Crashing in Williston, ND...

This past year has been hard.  Really hard.  To try and keep from crumbling, just totally falling apart from the enormity of it all...I kept busy.  Really busy.  An epic cross-country wander, just me and five kids, proved to be an excellent distraction.  So, what happened when the car stopped?  When I had time on my hands and didn't fall into bed too exhausted to think at the end of each day?  Well...it all hit me like a ton of bricks, that's what.  All the emotions I had been doing my best to run from, they had been doggedly chasing me all the way across so many state lines.  It wasn't pretty, ya'll...

When we first got to North Dakota, it was great.  We were back together as a family, in our cozy little home on wheels, and it felt oh so good.  Physically exhausted from all the traveling, we rested.  The kids (and I) were so excited to see their dad again, tell him of the wonders they had seen and present him with their special trinkets and souvenirs.  Oh the stories:)... 

Myakka Palm Cabins

Caspersen Beach

Everglades National Park

Robert Is Here

Key West coconuts

swimming at Fort Zachary Taylor...Key West

Sunset Celebration...Mallory Square

Conch Republic

Bahia Honda

Robbie's...Islamorada

Bahamas cruise

Nassau, Bahamas

Coco Cay, Bahamas

St. Augustine, Florida

Savannah, Georgia

Fort Pulaski cannon demonstration

St. Helena Island

lunch with Blue Dog in Frogmore :)

Old Sheldon Church ruins

Angel Oak

Charleston, South Carolina

King's Mountain

Cowpens

Carl Sandburg Home

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Cades Cove

Mammoth Caves National Park, Kentucky

Lincoln Birthplace

Dayton, Ohio

Wright Flyer simulator

The Great Lakes

hello, Michigan

Herbert Hoover Birthplace

Priaire du Chien, Wisconsin

Pikes Peak, Iowa...Mississippi River bluff...

Pipestone, Minnesota

We had been in the Bahamas/Florida for Tristan's birthday, so we celebrated again as soon as we were all together.  Tris didn't mind ;)...

their dad always gets the fun birthday candles :)...aren't they neat?

That ton of bricks I mentioned?  They found their mark around the third day or so.  Everything from the previous months caught up to me and I was one sick girl.  I am not one to rush off to the doctor's office, preferring to let the body heal itself and all that jazz.  This time it was different.  I needed help.  So, the kids and I loaded ourselves up and went to the Urgent Care/walk-in clinic in Williston.  We got there right after they opened and were told to make an appointment to come back that afternoon.  Only in Williston, ya'll.  This town has grown so much, so fast, that everything beats to a brand new rhythm.  Here you need an appointment for the walk-in clinic...**there are so many people each day needing to be seen, that a list/appointment roster is started each morning for that particular day.  when the list is full, that's it for the day.  if you are lucky, you get seen.  if not, try again the next day...**

When I agree to go to the doctor, you know it is bad.  I did not feel like making a second trip in to the clinic, but go I did.  The doctor I saw was a lady and she was super nice.  I really liked her and appreciated the way she did things.  So...one appointment, a double prescription of antibiotics and some potent cough syrup later, and I was sent home to recuperate. 

That was the first week of June and it took me a good two weeks to start feeling like myself again.  During that time, the kids enjoyed all of their "rediscovered" things in the camper, they played at a little park/ball court that was just a few blocks away, made friends with the neighborhood kids... 

I got better and better and finally, it was time to get out and explore the area...