Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
This is the final post in a series about our road trip vacation to and from Illinois: Part One: On the way to Illinois; Part Two: In and Around Illinois; Part Three: On the way back to PA. If you’re on Instagram, I posted a daily photo round-up of our trip. Some of the visuals in these posts will be the same, but some will be different.
Here we go!
All good times must come to an end. Monday morning we started our goodbyes and took showers and loaded up the car then officially said goodbye as we headed toward central Illinois to meet up with a friend for lunch. Amanda and I were college roommates for a year and she was in our wedding, and I was so tickled that she could meet us for lunch.
We went to Avanti’s in Normal, IL, a regionally famous (I guess) Italian restaurant that Phil’s parents frequented when they were college students. They were only doing carry-out but we could order and then eat in the restaurant. This is a common practice we saw while on vacation. Restaurants are able to prepare and cook the food but don’t have enough help for table service. It’s okay. It works. Our son ordered a pizza burger that was essentially a meatball sub but he wasn’t complaining. Our daughter ordered cheese ravioli with pesto alfredo. Phil and I shared a gondola sandwich, which is a signature dish at Avanti’s.
We had a lovely visit, catching up and telling stories of recent travels, all while enjoying good food.
Then we headed on to Danville, IL, where we hit the jackpot with Roadside America sights. First, though, we drove through Kicakapoo State Forest on Amanda’s recommendation. It was a pretty drive and we saw two fawns along the road. We needed to stretch our legs and use the bathroom, so a walk around downtown Danville was in order. First, we stopped to see the Lindley Sign Post Forest, a collection of signs pointing to destinations all over the world.
Nearby was a mural depicting all the famous people from Danville (more than you’d think … Jerry and Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman among them).
Another block away was a brick sculpture of people of Danville.
Our next goal was to make it to Franklin, Indiana, before 6 p.m. Eastern (we were about to cross the time change line again) so we hustled. At one point while we were driving, Phil shouted, “Damn!” as we passed a literal actual dam, and we all roared with laughter because his timing was so spot on.
Why did we have to make it to Franklin before 6 p.m.? Because my friend Tiffany owns a bookshop there and I am Instagram obsessed with it and wanted to see it in person. If you’re ever near Indianapolis, please take the time to head to Franklin and visit Wild Geese Bookshop.
It’s a cute little shop (soon to be a cute bigger shop) with a wide variety of books and gifts. I told the fam that everyone could pick out one thing (easier said than done in a bookshop). We made some good selections and I enjoyed catching up with Tiffany in person. From there, we walked downtown to Greek’s Pizza and Tapp Room for dinner: pizza, breadsticks and beer (for the grownups). It was a good meal.
Then we drove some Indiana backroads to get back on the interstate toward Cincinnati, our destination for the evening.
Our hotel choice for the evening left a few things to be desired. The parking lot did not instill a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings in us. There were broken down cars without windshields on the lower level of the lot, so we parked ourselves on the upper level, under a light, next to a contractor’s truck and took as much of our stuff inside as we could manage. At check-in, we were given a room on the sixth floor, but when we got to it, the door was slightly open and I thought I heard sounds. So, we hauled our stuff back to the lobby and asked for a different room. The desk clerk gave us a room on the seventh floor, and we could see our car from there. The room itself was nice, and since we were just looking for a place to sleep, it worked out fine, after our anxiety calmed down a bit. Next time, I’d probably spend a little bit extra on a different hotel in downtown Cincinnati. Live and learn.
Breakfast the next morning was grab ‘n’ go, so Phil and our daughter went down to get four bags. We had breakfast in bed, which sounds a lot more glamorous than it really was. We left the hotel a little after 8:30 to drive across the river to Covington, Ky. to park and view the Roebling suspension bridge.
We found parking in a lot nearby and walked down to the river to see the bridge from below. In our first year of marriage, Phil read The Great Bridge by David McCullough, which is all about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Since then, he’s been fascinated by the Brooklyn Bridge and all bridges engineered by John Roebling.
This particular bridge is currently closed to traffic but pedestrians are still able to use it, so we walked across the bridge. Some of us found this more fun than others. I like to tell people we walked to Cincinnati and back, but I forgot to track the mileage so I have no idea how far it actually was.
Next up: the William Howard Taft National Historic Site, also in Cincinnati. Unless you’re into presidential history, you probably know Taft as “the fat one,” right? I’m so glad we visited this site because he was a fascinating man. We watched a short movie about Taft’s parents and his early childhood in the home we were about to tour, then took a self-guided tour through the home. A ranger was available to answer our questions, and boy, did we have questions.
Here are some things we learned:
– First Lady Nellie Taft planted the first cherry trees in Washington, D.C. This had me thinking about legacy and the things we do today that outlive us.
– President Taft added 10 national parks/public areas during his presidency and signed two states into statehood
– a lot of Tafts went to Yale
– the bathtub … our son wanted to go to the Taft house because of the story about Taft getting stuck in a White House bathtub. There was a little bit of information there about it: the White House did install a bigger bathtub, but there was no explicit statement that it was because Taft got stuck; at the time of his presidency, he did weigh 335 pounds
– But he was always a big guy; his nickname as a kid was “Big Lub”
– Taft started the federal income tax and when he was chief justice of the Supreme Court after he was president, he streamlined the workload and gave the Court the ability to choose which cases they would hear; he also chose the architect for the Supreme Court building as we know it today
– as Secretary of War, he oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal
– he was the last president to have a family cow
When we had finished there, we went to Raising Cane’s for lunch. It’s a chicken joint with a super simple menu–three of us had chicken tenders and one of us had the chicken tenders on a sandwich. The tenders came with fries, cole slaw and Texas toast. We ate outside, fending off birds.
On the way out of town, we drove past the house that William and Nellie had had built when they moved back to Cincinnati. I got the address from a ranger. I thought maybe it was a private residence, but as we drove past, it was clear that it’s in some disrepair and maybe undergoing renovation. I hope someone is able to save it.
We headed to Columbus, Ohio, next for the Topiary Garden at the Old Deaf School Park. The topiary is a re-creation of the Georges Seurat painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte.”
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an art museum, so this was a delight. Phil said it had a Mary Poppins feel to it, like the painting had come to life. It was so neat to have a 360-degree view of the scene in the painting. Unfortunately the gift shop at the park was closed. Maybe we’ll have to come back. I don’t know what Columbus is like overall, but this was a pretty area and a nice place to stretch our legs.
On to Zanesville, Ohio for another roadside attraction: Vasehenge, a circle of ceramic vases that are probably 7-feet tall. Apparently Zanesville used to be a ceramics capital. Bees were living in a couple of the cracked vases, but this was still a fun little stop. Our son stood on one of the empty squares to pretend he was a vase. I guarantee you he couldn’t stand still long enough for anyone to make that mistake.
We crossed the famous Y-bridge in Zanesville, which was part of the National Road, a historic landmark we would learn more about the next day. Our dinner stop was in Triadelphia, W.V. (we were just trying to hit ALL the states on this trip) at The Hillbilly Snack Shack, which sounds exactly like its name.
You know in movies when an out-of-towner walks into a bar and the music stops and everyone looks at the person who entered? That’s a little bit how we felt walking in. We wanted to sit outside, so we ordered at the counter and paid for our food and then went outside.
I had an anti-pasta salad (that’s what it said on the menu), which was lettuce with Italian neats, provolone cheese, mushrooms and olives with an Italian dressing. Our daughter had a lemon pepper chicken wrap. Our son had a bacon cheeseburger. Phil had something called an oilfield trash burger. All good and greasy.
And just like that, we were back in Pennsylvania. Interstate 70 is fun because there’s just this tiny little strip of West Virginia that you drive though from Ohio to PA. We stopped at the welcome center so we could get our photo with the sign where it all started 13 years ago. Then we headed back to Uniontown, PA, but to a different hotel than where we stayed at the beginning of our trip. It was a much better experience than our previous night. We watched the Olympics until it was time for bed.
Wednesday, the last day of our trip, we headed to nearby Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
Breakfast at the hotel was a little bit disappointing for me (I could not eat another bagel) so I ordered Panera and went to pick it up. It was the first time I’d driven the car in 12 days. We got to the battlefield a little bit after the visitor center opened and watched a 20-minute video about the site. Then we walked through the lengthy display in the visitors center about Fort Necessity and the National Road. SO much to take in. My daughter and I walked through a little more quickly than the boys and learned there would be a ranger-led tour of the site, so we gathered the rest of our crew and let the ranger tell us about the significance of the site.
To sum up (I’ll try): George Washington (yes THAT one) is in the Virginia regiment trying to build a road through the mountains when he gets in a skirmish with the French and an important Frenchman is killed. (There’s some dispute about who fired first in this skirmish.) His brother (the dead Frenchman’s) gathers troops and goes to find Washington’s militia to enact revenge. Washington is camped at what we now know is Fort Necessity. They fight for 9 hours. The French say they want to talk and send a letter for Washington to sign, ending the battle. The ink is smudged and Washington’s translator is Dutch so they miss the part of the letter where Washington claims personal responsibility for the death of the Frenchman. Afterwards, the British declare war on the French and go on to fight the war we call the French and Indian War (but in Britain and maybe the rest of the world it’s known as the Seven Years War). After that war ends, King George decides he needs some money to fund his new empire, so he starts taxing the colonists across the pond because in his mind, they started the war. The colonists don’t like it. They rebel, declare independence and BOOM! we’ve got ourselves the United States of America.
(Please understand this is wildly simplified and probably only three-quarters accurate.) My biggest takeaway is that this little battlefield seems insignificant but it was a spark that eventually flamed into independence. The weight of that felt heavy as we walked around the encampment. It’s a small, defensive structure, reconstructed because the French burned it after the battle. In the visitor center displays, there are pieces of the original fort uncovered during archaeological excavation. Seeing artifacts is one of my favorite things–it’s like proof of life from the past.
Albert Gallatin’s name popped up again–he was an advocate for the National Road (currently U.S. Route 40 that starts in Cumberland, Maryland and ends in Vandalia, IL. It’s a someday dream of mine to travel these cross-country roads, like this one and U.S. Route 30 to see days-gone-by areas of our country). We learned that the word “turnpike” originated with the National Road. Tollbooths were set up at regular intervals and a pike, or log, was set across the road. Once the toll had been paid, the pike was turned so the carriage could pass. Thus, “turnpike.”
We paid a quick visit to Mount Washington tavern, which is also on the site, an 1800s era building reflecting what it was like when travelers on the National Road would stop in. The building is more than 90 percent original. Fodder for my imagination.
To get back to the current turnpike, we drove some backroads through the Laurel Highlands, another area we’d like to spend more time in someday. We made it to Somerset and grabbed Arby’s for lunch. I was hangry and this point and Phil and I got in a small conflict over things that were said when I was hangry. We ate in the car and followed the turnpike home to Lancaster.
Thanks for following along on this vacation journey!
For vacation this year, we took a road trip back to Illinois, stopping along the way there and back to see some things. In years past when we’ve driven to Illinois, we tried to knock out the 14 hours as quickly as possible. This time, we took our time to make it feel more like a vacation. We packed a lot in, so I’ve got a vacation round-up in three parts for you. Part One: On the way to Illinois; Part Two: In and Around Illinois; Part Three: On the way back to PA. If you’re on Instagram, I posted a daily photo round-up of our trip. Some of the visuals in these posts will be the same, but some will be different.
Here we go!
Our first morning in Illinois, Phil and I slept in till almost 7. My mom made French toast, sausage and bacon for breakfast (at our son’s request). Phil and I took a short walk on my parents’ property while our son helped my dad collect firewood.
Our daughter went shopping with my mom for a new swim top. Later in the morning, Phil and I drove across town to pick up my grandma from her assisted living home to bring her back to my parents’ house to hang out with the family. By the time we got back, the shoppers were back and my cousin, his wife and their daughter were there, too. (They were visiting from Colorado.) The 3-year-old had been hanging with my parents for days ahead of our arrival, so she was giving my kids a tour of the place. Activities included: playing with all the toys in the house, blowing bubbles, drawing with chalk and playing basketball. Some of us sat around on the porch just enjoying each other’s company.
Our son and my cousin rode ATVs. Grandma said she thought maybe she should ask for a ride. None of us on the porch at the time (the grandchildren generation) were going to tell an 86-year-old woman she couldn’t do something, but fortunately my mom stepped in and gave her a ride in the Ranger instead.
(Note: If you are in your 80s, every day is a “yes” day, if you ask me. I hope this is how I will live my life.)
For lunch we had brats and hot dogs on the grill, accompanied by homemade salsa and a smattering of other snacks. Then we hung out some more until my brother arrived from Chicago.
There had been talk of swimming in the afternoon and we thought our only option was to crash the hotel pool where my cousin and his family were staying. But my parents’ neighbors offered the pond on their property, so we hauled our party down the hill and had THE BEST TIME EVER.
I started off by watching from land, reading a book and talking to my brother. Then the heat got to me and I decided to get in. (Although I did not jump off the wobbly board. Balance is not a thing my body always knows how to do.) Phil and my dad and the kids did jump off, and I was super proud of them.
I decided to get in and bring back adult beverages after I changed. I ended up in the pond floating on a raft, drinking a Straw-ber-ita and living my best life. I peaked, Midwest-style.
Grandma and Mom watched from the Ranger, mostly, and before we were finished, my brother took our orders from Arthur’s Garden Deli, our one place that we must eat at every time we’re back in town. Mom brought back a feast of sandwiches and baked potatoes. Then there was more outdoor chilling. I took a ride in the Ranger, then we gathered for s’mores around the fire. The three-year-old had her first s’mores from a campfire and clearly enjoyed herself.
We sat around the fire till well after the sun set. A perfect Midwest evening.
Wednesday morning, Phil and I got up and ran through the park near our high school to see the pelicans gathering on the river.
It was 98 percent humidity. (Illinois, this is why people leave you.)
When we got back, there was a mutilated rabbit in the front yard. (It’s like Wild Kingdom, except in real life!) My cousin and his wife dropped off their daughter–we were keeping her for a few days while they took an anniversary trip to Chicago–and the kids played together. Although some tiredness and squabbling brought on some tears from most of us.
Burgers on the grill and various garden veggies for lunch. Then I started laundry and took a nap because I hadn’t slept well for a couple of nights in the hotels. My mom took the kids to a couple of parks. I read on the porch while waiting for their return. They came home with Buster Bars and blizzards from Dairy Queen. The buster bar was another first for the 3-year-old.
The kids decided to have a water balloon/water gun fight, which led to some actual fighting and a few tears, but in the end they had fun.
We had more chill time in the afternoon, then mac and cheese and chicken fingers for dinner. While I was helping make dinner, Phil offered the 3-year-old an “elephant ride” complete with authentic noises.
At one point, the 3-year-old declared out of the blue, “I’m not a walrus; I’m just a people.” We all cracked up.
After dinner we took a drive to see if we could find the bison. The herd was hanging out in a field on a dead end road so we pulled over and tromped through the weeds to get a closer look.
Then we drove to the river and watched the pelicans again.
Early to bed for everyone.
The four of us had a family visit with Phil’s family on Thursday morning. Phil and I made lunch–chicken and vegetable kebabs and a cauliflower pilaf. The kids played checkers and chinese checkers with their grandparents. My parents had been out running errands. I asked them to look for canning lids because they are in short supply in Pennsylvania. On our way back to their house, my dad called and said the local hardware store had lids and bands, so we detoured there. I entered the hardware store like a madwoman. A kind employee helped me locate what I was looking for, then my dad showed up and we asked another employee to get another size down from upper shelves. I ended up with four boxes of bands and lids and felt like I’d hit the jackpot.
Back at my parents’ house, our daughter decided she wanted ice cream. There were only two Buster Bars left, which my son and the three-year-old ate, so my dad drove our daughter to the Dairy Delite. I asked her to bring me back a hand-dipped flavor. She got me lemon drop ice cream, which is not a flavor I would have chosen for myself. It tasted like summer, though.
Phil and I decided to go out for dinner. Usually when we’re home during the holidays, our favorite Mexican restaurant is closed, so he took me there. We get the same thing, pretty much, every time because it’s so good: enchiladas verdes for me, and tres compadres for him. (He had a tamale, a tostada and a burrito.) We each had a margarita.
After dinner we walked around downtown a little before heading back. There were ATV and Ranger rides happening, along with a game my dad was playing with the 3-year-old. She would say, “Can you be a scary dragon?” And my dad would roar and pretend to chase her and she’d turn around and say, “Let’s be friends, dragon.” It was adorable.
More s’mores and fire sitting to end the evening.
Friday was another run day for Phil and me, this time at a different part of the river.
I made it 2 miles, which has been a struggle for me, of late. We saw more pelicans. We had breakfast sandwiches when we got back then readied ourselves to head to the Chicago suburbs to visit my aunt and uncle. We had lunch at their house–burgers and brats on the grill, salsa and chips, potato chips, fruit. It was quite the spread and we had a really nice visit. The goal of our trip was to spend as much time with family as possible, and I think we succeeded.
On the way back, we stopped in Rochelle, Illinois, at the train park. We saw three trains come through while we were there and bought some merch.
Fair warning, if you go, be prepared to be approached by strangers who want to talk while you’re waiting for trains to come through. My dad had taken us to see the Ashton Rock Park on our way in, but I was trapped in the back of the vehicle and couldn’t get out to take a picture, so I asked him to stop again on the way home.
The man who lives here, on the site of a former quarry, has spent 20 years building this rock garden. It’s 40-feet deep and magnificent.
We had spaghetti pizza and mac and cheese pizza from Angelo’s for dinner. (If you didn’t know by now, we do some EATING when we’re home.)
The day was tinged with sadness because the Cubs, our favorite baseball team, traded a bunch of the team’s core players. Ugh.
Saturday morning, Phil asked if I would get up and go birding with him. We were going to go the Nachusa Grasslands and stop briefly at a wetlands on the way, but we ended up spending our whole time at the wetlands tromping through weeds and wildflowers for an hour. Phil saw many, many birds. I did not have the best time because my expectations for the morning were different. But I survived.
Blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast. More laundry. Then Phil and I went to visit my Grandma at her facility. We had a nice chat there and met some of the people who help take care of her. We stopped at the riverfront on the way back to check out some more birds Phil wanted to take a closer look at, then we hit Wal-Mart for a few road trip supplies and gas.
It was leftovers for lunch. My mom likes to get us to eat all the food that has accumulated during the week so that she and I my dad aren’t stuck with it after we leave. More laundry and chilling. My brother and his wife arrived for more hanging out. We watched a heron walk across my parents’ driveway where it crosses the creek. Phil spent a good chunk of the afternoon stalking the heron. My cousin and his wife came back from Chicago and reunited with their daughter. Phil and I did some planning for the road trip home.
Our dinner plans were a riverboat cruise, so we dressed and left. We boarded the boat a little before 7 and got settled at our table with waters and salads. A waitress took our drink orders while we were unmooring from the dock. Dinner was served shortly after that: salmon or streak, twice baked potato, green beans.
It was better than I expected. Dessert was a vanilla cake with a dollop of buttercream frosting and some kind of flavored caramel sauce.
As soon as we were finished eating, we headed for the top deck. It was a beautiful night for a cruise. We saw herons, an eagle, and pelicans. Lots of party boaters waved at us as they passed. So lovely.
My cousin and his wife packed up when we got back. They were heading back to Colorado early the next morning. Our time together was quickly coming to an end.
On Sunday morning, we got our family up early to drive to Kenosha, Wisconsin to see our niece participate in an adapted triathlon for kids with developmental disabilities. But that doesn’t even begin to describe what this event is like. I was in awe of these warrior-athletes and their grit and determination. I was crying about 3 minutes after we got there and we hadn’t even seen our niece yet. We found the pool and watched our niece’s swimming portion, then headed outside for the biking portion when she was changed. We all got to walk along the path with her as she pedaled along. One of her therapists took her on a lap around the course then transferred her to an assistive device so she could walk the last little bit of the course. Every single person within hearing distance that day was encouraging our niece. They call each child by name as they approach the finish line and treat them like the amazing humans they are.
When it was over, we all chilled a bit and then got a group picture.
We went for lunch with Phil’s brother, his wife and our niece. First we tried a Thai place but they were only doing takeout so we went across the street for Mexican food. It was tasty and filling. Then we went to Petrifying Springs Park for a hike/walk.
We ended up doing two trails for a total fo 3.5 miles. It was such a nice visit, the kind that always makes me sad that we live so far away.
On the way home, we stopped at the Lake Forest Oasis, just off the interstate, for pizza and ice cream for dinner.
It was our last night in Illinois. We opted for sleep and to do most of our packing in the morning.