The Epic Car Trip

Somehow Jon convinced me to join him in a journey out to Colorado. By station wagon. With two small(ish) boys. We had never undertaken more than a jaunt to Chicago with the boys in the past, but now Jon had his sights on the mountains. So we loaded up the wagon and the trusty car top carrier and set out on a Saturday in late July. Our trip first took us to Blue Mounds State Park in SW MN, where we weathered our first severe storm in our sturdy little tent. At one point Jon and I were both holding up the sides of the tent, giving each other desperate looks as the boys slumbered on. Oh, to be young and not responsible for the lives of others! The morning dawned clear and we packed up our gear to head west, but before driving off, we went in search of the legendary bison that roam in SW Minnesota. We never did find them, but we think we heard them thundering across the plains...or it could have been just thunder. Or Harleys. Anyway, on our hike, Theo was not watching where he was stepping and stepped right into a cactus (did you know that they grew in MN?). He yelped, then exclaimed, "Help! I've cactusized myself!". New verb. Good one. Very descriptive. This is him below displaying the thorns stuck in his flipflop. That's it for the tale today, I have to go watch a little olympics. I'm hooked.