Adventure! Day 7 - Norfork Ak (aka Tara’s Dad’s place)
Book by Beth, Illustrations by Tara.
We got out of there by 9:30 and we did get cappuccino. It was easy to pack up (many hands made light work) but it was hard to say goodbye. Damien, Anna, and Éowyn are all headed back to Florida and the rest of us are driving on to Arkansas. We got gas and filled up 34 gallons. Four more sleeps until we see Damien again, and Kayleigh too!
We’re currently in Illinois- land of Lincoln. I didn’t even know we would be here but here we are. We just went over the Ohio and the Mississippi in the same one minute and now we are west of the Mississippi which Alivia says might be a whole thing - I’ll have to google.
Stella has had recurrent nightmares about going over the Ohio river, so I’m glad we made it over without an incident. Liam is driving now. I drove first today. Mostly all highways, but we did get stopped for about 15 minutes on a 4-lane back road. There was an accident and all lanes of traffic were stopped. Then about 15 minutes later, we saw the medical helicopter. It was wild to see a helicopter evacuation take off from the ground (we’re accustomed to seeing them landing at Shands hospital), and we are all so grateful for the speedy response and for the first responders.
We went to a Kroger. It was right next to a Menards and we filled up again on gas: 25 gallons. I think it was $2 and 93 cents per gallon. We thought we might get grocery store sushi for late lunch. Reddit said Kroger had good sushi but the one we went to did not have any sushi. We got a rotisserie chicken instead (and a million other things) but no one ate it. Instead, we had an hours-long conversation about not being a jerk and it was fraught and I think we all felt a little carsick by the end of the drive. Well, not Eli. But he was driving. Stella got mints and cookies at the grocery store, and those were more popular (much to her dismay).
We have arrived in Norfork, Arkansas. Eli got us here and I really appreciate his skillful driving. Tara is currently chatting with her family about the road atlas, so hopefully us flatlanders are getting good advice.
I’m happy to be in a home with electricity and showers. Damien and crew arrived home safely in Florida and the distance from here to there feels big tonight.
