Kansas!

We left Pennsylvania January 2 with 2,127 miles to our destination in Page, Arizona. It felt crazy that we HAD to go that far within 2 weeks but our promise of a weekend in Kansas with Eldon's cousins and our very good friends kept us cheerful. Also, the fact that we were heading south and away from the cold and snow helped lift our spirits too. By late afternoon we found ourselves in Ohio. The truck started acting up and we thought it was a fuel issue since it straightened up when Eldon would drain the fuel filter. We spent the night at a Wal-mart in Springfield, OH. In the morning the truck was still pitching fits so we went straight to a Ram dealer. There was a Meijer right across the street so we unhooked and the kids and I hung out in the camper. Within 3 hours they had us on the road! It was so cold our fuel was gelling up!

It went great for a couple hours then the same thing happened again! We limped along to the next dealer but he didn't have time to work us in. He was kind enough to reset some things which helped a little. We drove straight to another dealer only to be told that they are booked out for 2 weeks. We sat in the truck feeling very frustrated, praying, and calling dealers all over Indianapolis. Eventually we found one over an hour away that could look at it the next morning. Before we left, the service manager came out and apologized again. He then checked a few fuses and offered to change the fuel filter. He said we can park the camper in the back lot as long as we need too. So......we unhooked again. They were pretty sure this was the issue since the filter had a lot of junk in it. They had us on the road again in about an hour and it worked perfect!

So many things to be thankful for! It was single digits and windy all day but we always manged to limp to the next Ram dealer and wait it out in our nice warm home! All this rig-a-ma-row only cost us ............$72, the cost of the fuel filter! It felt like a hug from God, the way people kept looking after us.

We got up early Thursday and pushed on, so ready to be in warmer weather! Kansas is often a dreaded state to drive through but our excitement just grew and grew the nearer we got and the bigger the sky grew. The West is by far where we prefer to be! It was 45* when we pulled into Marlin and Heather's and our camper was dripping like crazy. Our water had been frozen for almost 2 weeks! As a result, we had a leaking valve on both toilets but the RV store in town had the part so it was a quick fix. Also, our toilets flush with more power then I knew possible so it obviously needed replaced anyhow!

Ethan and Blake are 2 months apart and I admit to dreading them being together since Ethan tends to be a bit of a bully with boys his age. But they played beautifully almost 100% of the time and I can honesty say Blake is his first real friend :).

Andre' and Makayla are our more laid-back firstborns and more then once they were off in a corner quietly reading. It was nice and Heather and I imagined how it will be in a few years when their younger siblings will sit and read like this, lol.

The dad's played Swap one night with our many children. It was certainly not calm but they had loads of fun!

Saturday morning I went our for breakfast with Heather and her MIL and sister-in-laws. Meanwhile the guys came over and they made atlatyl's. An atlatyl is an ancient tool that is used to achieve greater velocity in throwing darts (or spears). Some Native American tribes preferred an atlatyl over bow and arrow and there are a few states that it's legal to hunt with them now! I think it's safe to say they had an absolute blast since they spent all day fine-tuning and practicing. 

I don't have a good picture of one but YouTube has all kinds of videos that are fascinating to watch!

It was super impressive how good their aim was with practice. It was great to watch the dad's out there with their children all day long :).

While cutting branches for darts, Eldon and Makayla found this bird nest.

Sunday afternoon the guys went out and practiced more. They did some modifications and got REALLY good! After dark they simply tied glow sticks on their darts and kept going. It looked really cool! Plus, it was much easier to rescue the darts when they got stuck in the tree. All the men admitted to feeling like little boys but I suppose it's necessary every once in a while. They are making plans to have an atlatyl competition next time we come through.