It turns out that the hardest part about a road trip is driving away.  Taryn and I have been trying to make plans, set appointments, develop contacts and schedules and routes, but ultimately determined that we just needed to drive away.  Leave town now or never start this project.

But, of course, there was much to be done before we could actually leave.  The house was a mess and, knowing we were going to have to return eventually, we opted to clean first rather than come home to mold or stink or messy frustration.  Unfortunately, cleaning with a two-year-old present is a task insurmountable in its own, for every toy that is put in its place, three more are newly discovered that simply must be played with Right. Now.  While cleaning I discovered laundry, the need for cat food, the need for someone to feed the cat, the un-mailed gifts and clients’ albums and CDs and invoices and receipts, unpaid bills, undeposited checks, and the list goes on.  We began packing at 8am and left town by 4:30pm.  A car filled with toys and books and electronics and camera equipment and clothes and shoes and who-knows-what driving down the road with no particular destination in mind.

Well, sort of.  We knew we could end up in Williston on Wednesday and have a place to stay until Friday; we knew by the weekend we’d be back on the eastern side of the state, and home again by Tuesday.  We knew our parents were in Bismarck with a floor, a couch, and a pack-n-play where we could sleep while figuring out what to do with our first couple of days.  And we knew that leaving town was the hardest part.  So away we went.

Taryn cranked up the music, I plugged in my computer, we handed Hadley her box of markers and a coloring book; we settled into our seats.

Taryn pulled onto I-94 East.

(For those of you unfamiliar with geography, it was the Wrong. Way.)

Not a perfect start to this summer of adventures, but a start nonetheless.

- Kendra

Adventure, North Dakota, road trip, travel North Dakota Project