped, we started the journey to Bonnies farm. We made a quick pitstop at the KOA to refill our water cooler and then were on the road again.
I'm going to start this section by saying, Jeep makes an excellent, dependable vehicle and today it may of saved our lives. We were all very tired, Abigail and I had been up since 3, and Jenna had been awake since 4:30. Thea had been sound asleep since we put her into her carseat.
Eventually Jenna fell asleep, and even Abigail dozed off for a few minutes. While they were sleeping I enjoyed the never-ending fields of grass, a deer or two, but eventually my eyes started to get heavy. I fought the sleep with every trick I knew. But at one point my eyes closed and did not re-open until..I heard Abigail yell "WHAT THE FUCK".
Apparently I had fall asleep at the wheel, and the Jeep veered off into a ditch. Luckily it was in a fairly flat area, with only 1 hay ball and a fence. Once it was in the ditch, I woke up to the yell and we started accelerating out of the ditch at a very very fast pace. The ditch had fairly steep incline up to a road into a pasture. On the other side of the road, another ditch, with an equally steep decline.
Luckily I was WIDE awake at this point, I was able to control the jeep. Come to a complete stop on all 4 wheels. I quickly got out, inspected each part of the Jeep, and then admired the trail I had created. A few miles down the road, it was extremly hilly and full of ravines, honestly I couldn't of lucked out more. Everyone was safe and sound. Jenna never woke up. Abigail had offered many times to drive, but me being me, I said "nah I got this".
Someone was watching out for us this day.
It was another 40 minutes until we got to a gas-station and got breakfast and coffee. Luckily we were all awake, and the farm wasn't too far after that.
I was already Rev'd up by this point.
The Farm
Once we had breakfast, we called Bonnie saying we were "about a hour away". We got the kids dressed and headed out to the farm.
The first of many tractors on the road
When we finally pulled into Bonnies, she was waiting for us in the driver. You see we said a hour, but it was closer to 1 1/2 hours. Oops. She quickly welcomed us inside, and the girls started begging for food. It's like we never feed them. Since Abigail's grandfather was coming, Bonnie had stocked up on some sugary cereal, which the girls quickly dug into.
They ate the marshmellows first (well, yeah!)
After the quick breakfast Bonnie and Betsy took us on a quick tour of the farm. Started off meeting the puppy, Bella and the 3 cats (Leo, Spot, Fluffy) and then on to the farm animals.
Bella, exhausted afer playing ball
One of the goats had lost its hoof earlier this year. I told Jenna that's why we don't let her keep hair-ties around her fingers!
The goats
Leo followed Thea around for awhile, and always seemed to be around for a cuddle or scratch.
Leo, was a favorite of the girls
We saw three horses on the farm, Spicy (26 years old), Red (16ish?), and Lakota (15ish?). Spicy was one of Bonnies Granddaughters childhood horse that she is keeping here. Red was a fairly recent purchase by Betsy, and Lakota is another one of Mollys.
Betsy showing us one of their Horses, Spicy
Jenna was full of quesitons and loved talking with Bonnie and Betsy.
Bonnie explaining what the stall was for
The tour continued with the Photo studio that Betsy and Bonnie had built. Abigail was giving me side looks that I translated to, "Chris, I need this!". I very quickly avoided eye contact with Abigail for the rest of this stage of the tour.
Impromtu photo-shoot. Very impressive setup!
First Western Rodeo
Molly is one of Bonnie's Granddaughters who lives over in Sioux City, she made the 3 hour drive out so she could compete in the local Rodeo on Sunday. She had some friends competing today and wanted to watch it. Once Molly showed up, Jenna was quickly attached to her hip.
Jenna helping to carry the practice stuff.
Bonnie explaining what the stall was for
We arrived at the Rodeo a few hours early, and we took another tour of the cattle pens and played on the kids bulls.
Bonnie walking in with Jenna
Toy bulls for the kids, Thea loved these!
Sand Pit for the kids to play in
Looking at all the cows
It was very hot in the sun, so we had some dinner (hot dogs, Walking-Taco, and pulled-pork sandwhiches.
Our dinner, the walking-taco was a huge hit
While we waited for the rodeo to start, we got to watch some of the riders practice. Thea loved waving to all the horses, And Jenna just wanted to run around and play.
Watching the riders before the rodeo
It had ben a long day, and the girls were not sitting very well. Bonnie had Molly get some popscicles for the girls, which helped for a bit. But soon we took the girls home to get them to sleep.
Teaching Jenna how to finish the Push-pops
The rodeo had barely started when we decided it was time to leave and the girls to go to bed. Its a small town, and they notice change when it happens. I got a lot of looks as we drove out, I don't think they get many vehicles from New Hampshire, Let alone ones with a Roof Top tent. We got the girls back to the farm, and after a few minutes of struggle they fell asleep. We were soon after.
It had been a long day, and we are very appreciative of Bonnie and Betsy for their hospitality.
For anyone reading this, please always be aware of your limits when it comes to driving while tired. I almost made a very constly mistake today. We lucked out that nobody was hurt and the Jeep wasn't damaged. We normally planned our driving trips short to make sure this didn't happen, but we were anxious to get to our destination.