The trip: five days, two vehicles, ten adults, four kids, 1000 miles, and over 30 hours on the road (total).
Thursday morning we were up before the break of dawn loading up the van and the SUV. It took for-ev-er. Lesson in patience #1.
But a little before 6:30, we were finally on the road, armed with breakfast to-go (muffins and stuff like that).
He called this his mean hobbit face. How he'd know exactly what a mean hobbit looked like, I have no idea.
But on a twelve hour drive, you take entertainment when you get it. ;)
Ruth came well-prepared. She had movies on her iPad, and she brought enough snacks for ten kids! (Or so it seemed. Every day she was pulling out another pack of cookies or chips.)
The kiddos actually did really well. Yeah, they fussed a little here and there, but for the most part they were great.
I wish I could remember all the hilarious things they said, but here's a few:
"Rachel, your hair is curly! You look like Goldilocks!"
"We're gonna be explorers! Come on!"
"If you had wings, you'd be like an angel."
"Why are your nails long?"
"Are you happy?" ["Yes."] "No, you have to be sad!"
Every time we stopped at a gas station, we were instant celebrities. Or at least that's what it felt like. And I sincerely hate being the center of attention.
We stopped at this hotel because they had bathrooms... (Remember, we're in Africa, and it's not like we have rest stops every 50 miles. At least not "real" rest stops.)
...and to bust a few dance moves.
I can't decide what's the best part of this picture, but the longer I look at it, the more it makes me laugh.
We got a few sprinkles on the way.
I was in the van, which led the way. We kept leaving the other vehicle in the dust. Literally.
More than a few times they were so far behind that we lost sight of them altogether, which meant we had to pull over and wait for them. Lesson in patience #2.
The roads weren't dirt the whole way, but dirt or paved, they all seemed to have plenty of potholes!
Amazingly, Michael and Hailah slept (soundly, I might add!) through some of the worst bumps.
See that tiny dot? Yeah, that's the SUV.
Lost 'em!
Just kidding.
We forded raging rivers.
Or at least we drove over them.
And they weren't really raging, I guess, if I was being precise.
Anyway...
We entertained ourselves at times by smashing flies. They were biting flies, and why take chances with African Sleeping Sickness?
Hills! They made my California heart oh-so-happy.
And finally, at 7:00pm, we pulled into the guest house property. What a blessed relief.
We had a nice spaghetti dinner, visited a bit, then settled in for the night. (Oh, I should mention that we also stopped along the way for lunch, lest you think we'd gone since breakfast without eating.)
Here's the room I shared with Anna.
Side note: I hate setting up mosquito nets on bunk beds.
The next morning, I did a little exploring before we took off for another leg of the trip.
It was all so green! I don't think I need to tell you how happy that made me.
Here we are loading up again after breakfast. We couldn't take the big van out to the village (it wouldn't handle those roads well), so we had to rearrange our stuff between the SUV and a pickup.
And the journey continues...
