Today, we dawdled. Lainie, John, and I were up early, but the rest of the crew were sleeping soundly. So, I set John up with some quiet entertainment, and Lainie I headed to the most beautiful church I have ever seen. The murals were awe-inspiring, and the sermon was inspiring, too. Between the sights and sounds -- because of course their vocalist could bring tears to your eyes -- and having Lainie time with just Lainie, I was wiping some tears during Mass. My only regret was not waking everyone and making them come to mass, too. My take away from the sermon was, Jesus invited everyone to the table, even the one person he knew was about to betray him. And in real life, we gather with friends and foes around food to find a common ground, to find peace and joy. For centuries, Catholics have been gathering around the communion table in times of anger and unrest to find peace. And in this time of unrest, it is especially important that we Catholics and Christians be Jesus's hands and mouths, to say and do what God would want done. Feeding the poor, healing the sick, welcoming all to the table... that's what we can do to help bring peace back to our world.
So, you see why I was inspired! And that inspiration lasted about a hundred miles down the road. And then we were tired and frustrated and in a close space for a bit too long. Every family vacation has to have at least one breakdown, right? At least the break down wasn't the car.
But we continued forward. A stop at the grocery store to restock our food supply before we hit Yellowstone. A stop at a bookstore to restock some entertainment. A stop at a clothing store, to buy an outfit for 4-H. A stop at an antique mall, so Jay can do some perusing of his own. A stop on top of the continental divide, for a one of a kind picnic lunch.
And once we hit Red Lodge, MT, we regretted every one of those stops. Because this town is adorable. The downtown is trendy and cute and friendly. We ate at the Red Lodge Pizza Co, which was not only delicious, but also affordable and family friendly. We are staying at the Chateau Rouge, which surpassed our expectations, in both number of beds and bathrooms, as well as access to a little pool and hot tub. And the people have been friendly and kind.
But tomorrow looks to be nice. It should be a cool 45 when we leave in the morning, but will get up to the 70s by afternoon. Katie is finishing up her homework, since we won't have internet access for the next two nights. And I'm just tired. I adore driving 85 mph down the interstate, but that doesn't mean it doesn't get tiring after 5 hours. And someone needs to be rested and patient before we tackle a winding 1 hour drive into Yellowstone tomorrow morning.
Please no puking, this time.
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