In just a few minutes, we will point our red car toward Portage, Wisconsin–a mere 1,150 miles down the road.
And speaking of the red car, on the Sunday before the Fourth of July, I had to go out and stand by the car in order to add a little color to my red-less outfit.
Summer is safely ensconced at a doggie daycare and we have pastor friends who will be arriving soon to stay in the house while we are gone. (As much as we possibly can, we loan our house out to friends in the ministry who may not always be able to afford a week-long vacation at the beach.)
Although we love getting to share our home, it is always a bit of a challenge to pack and clean, all at the same time. The up side of all that activity though, is that during the entire time away, I can savor the thought that my house will be nice and clean when I get home.
We hope to arrive at my sister and brother-in-law’s house Tuesday night and then on Thursday, I will drive to the Milwaukee airport to pick up these incredibly cute children.
Oh. And also, their parents. 🙂
Here they are with their Floridian cousins.
And here’s a bonus shot of that darling granddaughter.
On Saturday, members of my extended family from various parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota will gather at Randy and Debbie’s house for our first family reunion in five years. While it’s difficult living so far away from family, the distance does serve to make our reunions all the sweeter.
While I was packing for the journey, Summer stayed right nearby with every intention of overseeing the entire process. However, she conked out halfway through, leaving all the work up to me. Girlfriend is a professional
nap-taker!
The past two Sundays, Steve has played the drums for service. Our wonderful drummer, David, just had an ankle replacement and will be out for 8-12 weeks. Steve thought it would add more to the sound if he played drums instead of guitar–so he did! His talent knows no end. Fortunately, we have gotten a substitute drummer lined up so he can go back to playing bass.
In closing, I just added a new picture to Sarah’s ongoing collage of Food Lion pictures. I thought it would be an appropriate time to post it since she is excited about leaving all that grueling work behind (she was on her feet ten hours Saturday) and heading out on vacation.
What about you? Do you have any traveling stories to share with the rest of us? Something memorable, funny, scary,interesting, or poignant that happened on a road trip? Do tell!
Have a fun and safe trip and enjoy all that special family time. Especially those precious babies! (Well, they’re hardly babies anymore….getting SO big!!)
We flew out to California several years ago. (1997) Landed in LA and rented a car and then drove to San Francisco. We had an amazing room right on the bay but it was so weird because the room actually, very visibly, slanted towards the water. It made you feel like you were going to fall when you walked through the room. The place was really nice though so we decided it must have been intentional in case it got water in it; it could easily drain. 😀 Then the next day, we drove down the coast highway. It was absolutely gorgeous but VERY curvy/hilly/winding. Our son, about 12 at the time, ended up getting so, so car sick. When we stopped at the Pebble Beach golf course to look it over, he just sat on a bench and threw up. Poor guy. We didn’t stop anymore. Just got going and onto a straight road. It really ruined his day. 🙁 Then to make matters worse, two days later we decided to take a tour of the celebrities’ homes. That was a fail because the tour went up through the Hollywood hills. Key word: HILLS. Yep. He got car sick again. You would think we’d learn. Lol. WE did, and the rest of the trip was fantastic and we made lots and lots of great memories together! 🙂
LeeAnne,
I can’t quite imagine a hotel room with a slanting floor. I would be very curious if that was done intentionally or if the hotel had just sunk through the years and gotten uneven. That would be a very weird feeling.
I would love to drive that highway one day; it’s on my bucket list. However, I can only imagine how little your son enjoyed it. Poor fella. I guess hills are not his friend!
Hi Becky, Hope you are having safe and easy travels. Those grandkids are so super cute!
The best road trip I ever went on was the summer I turned 13, and my family packed into a little car towing a tent trailer and spent about 8 weeks driving and camping across Canada. That was a lot of fun and we saw some really neat things. I wish it was possible to do something similar with my own kids, but right now it is not. However, next month we are going to spend a few days at a nearby lake and I’m looking forward to that! I found a completely wheelchair accessible little lakehouse that rents out to families with disabilities like mine. It will be our first vacation with our new son.
I think that is so awesome and kind that you gift your home to people so they can have a beach vacation while you are away. I bet that really makes such a difference for the recipients of your generosity and is very much appreciated.
Also, I really like the photo of you at the beginning of the post. Classy outfit and you look pretty. 🙂
Jenna,
Camping in a tent for 8 weeks? I am impressed by how much planning it would take to prepare and pull off something like that, especially with the food and cooking. It sounds like a most fabulous family adventure though and I am glad you get to do an outdoor excursion of your own soon. Enjoy!
Love those pictures of Sarah and the change through the years. Beautiful young lady! Several years ago we were on our way to Kansas to visit my parents. Decided to stay in a hotel/motel, but my husband didn’t want to pay a lot of money, so as we were driving around – not near a highway, he saw a sign that said $19.99. Thought, well, just for one night. We should have known something was not right because you paid outside through a window. Our daughter had been needing to go to the bathroom for a long time and so he paid and I grabbed the key. She and I ran to the room on the 2nd floor – outside entrance – and I opened the door. Told her to go quickly because we were not staying. There were telephone numbers on the wall, sheets had a hole in them. My husband hadn’t come up yet, but as he entered the room, told him we weren’t staying and the reasons why. Had a hard time getting our money back, but we did. We had an Entertainment book (coupons) and got a coupon for half off at a hotel with swimming pool. We still remember that time (and kind of chuckle) and now only stay at reputable motels!
Sharyn,
I can well imagine the charms of a hotel costing less than $20. Oh my!
It’s those kinds of adventures that families remember though, more than the ones where everything goes right.
Have a wonderful time! Take lots of pictures. Safe travels. So happy that you will be with your family and those grandbabies.
Lesley,
The Nikon is all packed and ready for action!
Yay! See you soon ?
Debbie,
Yay right back atcha!
Safe travels as you journey to visit family. Our travels at this time are to Duke Cancer Center where I have 4 appointments Tuesday. We will spend the night in Durham tonight as I begin at 8 am tomorrow. So happy you are getting to be with family this week. Memories and hugs. ???
Hi Ann, that sounds like a challenging day tomorrow. I’ve just said a prayer for you, and I hope it goes well.
Jenna,
How sweet of you to comment and pray. Thank you for that
Ann,
Such a long day but a day that will be filled with God’s peace and the knowledge that you are lover and prayed for by many, many people.
In October of 2011, my cousin and I took a trip to California. She had always wanted to drive highway 1 down the coast. We flew into San Francisco where we stayed a couple nights then we made our way down to San Diego over the next four nights. We stayed in San Diego for another two nights before returning home. We had rented a convertible as we thought it would be fun – only problem we couldn’t get the top to go down. We took it back to the rental agency and they couldn’t get it to go down either. So we had a convertible with a malfunctioning top. The rental agency did knock about $200 off the rental so that was good. At one bridge, we had stopped to look at the sights. I had stayed in the car since I was driving. All of a sudden, my cousin was nowhere to be seen. I had a awful feeling that she had slid down the embankment and how was I going to tell my aunt and uncle. She hadn’t and after a bit reappeared but it was still pretty funny.
In 2013, we made a trip to Hawaii. We had been out sightseeing on that Saturday and I had gotten drenched in a downpour. At the time, I lived in Tampa. We were standing at the elevator of the resort we were staying in – I think it had at least 1,800 rooms. There was a man standing in front of me and at first glance, I thought it was a former boss from when I lived in Louisville. I told myself no, couldn’t be. Looked again and decided it was him. I called his name and sure enough, it was he and his wife. They were staying in the same building, one floor down and maybe 6-8 rooms away from ours. We bumped into each other again on the day we decided to just hang out at the hotel’s coast – they were in the cabana next to us no less!
Hope you have a great and safe trip! I know those grandbabies will get lots of loving.
Phyllis,
What are the chances of running into your former boss twice that far from home? Crazy!
Driving down that famous highway in California would be a dream come true, convertible or no convertible. Sounds like you have had some great traveling adventures!