SUMMER ROADTRIP 2010

We traveled to Ohio to visit family this past weekend, returning here very late on Wednesday night. Oh, how I dislike the long drive (fallout of growing up as an airline brat, I suppose, and having a husband who still works in the industry to this day). I believe I'd take an airplane to Kroger if I could.

It takes nearly 6 hours if attempted non-stop (Yahoo and Google clock it in at 5 hours and 42 minutes), but with the stops we have to make (food, bathroom, playground, bathroom, gas, bathroom, snacks, bathroom, etc.), it's always a minimum of 7 hours for us.


Of course, my family will tell you it only takes "five hours and fifteen minutes" to make the drive between us.
O-n-l-y!
This apparently coming from a long lost relative of Jimmie Johnson, who clearly takes the trip at 80mph on the low side.
Uh hem.

Okay, so. We knew that a tradition was on the line as we made our way to Ohio. That is, Rochester township was having its annual fireworks Saturday night after dusk. Rochester township is nestled in the country not far from our own country home where we lived in Ohio. They hold an annual 4th of July festival, complete with fireworks that few know about (thus the crowd is small). It was an annual tradition for us when we lived there, and we try to make it there every summer if possible.

If we ate in the car on the way and didn't hit any significant traffic, we just might make it in time to spread out a blanket next to the cornfields, under the stars, to enjoy our absolute favorite fireworks display. I'm happy to say it worked. We arrived with enough time for the kids to play the ring toss game and win a candy prize, for Brandon and Reece to ride the cheesy pony ride (think playground merry-go-round), and for the kids to play on the playground while a bad country music band performed live in the background, before settling down on our blanket to see the show. I remember sitting in that same spot in 2004, expressing my sadness to hubs over that being our "last time" at Rochester fireworks.
Little did I know we'd be back again and again.
Such small blessings make me very, very happy.

It was fun to visit Reece's sister, Kimberly, and her family as well. They live in a town by the exact same name as the town we now live in here in Indiana. Cool, eh?
Kimberly and Reece look sooo much alike.
You know how some siblings barely resemble one another, while siblings from another family seem poured from the very same mold? Kimberly and Reece.
They are very obviously siblings.
And I'm getting more and more stirred with emotion as time marches on, seeing the joy on their faces when they are together.
It's PRICELESS.
I'm so glad for them that they are connected in spite of growing up in different adoptive families.

The rest of our time was spent hanging out on my parents' large screened in back porch beating the heat (though the heat was definitely winning), staying up waaay too late to play Canasta with my parents, eating waaay to much, celebrating Olivia's 11th birthday with family, and making time to take the kids to watch my brother fly his R/C airplane and to visit the hummingbird nest that he and my sis-in-law discovered at Sandy Ridge wetlands. I really love spending time with them when we're home.

Our trips home only happen twice a year, and only for a few days. This makes it difficult for us to visit our dear friends whom we miss greatly. However, something neat happened this visit. Hubs and I were taking our daily power walk around town (yes, in the 95 degree blazing heat and humidity) when we heard our name called from a car on the road. We looked up to see our long time friend, Karen, who spotted us walking and took the time to turn her car around to say hello.
How sweet was that of her?

Karen and I met when we worked together at Burger King. We might have been 16 or 17 years old at the time. She is one of the most genuine and kind people I've known. She's also totally funny and I wish I saw her more often because she always makes me laugh.

Since our Burger King polyester days of the 80's, I've run into Karen in so many places. The mall. TJ Maxx. Another small town festival. The Ringling Brothers circus when it came to Cleveland. And now on the street as we walked around the town of our childhoods (melted and sweaty as we were, and with me sporting my Roseanna Roseanna Danna hair to boot). I'm wondering where I'll next see her (she assures me it won't be in Indiana, but I'm not so sure it won't happen, lol.)

Our trip back to Indiana was hot, hot and hotter still. Hubs added frion before we left for Ohio so we did have air conditioning. But we prefer not to use it on long hauls, opting to ride with the windows down instead. Oh my stars, we melted. It was so hot, in fact, that I checked with Nellie the Scab (our G.P.S. who replaced me in my role as trip navigator) for a place to swim. Saw a big lake "kind of on the way" so we headed there to let the kids swim before finishing the trip home. Indian Lake turned out to be just what they needed. It was Brandon's first official time on a beach and he loved it. The kids splashed and swam for a good 45 minutes before we had to round them up and press on toward the end of our journey.
We'll be sure to hit Indian Lake again on future trips de la sweltering blazes.

Hope your 4th was filled with family, fun, and a deep, deep appreciation for your freedoms and privileges as an American. I'm so very proud to call this country my home and I am realizing more with each passing year that freedom is not FREE.
Some paid all. May we never lose sight of that.

Toni