Day 1444. Last night, while I was the only one up, it thundered really loudly. It ended up raining all night, and the rain washed away the terrible cow dung smell that was in the air. Sammy was the first one up at 7 am. Soon we all got up and went to the breakfast room. There were some other people there, as well as a short, older lady who was in charge, and that was very obvious, as she was very possessive. She wanted to make the waffles, and she told our kids to be quiet, when they were too loud for her liking. She also came running, when some crumbs were burning up in the toaster, causing a burned smell. I didn't like her, and neither did the kids, and we were glad, when we left there to return to our room. Randy then started closing suitcases and loading everything into the car. Finally it was our turn to leave the room. It had really stunk, when we first got there last night, but I had put a few drops of essential oil over the room which had neutralized the odor. Later Randy found an empty beer bottle under the bed, which did not make us feel better about the hotel. We left and got into the car and drove off just before 10 am. We had one short potty break, then wanted to stop at the only playground in the region, but Randy continued driving. Just when it was lunch time, we got to a little town, and left the interstate to have lunch. It was 11:30 local time, but we had just crossed the time line, turning our clocks back by one hour, so it was really 12:30 for our bodies. The grill we stopped at had had the best reviews of all the restaurants there, which is why I had picked it. Tammy was in a state of being upset, because her tablet had stopped working, and I could not figure out how to make it work again, which was the worst thing for her.
It was a family-owned restaurant, and the waiters were a lot friendlier and more personable than usual. One waitress immediately recognized that our kids were triplets, but she was not our waitress. Sammy was screaming, and so they brought some papers and crayons for the kids, while Randy walked around with him to try to calm him down. I then took him, and together we walked around to look at all the trophies and stuff they had in their displays, which worked. I ordered a kids' portion of spaghetti for the three of them to share, a steak (liked by Tammy) and mashed potatoes (liked by Sammy) for me, and a cheeseburger with fries (liked by all three) for Randy, and that worked out really well. They actually ate all the spaghetti, and quite a bit of the other food as well. There was nothing left in the end. After 75 minutes we left the restaurant again to continue on our way.
It was only 12:45, and the kids had still not had a playground, as there were no Chick-Fil-A's and the McDonald's had no playground. The waitress told us about a nearby playground, which was only 5 minutes away, so we headed there next. They actually had a railroad museum right there by that park, but it was closed today. The kids were excited as soon as they saw the playground and went straight to the slide. I went with Sammy to the swing, which is his favorite, and I swung him as high as possible, which made him giggle. But he didn't stay in there as long as usual, probably because of his fully belly after the meal. The kids tried out a few of the other equipment there, and there was even a metal train to climb around on. Tammy then needed to go to the bathroom, and we wanted to move on anyway. So I took her to the cool railroad bathroom, while Randy strapped the boys in. At 1:15, after half an hour we drove off.
And it was nap time; it was 2:15 for their bodies after all. I was glad, when all three actually fell asleep, and for the first time since we started traveling over 6 weeks ago, I also go to sleep for a few minutes. It wasn't much, though, as Emmy woke up quite early. He being awake woke up Sammy as well; only Tammy continued sleeping for a while. And we were already pretty close to our destination. I was playing with Sammy to keep him happy. He'd throw the cat to me, and I'd throw it back to him. When that didn't work any more, we found something new. Randy opened his window, which made him laugh out loud. As I only had access to my own window opener, I then opened and closed my window, whenever he pretended to push a button on his door. He continued laughing every single time, and it worked all the way to our destination.
Just before 3 pm we arrived at Randy's middle daughter's house. She came to our car to welcome us, while her boys had run away. But soon our kids were playing with her kids and having the greatest time. First they went to the basement, where their playroom was, and were having fun playing there. Soon they went outside, where there was a trampoline, which they love. Eventually Tammy came back inside, and the boys were playing with the water, so that Emmy was getting all wet. Sammy wanted to play with his duck and had fun doing so, following it around the room. He now moves pretty well while staying on his knees.
I was very tired. I ended up fixing Tammy's tablet, much to her delight. Then I was both downstairs and upstairs. At 6 pm we all sat down to eat dinner. Then the kids finished watching Superbook, which they had started watching before dinner. As their kids were going to bed really early, we then went downstairs, where the kids continued playing for a while. Then it was time for a shower and a story, then prayer and going to bed. It was going on 9 pm, and they fell asleep relatively quickly, thanks to the time difference. The boys were sleeping on one air mattress, and Tammy on another, right by our own bed. As for me, I turned my computer on to work on the pictures and write my report, and fell asleep doing so. Eventually I was able to get over the worst tiredness and powered on. Randy was soon asleep and then went to bed. Now it's 11:30 local time, and I'm also ready to go to sleep.
