Friday, August 10, 2012
Day Thirteen: Michigan City to Freeport, Il
Before leaving Michigan City we visited the sand dunes on lake Michigan. It was a windy spectacular sight. More info to come. Pictures below.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Day Twelve: Geneva on the Lake to Michigan City
States: Ohio, Indiana
Miles: 342
Trip Miles: 2,300
Murphy's Law of Camping: If you pack the raincoats where you can't easily get to them, even if it isn't in the forecast, it will rain.
Memories:
TBA
The Run Down:
We knew we would have to make an early start of it since today was to be our last day of hard driving. I also had the challenge of using up the rest of our camping breakfast food. I was well into finishing up bacon, eggs, pancakes and cooked cinnamon apples when Gordon pointed out the dark sky in the north.
Between flipping pancakes, I ran to the car and filled the front seats with our camping equipment - - the car can't be packed up until the last thing to come down, the tent, is stowed away.
Danny was awake, but Grace slept through all our frenzy. Finally, Gordon simply dragged her sleeping bag out of the tent and she slept on while we packed up. (See picture below)
When the big drops finally began to plop down, we got her up and in the car. I served the kids breakfast in the car and while they ate, we got everything packed away.
The silver lining to our cloudy start to the day was that we had completely broken camp by 10:00: a record for us!
We pulled up to the park office to check out just as the sun began to peek through the clouds.
We steeled ourselves for a long boring drive. But after we made a stop at the wayside and picked up some Indiana tourist literature we happened upon a mention of a Chocolate Factory tour in South Bend Indiana.
Our navigator promised to get us to our destination with six minutes to spare before the last tour. However this meant driving for three hours without stopping. The kids eagerly cooperated and at 3:55 pm we were at the South Bend Chocolate Factory.
The tour was fine, the samples were great and the gift shop relieved us of the rest of our trip fun money. If our will power holds out, friends and family will be the beneficiaries of this little side trip. The high point had to be Danny's observation upon seeing the factory workers. He said: "Hey! These are big people." I think he was expecting Oompa Loompas.
We pulled into our roadside inn at about 6:00 with a sinking heart. It was an exact duplicate to the place we stayed in Canton. The dilapidated hotel supplies sprinkled around the back of the place made us even more nervous.
Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to our room (right off the parking lot) and found a wonderful surprise. The entire room was remodeled and while the floor plan was the same as our NY place, the decor could not have been more different. Everything was new and fresh and even stylish, right down to the orange towels in the bathroom.
I may be going on a bit here, but after four nights at a campsite following three days in the damp dank NY spot, this is pretty exciting!
We ended our day with a splurge and let the kids fall asleep to the Olympics.
Pictures:
1-5) Candy Factory Tour. Grace and Danny are holding replicas of the coco bean pod.
6) Grace sleeping through all the excitement. The tent literally came down around her ears.
7) Literal Car Camping: breakfast is served in the rain!
Miles: 342
Trip Miles: 2,300
Murphy's Law of Camping: If you pack the raincoats where you can't easily get to them, even if it isn't in the forecast, it will rain.
Memories:
TBA
The Run Down:
We knew we would have to make an early start of it since today was to be our last day of hard driving. I also had the challenge of using up the rest of our camping breakfast food. I was well into finishing up bacon, eggs, pancakes and cooked cinnamon apples when Gordon pointed out the dark sky in the north.
Between flipping pancakes, I ran to the car and filled the front seats with our camping equipment - - the car can't be packed up until the last thing to come down, the tent, is stowed away.
Danny was awake, but Grace slept through all our frenzy. Finally, Gordon simply dragged her sleeping bag out of the tent and she slept on while we packed up. (See picture below)
When the big drops finally began to plop down, we got her up and in the car. I served the kids breakfast in the car and while they ate, we got everything packed away.
The silver lining to our cloudy start to the day was that we had completely broken camp by 10:00: a record for us!
We pulled up to the park office to check out just as the sun began to peek through the clouds.
We steeled ourselves for a long boring drive. But after we made a stop at the wayside and picked up some Indiana tourist literature we happened upon a mention of a Chocolate Factory tour in South Bend Indiana.
Our navigator promised to get us to our destination with six minutes to spare before the last tour. However this meant driving for three hours without stopping. The kids eagerly cooperated and at 3:55 pm we were at the South Bend Chocolate Factory.
The tour was fine, the samples were great and the gift shop relieved us of the rest of our trip fun money. If our will power holds out, friends and family will be the beneficiaries of this little side trip. The high point had to be Danny's observation upon seeing the factory workers. He said: "Hey! These are big people." I think he was expecting Oompa Loompas.
We pulled into our roadside inn at about 6:00 with a sinking heart. It was an exact duplicate to the place we stayed in Canton. The dilapidated hotel supplies sprinkled around the back of the place made us even more nervous.
Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to our room (right off the parking lot) and found a wonderful surprise. The entire room was remodeled and while the floor plan was the same as our NY place, the decor could not have been more different. Everything was new and fresh and even stylish, right down to the orange towels in the bathroom.
I may be going on a bit here, but after four nights at a campsite following three days in the damp dank NY spot, this is pretty exciting!
We ended our day with a splurge and let the kids fall asleep to the Olympics.
Pictures:
1-5) Candy Factory Tour. Grace and Danny are holding replicas of the coco bean pod.
6) Grace sleeping through all the excitement. The tent literally came down around her ears.
7) Literal Car Camping: breakfast is served in the rain!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Day Eleven: Geneva on the Lake, OH
Murphy's Law of Camping: It doesn't matter what the hour is - the minute you pour the cream in your coffee, the kids will wake up.
Miles Traveled: 150 yards
Memories:
Grace: when I named the green caterpillar we found: "Pistachio."
Therese: Beach-combing for smooth rocks on the shores of Lake Erie. Seeing a group of elderly people chain together and haul their buddy out of knee deep but very wavy water.
more to come...
The Run Down:
This was the first day of our vacation where we literally had nothing to do. All the activities and action have been fun, but the idea of nothing but the beach waiting for us was quite appealing.
After a leisurely breakfast and a few false starts, we headed to the Lake Erie beach.
The sand was beautiful with a mixture of sand and small bits of broken white shells. The motion of the waves and the pebbles shifting under the water made things too risky for the kids to swim. But they had a great time collecting rocks and constructing dams and castles only to see them washed away as the tide slowly came in.
I got to see the result of the strong undertow when a group of very senior citizens had to rescue their friend standing in knee deep water because he couldn't get a good enough footing to walk back to the beach.
Danny was intrigued by the sand volleyball court at the campsite so we stopped at the office to borrow a volleyball so we could play. Danny kept calling it a "Bocce Ball."
After a brief dose of Olympic Volleyball several days ago, Danny was ready to dive after anything that came his way. By the end of the afternoon, he was getting the ball over the net...once in a while.
We had a dinner of green beans from the Canton Farmer's Market, chicken from the Potsdam Farmer's Market, polenta from Trader Joe's and Mac & Cheese from Costco.
After toasting our final marshmallows of the camping season we headed to bed and fell asleep to the sound of the distant waves hitting the shores of Lake Erie.
Pictures:
1, 4, 5-7, 9): Beach shots
2) beautiful butterfly prairie on the way to the bathrooms.
3) Danny couldn't get enough of the drinking fountain.
5) The kids sleeping while the water boiled for my coffee.
8) Danny's Olympic moments in volleyball.
Miles Traveled: 150 yards
Memories:
Grace: when I named the green caterpillar we found: "Pistachio."
Therese: Beach-combing for smooth rocks on the shores of Lake Erie. Seeing a group of elderly people chain together and haul their buddy out of knee deep but very wavy water.
more to come...
The Run Down:
This was the first day of our vacation where we literally had nothing to do. All the activities and action have been fun, but the idea of nothing but the beach waiting for us was quite appealing.
After a leisurely breakfast and a few false starts, we headed to the Lake Erie beach.
The sand was beautiful with a mixture of sand and small bits of broken white shells. The motion of the waves and the pebbles shifting under the water made things too risky for the kids to swim. But they had a great time collecting rocks and constructing dams and castles only to see them washed away as the tide slowly came in.
I got to see the result of the strong undertow when a group of very senior citizens had to rescue their friend standing in knee deep water because he couldn't get a good enough footing to walk back to the beach.
Danny was intrigued by the sand volleyball court at the campsite so we stopped at the office to borrow a volleyball so we could play. Danny kept calling it a "Bocce Ball."
After a brief dose of Olympic Volleyball several days ago, Danny was ready to dive after anything that came his way. By the end of the afternoon, he was getting the ball over the net...once in a while.
We had a dinner of green beans from the Canton Farmer's Market, chicken from the Potsdam Farmer's Market, polenta from Trader Joe's and Mac & Cheese from Costco.
After toasting our final marshmallows of the camping season we headed to bed and fell asleep to the sound of the distant waves hitting the shores of Lake Erie.
Pictures:
1, 4, 5-7, 9): Beach shots
2) beautiful butterfly prairie on the way to the bathrooms.
3) Danny couldn't get enough of the drinking fountain.
5) The kids sleeping while the water boiled for my coffee.
8) Danny's Olympic moments in volleyball.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Day Nine: Watkins Glen, NY 8/6/12
In the morning the kids checked out the huge bouncy pillow and we did a bit of exploring. Then Sarah and Hugh arrived and the kids played and played and played. We had lunch and then the kids swam and played and played. After a s'mores snack, the Chandler cousins took off. We cooked up chicken, potatoes, carrots and later apples and cinnamon in foil packets for dinner.
It was time to bathe. The kids, especially Danny were beginning to look like wild creatures abandoned in the woods at birth. We promised they could watch the movie after showers. Poor tired Danny had a meltdown of epic proportions and finally passed out before he could even shower. He slept for 13 hours that night without even moving.
Grace and I watched a chilly movie under the trees and then walked home marveling at the stars shining so brightly.
It was time to bathe. The kids, especially Danny were beginning to look like wild creatures abandoned in the woods at birth. We promised they could watch the movie after showers. Poor tired Danny had a meltdown of epic proportions and finally passed out before he could even shower. He slept for 13 hours that night without even moving.
Grace and I watched a chilly movie under the trees and then walked home marveling at the stars shining so brightly.
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