After a few feeble attempts at a blog, I have a greater reason to write.  My family of 6, along with my dad and step-mom and their dog, will be embarking on a 3 week RV trip this summer!  Yes, I'm sure you are thinking this blog should be named "She's out of her mind" or something like that.  We will see if that becomes reality after the trip.

The impetus for this trip started with our desire to see my husband's brother and family who live in St. Louis.  With a family of 6, it's often a toss up driving vs. flying when it comes to saving money.  But then I started thinking about all of the cool places we could see along the way and the idea started smoldering.  I'm not sure how I stumbled onto their website, but when I told my daughter Boo (9) that we could stop by Laura Ingalls Wilder's homestead in South Dakota, the smoldering idea became a raging bonfire idea in Boo's mind.

My husband just started a new job in January and is working on contract, so I wasn't sure what his availability would be for vacation this summer.  So I kind of got started planning and then it got away from me and before I knew it he was asking, "Hey, do I get to come on this trip?"  He was also asking, "How much is this going to cost anyway?" which is usually what I say but that is another matter.  Then I did some cost calculations and decided we weren't going and would just tent camp in the backyard for vacation instead because this trip would cost way more than I expected.  But by that time everyone in my family, including my husband, was on board and there was no backing out.  And people I talked to all said, "Our road trip across the country when I was 7 was the best memory of my life."

And how could I say no to that?