Sorry for the delay...I have to redeem myself after reading my last post. Whoosh, my grammar errors were off the hook. I suppose exhaustion and the constant "mama, mama" really reduces my IQ dramatically. I do know how to spell and also the proper form of to and too...but then again, I may have road trip fever...
We left Lake Geneva at about 1pm on Tuesday and headed for Chicago after more swimming. We hit Chicago traffic and that slowed up down quite a bit. We just drove through the city to get a feel for what it looks like. Chicago is such a cool city with the canals and the lake. I wish we would have had more time, but we wanted to get all the way through Indiana and into Ohio before we stopped at a hotel. We tried yelp after leaving Chicago and it sent us to a spot in Gary, Indiana. What a depressing place that truly represents how so many Americans are in the depths of poverty and struggling with nobody looking out for them. People should not have to live this way in the wealthiest country in the world. WE didn't find anywhere to eat in Gary, we kept driving and tried to go to an Irish pub near Notre Dame, but everyone else had the same idea and the line was out the door so we went to Burger King...gross from my perspective, but people were hungry and we needed to keep it pushing. So we drove, or Jeremy did, until we got to Maumee, Ohio. We were super annoyed by the crazy tolls every few minutes it seems. We paid almost 40 bucks by the time we got all the way through Ohio. It was before 10pm when we arrived at the Country Inn and Suites, so we headed to the pool with the girls to let off the road trip steam. It can be so hard for Mila to wind down after those drives. She naps here and there and sitting is not something she enjoys, so she can be pretty hyped up by quitting time when everyone else is dragging. After her swim she was a little more mellow. She and Kaiya decided they wanted to have a slumber party on the ground. So we found a little corner and got them set up. They had a plan to play with their lego set, but they both fell asleep the second their head hit the pillow. Ha ha, so cute.
The morning was an early rise and a run and some weight lifting with Jeremy. Such a great way to start another long day of driving. We had taken a look at the map and decided that we would get to Middletown, NY by the end of the day. Our one destination was to see the Amish community in Western Pennsylvania. I had been trying to find some Amish country near our route and we originally thought of driving 60 miles out of the way to what we thought was the closest, but then I read about New Wilmington, PA and Volant, PA. They are really adorable towns not far off the beaten path. We went into New Wilmington and had lunch at the Tavern Inn on the Square. This adorable restaurant is in a house built in 1829 and the home was once part of the underground railroad. A lot of great history there. As we were eating you would see cars drive by followed by a horse and buggy with mostly Amish men and also a few Amish women. I find their customs so intriguing and much of the way they live seems so refreshing to me. Our server at the restaurant was the sweetest thing, maybe a college student from the cute West Minister College in town. I asked her if there were any Amish stores in the area and she pointed us to her neighbors and their store the Bent and Dent. We were hoping to find Amish goodies, but after riding behind several horse and buggies on the road and many parked at the local shops we came to a home with a shed that said M&M grocers. We drove in and went inside. There appeared to be nobody there, but we did hear some rustling in the basement. There was an old typewriter, possible cash register that looked early 1900's behind the counter. Finally a boy, maybe 15 came up from the basement, with a somewhat guilty look...Jeremy and I speculated on this later because we definitely heard someone else in the basement too. Anyway, this boy, Rudy, was a clean shaven Amish fellow, they don't grow beards until married, was very helpful. They didn't have any Amish treats there, just average groceries that he said they don't eat. He informed us that we could only buy their baked goods on Friday or Saturday. Tough luck. We bought a pack of mambas (the only mainstream colorful candy that has no food dye) for 25 cents (cheap!) and headed out. We took the back roads through the town of Volant and saw many more Amish families along the way. I definitely could have stuck around and learned more about how the Amish live, but alas, we had places to go and most importantly, people to see! We drove and drove and had an interesting adventure with my dad driving while adjusting mirrors and trying to use speed control and checking out scenery, not the most relaxing part of the trip. We tried to find another spot to eat in Milton, PA, but found a lot of closed places, like closed for the entire month! We ended up at a truck stop diner which made my dad and Jeremy thrilled and me a bit sketched out. They had a salad bar and that was just fine. At the gas station I rented the girls a Red Box, which was my most brilliant move of late. They have not watched many movies on the trip (we did have a sing along Sound of Music movie experience in the car) so I thought a new movie would get them tucked in for the rest of the drive. They agreed on a flick and were happy as little clams until just before we arrived in Middletown, NY. Jeremy suddenly smelled toothpaste right before our arrival and said "Mila, what are you doing?" Mila said "nothing". She denied having toothpaste, only to recant and inform us that she was smearing it below her eye?? Oh Mila. Luckily the damage was minimal, but she was in trouble for lying and had to skip the pool. It was tough to get the girls to sleep since they were so excited to meet and see family the next day, but they finally caved to exhaustion.
Today was the best day yet. We woke up and had breakfast and packed up to head over to my cousin Mike and Francesca's 4th of July party in Carmel, NY. I have been lucky enough to go to this occasion twice before and it is so fun. They have a lovely house right on Lake Carmel. We got there fast, less than an hour and were greeted by Kathy, Francesca, Mary Lou and her sister Babe. It felt so good to be around family that we haven't seen. I love my mom's family, being with them feels like having her with me again. I only wish I could see them all more often. More family trickled in with Kathy's husband Rich and their girls, Shannon and Stephanie, Stephanie's husband Dan and their two sweet kiddos Jason and Teagan. Two of the sweetest little babies ever! Uncle Mike and Aunt Nuala showed up with Jen and Geraldine who are Nuala's nieces. Debra and Chris with their three adorable gals Tori, Leah and Erin and cousin Mike came after he got off work. There were a lot of other wonderful folks there and it was a great party. Mike and Fran have a gorgeous pool that we played in all day. My girls fell in love with all the cousins and attached themselves to the three teenage girls of course! They took Miss Kaiya all around, on the paddle boat, to the craft store, she was in teenage cousin heaven and it was so fun to watch. Jeremy and I took Mila out on the paddle boat where she almost fell asleep, but got her second wind and ran back to the pool. We stayed as long as we possibly could, it was a hot day and hard on papa (and Jeremy) so we had to get the boys back to the hotel. It was so hard to say goodbye. I could have stayed here for a week just spending time with my amazing family and getting to know them more and more. I learn so much about the importance of family and the connection that you will always have no matter how long it has been all the time. This only strengthened that for me. We are all so different, yet always find common bonds and have a strong love for each other that, well, totally rocks! I love you family, come to Portland soon, please!!! AS soon as we pulled out of the driveway, Mila pulled her blanket over her head and fell sound asleep. We came to our hotel in Danbury, Connecticut and carried Mila to the room. The fireworks started soon after our arrival and Jeremy and I were the only ones left to see them. Everyone is now sound asleep as I type this. I should be tired, but I feel so happy and content right now and will savor it for now. Tomorrow we will go to Hartford and spend more time with Uncle Mike and Aunt Nuala. They have been like second parents to me and are two of the most special people I know. I feel so blessed to be here and am looking forward to everything yet to come on our adventure.
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