South Dakota Day One

DayOne:

I got lost and ended up in another "city". Gosh, not even going to bother with that story, much like the city, there isn't much to it.

I noticed that McDonald's in the northern Midwest is akin to Starbucks on the west coast. Literally there was a McDonald's per freeway exit. I think there might be more. Sioux Falls is not that big - so it seems excessive. There was a small piece of me that wanted to use my elliptical just because I was driving by so many McDonald's signs. Don't get me wrong. This is not a criticism. Simply an observation. In fact, a perk to such cold weather, I didn't almost hit a single spandex clad "motor vehicle" on the freeway.

Today was interesting when lunch time rolled around. The girls and I were very hungry and I was very lost. I did not know what street I was on, where that street might lead, what the speed limit was or why my husband bought a car with so many blind spots! It did not help that the panic began creeping in when I realized that I did not know where to eat! I was not sure where a single gluten free menu existed. In fact our excursion was to find GF food in the grocery stores and stock up at home. However, because I am a capable person who can handle anxiety I pulled off at the first restaurant I sort of recognized. I ended up at Olive Garden and they have a gluten free menu. Weird since Olive Garden is an Italian place. The GF pasta was even good. Beezus was very happy. There was talk about missing California at lunch. The girls both had already started to realize that this move might not be as much fun as they were hoping for. I kept things light. Overall we had a great time out. The kids don't often get to eat with mommy in the middle of school day at a restaurant. My man has done some research and surprisingly there are at least two gluten free pizza places out here that deliver. Also we found a coop GF store which gives 20% off special orders if you are a member. There are some products I have not found, but many that I have. We aren't going to starve and I have bought myself more time to not learn to cook bread well! Yeah!

Other Updates:

We did in fact fly with all three cats in their carriers. We brought them on to the plane and stowed them under the seat. They were mostly perfectly terrified and quiet. Squirrel was the only animal that tried to break free. We did have one hitch at the airport. We went through the wrong security gate. Apparently they have multiple ones at SF. So, after having gone through with two kids, two computer bags, three cats and a carry-on we had to do it again! The second time the little man working at security wouldn't let my man go back and forth, so Beezus got to carry her own cat through. It was a tiring experience, but we were lucky and we hit our connecting flight.

Athena came out fine. A little tired, but super happy to see us. She is doing well with apartment living. She has a bed time in her crate in the girls room. She seems to enjoy sleeping near them.

Tomorrow we get to see our new home.