Category: Uncategorized

If you’re anything like me, you relate to things in terms of music. I hear my current situation in the feelz behind the words or theme of a song. Or a song title speaks to the current moment. Before you think I’m gonna get too deep, I’ll lay out some lyrics:

“I don’t know what the world may want, but some words of wisdom could comfort us; think I’ll leave that up to someone wiser”  –Cracker*  (for post-GenX kids, this was a band, not a racial slur, lol)

So if you’re reading this to get some wisdom and poetic insight into our current madness, this prolly isn’t your kind of post.

It’s easy to just assume everyone thinks/feels/deals the same as I do. That’s a human weakness. And while I try not to fall into that trap, I sometimes find myself surprised–no, shocked–by something someone says that blows up my perceptions. In light of that, I  don’t believe we all are experiencing the Covid pandemic exactly the same.  One of the highlights to the current situation is that I learn something new about people in my (wide) circle every single day.  I’ve enjoyed others’ stories so much that I thought I would keep sharing about mine.

Thom is newly managing a pretty large group of engineers and technicians in the IT field.  Trying to help a number of Atlanta-based businesses to suddenly put everyone onto completely virtual workstations has kept him busy. It has become mostly work from home, but it’s challenging and the days are long (and then sometimes the day keeps texting well into bedtime). He’s so tired that he bailed out of a D&D online game with friends & Brandon two weeks in a row (but he’s back with the gang tonight).  I’m keeping maybe one nostril above water right now. There are moments where I feel like I’m drowning under the pounding waves–each time I get my footing and feel like I can swim out, I get knocked over by a new wave. And each time I get knocked over, I get weaker and weaker.

Let me just say, I KNOW it could be so much worse. A million ways worse. We could be out of jobs. We could be working jobs in dangerous situations (like the angels that we call doctors, nurses, scientists, and all the others who are working to save as many lives as possible). We could be sick. We could be homeless. We could be utterly alone.  There are so many ways it could be worse that I can’t count them.

I have been through stuff in the last year that less than a handful of people know 100% of. I’ve clawed out of some of that stuff to some extent. But then for the last three months of the year I worked two jobs, one that I gave ridiculous notice to, out of some sort of respect and kindness that I believed was mutual. The other was a new job in a new environment with a completely different field of work than I’ve ever done. I can only believe it was my grit that got me the job, as it certainly wasn’t because of experience specific to the job. (Side note: Be careful what you say you’re “never” going to do because whatever your youthful self says will surely set what your older self will, in fact, be doing.) So, I was never going to do accounting (insert yawn here). My advisor at UGA (and my grandpa Jolly) wanted me to go into actuarial science. I thought that sounded like the most boring thing on the planet. (Sorry Thom, we could’ve been money rich!)  Funny thing is, I love what I’m doing. It fits in my desired job sweet spots: involved with decisions at a high level, small business, a wide-variety of tasks, and a schedule that is family-raising-friendly. Despite loving the job, it’s still overwhelming as I’m trying to dust off those accounting principles from 20+ years ago in business school.

So I got through the tornado of two jobs and the holidays and honestly, it allowed me to avoid dealing with the earlier life junk. Of course that’s never good but I believe you’ve sensed my mantra: will I never learn? Then I rolled into the post-Christmas and pre-winter break weirdly-fast time period. I wrote last week about that break and the cruise and my arrival on land with some sort of terrible virus. Well, what’s extra weird is the timing of all this for me personally.  I didn’t feel like normal until over two weeks later, and then I had a beautiful weekend in Athens celebrating my talented daughter and her peers from across the state. I had a wonderful time with some of my band mom peeps plus a concert and a meal alongside family, friends, and a wonderful lady new to my life (who reminds me, in spirit, of my grandma–fun, loving, and wise). We came home and had a few days of trying to catch up on everything that fell behind during the break, my illness, and the trip. But then I’m trying to find cleaning supplies for work and there’s all this talk of people hoarding supplies for this outbreak. And then I go to a conference with government folks and there are lots of last minute cancellations. And all anyone can talk about is the virus. And Rome is also out of typical cleaning supplies. So I decide to bail on a scout banquet where I was getting an award, and I decide to go to Lizzy’s first night of the musical, Chicago. I planned to go Saturday, but things felt weird, so I followed my bizarre instincts (and Thom went along with my “craziness”). By the time we got to the school, word was already out that school was shutting down Monday “until further notice” and that we would only get the one night of the musical.

The musical was fantastic, but then people were being awkward afterwards (avoiding hugs and handshakes). Everyone was lamenting that it was their one and only show and talking about how the next (and turns out last) school day was going to be weird. Somewhere on that drive home I felt like I slid behind the veil of life.  Ever since that night, I’ve had to ask myself, daily, Is this Real?!? If I ponder it too long, I start wondering if anything has been real since I came home from that cruise. Some days, it’s almost easy to imagine that I died that last feverish stormy night at sea. That means this is certainly not Heaven, so it must be Hell. Then I imagine that Hell would prolly be much worse, so maybe this is Hell on Earth. When my mind goes down this path, I either cry myself back up to ground level or I realize I’m sinking and start reminding myself of everything I have to be thankful for.

The trick about all this for me, and maybe others of you out there, is that right now I learn the hard way. I pull up to the bar of wallowing. Even though I know it’s worse for me, I purposely choose to enter the darkness and sit with Misery–she comforts me. Don’t get me wrong, I make the right choice sometimes; I go for a walk, put on music that’s light & bright, do some yoga stretches, work on a puzzle, rock on the porch at dusk, or do something else healthy.

Every day has seemed to carry more weird or scary news. Cobb schools were closed “until further notice” which seemed like something out of a dystopian novel. But most surrounding schools were closed for just two weeks, so it seemed like we had a timeline. We lamented several concerts and prom that would be missed in the last part of March, but it was (at first) unspoken as “see ya after spring break”.  Then, nearly every day still, there was something cancelled and marked off our calendars.  Things progressed to shelter-in-place for Cobb to then a more serious sounding SIP from Georgia. Every time someone talked about the time needed before this ends, in seemingly mere moments someone else would talk of longer. It went from two weeks (end of March) to mid-April, to end of April, to Mid-May. And now Brandon’s driver’s test for May 22nd is cancelled, so obviously the government thinks we’re still in the thick of things until the end of May. This is my 4th week of working/living exclusively at home–and we might need 7 more???  I mean, the logical part of me knows that Wuhan and other areas were shut down for about 11 weeks, but the ME part of me wants no part in those thoughts.

I’ve been throwing lots of mental tantrums lately. I don’t want Easter at home (I’ve ALWAYS been with my mom). I don’t want Lizzy’s 18th birthday, prom, concerts, celebrations, yearbook signing, honors night, baccalaureate, and graduation to all be unavoidably altered by this virus. I don’t want Brandon to miss concerts and celebrations, to delay his Eagle project, to miss MomoCon, to miss band leadership sessions, to have a strange 16th birthday, or to be delayed on his drivers’ test. I don’t want to go any longer without seeing my big ol’ crazy family. I don’t want to miss our west coast road trip. I don’t want to imagine summer without time in PTC, in Sky Valley, at the beach. I’m mentally like a child laying on the floor kicking her hands & feet, yelling, and turning red. Maybe, like that child, I just need a long bit of true rest–the kind of rest a toddler has after a busy day where they’re dead to the world and drooling. I am trying to take better care of myself, but there’s so much going on that it’s hard to do.

I haven’t been watching the news except very occasionally and briefly. It’s really weird not to have a traffic report every 10 minutes in Atlanta. I can’t absorb the numbers of this pandemic, as they seem to double every few days. It’s weird to hear that America is still/again (depending on your politics) #1…but that’s in number of cases and deaths among other countries of the world (including China, which seemed like a nightmare just seeing them on the news many weeks ago).  And, yes, I know that you can often make any numbers work in your favor, but it’s surreal to hear it even if there are errors in the numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are positive stories on the news (as everyone’s grasping at anything that brings a little hope), but I can’t wade through the cold dark waters right now.

I have been on social media more, as it’s one of the few ways to connect with people right now. Funny enough, most of the political garbage I had been seeing was mostly gone (at least until this week). People were doing those surveys that are bad for your privacy but good for getting to know someone.  Others were sharing resources–everything from “check out this free museum tour” to “here’s how to make your own disinfecting wipes” to “here are some homeschooling tips that might help”. Some were posting stories of kindness and moments of thankfulness.  Some were posting silly jokes and memes and not really mean, sarcastic, or political ones (again, before this week). This week I’ve seen a turn on my feeds. There’s more anger at the government (both on under-reacting and over-reacting). There’s more political/agenda type discussions. There’s more worry as increasing numbers of people lose their jobs in some manner. There’s more stress as some people are starting to run low on certain supplies that are in low supply (toilet paper being the funny yet important American staple that tops the lottery-winning level of acquisition skill needed). There’s confusion as we try to discern why it’s acceptable to have grocery aisles open (when stores could go to pick-up or delivery orders only), yet the local parks are closed. There’s frustration when all the different levels of government seem to contradict one another–almost daily. There is disgust from someone no matter where you fall in all this.  At first, we came together as people, much like right after 9/11. But it feels like that Americana fabric is starting to tear at itself once again. Heaping on the pile of unbelievable stuff, there seems to be a growing amount of rebellious talk, all in the name of hashtag freedom. Catchphrases are starting to circulate about “survival of the fittest” and “economy first” that really makes me wonder if I landed in Alice in Wonderland and took the red pill. I really hope we’re not jumping into Lord of the Flies. Heck, the literature analogies are making me wonder if I’m Thursday Next in a new Jasper Fforde book.  🙂

On a more positive note, there are silver linings on all these clouds. One, quite literally, is that the seemingly incessant rain stopped.  Even though it brought the gosh-darn pollen, it also brought out the sunshine. If I sit on the porch with the sun shining in on my face, I can almost pretend I’m somewhere else in time. Another is that people feel more connected in a weird way. Technology (Zoom being the biggest impact) has been embraced in a way I’ve never seen before. I’m checking in on more  people than I did before (and more people are checking on me). It’s refreshing, and it’s something I hope continues after all this.  I do think I’ll appreciate a good many things more:  traveling, time with family, eating out at a restaurant, walking through the park, and hugs. While there’s much more to unpack in all this, I’ll leave it right there. I’m looking forward to the day when I can give you all some warm hugs.  ❤

Here we are with the final segment…

(Day 11)
I awoke to a very warm, sticky room upstairs because Ryan shut all the windows in the house overnight. It turns out that he smelled a skunk outside and didn’t think about the closed windows affecting anyone else. That’s how it goes, I guess.

We turned things around quickly though. Sheri, Calliope, and I went down to Barb’s bakery to pick up coffee and yummy sweets for breakfast. We enjoyed the “world-famous” cinnamon twists, plus an assortment of donuts and danishes. After eating and packing up the car, we headed down to Traverse City. On the trip down, the kids continued pointing out all the “Christmas” trees and cherry trees. Among our travels, we stopped for a picture of a giant wind turbine and the huge cherry pie pan (which held a previous world record for the world’s largest cherry pie).

We went to Underground Cheesecake and had cheesecake on a stick for a snack. It was just as good as expected (they were previewed on Food Network a few years back). We also went to Higher Grounds coffee shop. Also while in Traverse, we went shopping at Meijer and had lunch at McDs. Then we headed on to Lake Ann nearby, to stay with Sheri’s friend, Trina.

Sitting at Trina’s last night and enjoying the cool breeze blowing through the house made me want to move here. While I still think the water is cold, I have really grown to like the weather up here. We ran and played tag last night without getting all sticky and without all the smog we get around Atlanta. No one complained that they were “burning up” and everyone was more interested in playing outside than in watching TV or playing games. It was positively perfect in every way.

(Day 12)
We had a lovely day in Lake Ann, Michigan today. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at Trina’s and lounged around. At lunchtime, we headed over to Moomer’s, the best ice cream shop in the nation (according to Good Morning America). The shop is on the property of a farm and dairy, so you can see (and smell) where the dairy products come from. Of course, I got the cherry ice cream and it was full of fresh, local cherries. I must admit that the ice cream was the best I ever tasted. The kids said it was so good that we had to bring Daddy back here sometime!

Once we got back, Ryan and Sheri left for their friend’s wedding. The kids colored and played while Trina and I hung out. Mid-afternoon we went to the local park. The kids played hard and especially enjoyed kid-sized manual backhoes in the sandbox. We enjoyed walking the trail around the park, and Bryan decided to search for pine cones shaped like Pokemon characters. When we got back to the house, Bryan wanted to color and decorate his pine cones, so he and Calliope pulled Trina into craft time. I took Neil upstairs and snuggled with him since he was tired. He fell asleep on my arm, so I got about 20 minutes of just watching him sleep peacefully, before he rolled over and curled up. There’s something so peaceful about watching little ones sleep. While he napped, I caught up with the kids and Trina in a game of Bingo. (It was actually a Disney bingo board from 1969, and one of the characters was Prodigal Pig. Anyone ever hear of this character?)

Well, we eventually had to wake Neil up, and we headed over to the fairgrounds. Sheri’s brother, Garrett, is helping get things set up for the fair in two weeks, and he wanted us to come to a cookout with everyone there. We enjoyed some awesome food and fun company until the sun set. Then it was time to head back for baths (those were some dirty kids!) and for packing, as we’ll be heading into Canada tomorrow.

(Day 13)
It was another long day of travel, but everything went fairly well. While we never heard, “Are we there yet?”, we did hear Calliope continually say, “Are we STILL in Michigan???” The drive through Michigan was fairly uneventful until we got to a road that was equally bad as the roads in Louisiana…I-69. This interstate had so many bumps, ridges, and potholes, that your teeth chattered together at times.

Going through customs into Canada was fairly easy. We crossed at Port Huron (thus getting to see another Great Lake). There was about a ten minute wait (which almost killed Ryan), and they asked all the typical questions (where are you from, where are you going, how long will you be there, etc.). The roads along Canada looked very similar (they have corn fields too), and we passed another industry area similar to Chicago but much smaller. (They had a lot of smokestacks with flames shooting out of them…just like we saw in Chicago. Does anyone know what this is?)

I knew the money in Canada would be different but I didn’t know the $1 coin was called a Loonie or that the $2 coin was called a Toonie. However, there were some bigger differences that I didn’t even consider…like the good old metric system. We first noticed this difference with a speed limit sign of 100 (km/h). There was also the temperature report on the radio of an expected high of 28 degrees (Celsius). Then we saw gas for $1.23 per liter. At our estimations of converting to gallons AND accounting for the exchange rate, this was around $5 per gallon. Thank the queen that we didn’t need gas! Oh yeah, that rate doesn’t include the percentage the credit card company takes for a foreign transaction. You could exchange US money for Canadian money, but the exchange centers take a percentage too! Additionally, we noticed that our phones changed cell carriers from AT&T to Rogers. It would seem that we would’ve incurred $1 per minute charges if we used our phones “internationally”, so we just didn’t use them. Oh, and did I mention that everything was written in French and English? I thought this was just in Quebec, but apparently it’s in all of Canada. So, I enjoyed my Croquant au beurre d’arachides (peanut butter crunch bar) as we traveled the miles, or kilometers, through London and Woodstock (Ontario, that is) and into Niagara Falls.

Our hotel ended up being VERY close to the attractions. And the attractions were numerous. I can sum it up like this: Americans have nothing on Canadians when it comes to tourist attractions. The Canadian side of Niagara looked like someone had squished Vegas and New Orleans and Panama City into one square mile. If you wanted something, you could probably see it from any corner. However, the view of the falls from the Canadian boardwalk was outstanding. It was worth the three block walk through neon lights and speakers (and the faint mist from the falls).

We ventured out to eat dinner and everything was packed. So, we thought of mom and went to Hard Rock. We waited about 10 minutes before enjoying an expensive, but good, meal. Then we walked to the boardwalk to see the falls lit up at night and to watch the fireworks. While the fireworks were beautiful, the most amazing thing was hearing the echo of the fireworks in the falls. It sounded like someone was shooting large cannonballs into the water. It was truly fascinating to hear and feel.

Starting back to the hotel, we witnessed another great beauty of nature. A storm popped up out of nowhere. By nowhere, I tell you that the stars were shining and five minutes later, giant raindrops started pelting us. People were screaming and looking for shelter…that’s how surprising it was. At first, I thought it was part of one of the many attractions lining the road, but then I looked up and saw a wall of rain coming towards us. We ran under an awning and waited about five minutes until it let up some. All was well until we were a block from the hotel and it started lightning. I said a quick prayer and made a bolt for the room. We were drenched before we even got close to the falls!

(Day 14)
Niagara Falls…I can’t possibly do this justice, because there just aren’t words to describe this place. At best, I can say God’s power and beauty are plentiful and quite evident in this place. I am in awe of what we saw and felt today.
Despite my inadequacy to really interpret, into mere words, what we saw and felt; I will try my best to describe the day.

We decided to walk to the American side of the falls and get a package of events to do. We figured we had seen the falls from Canada, so we’d cross over to see it from the other side. (Plus, a similar package in Canada cost a good bit more.) So, “all” we had to do was cross Rainbow Bridge and go through customs. Finding the correct path was difficult (the sign was very small and surrounded by bushesl). Then, there was a Canadian toll of 50 cents per person to get out of Canada (they want to keep the money, I mean visitors, on their side of the river). Customs was interesting because they verified information with the kids. When they asked Neil if I was his mother, he said, “No!” It was scary for about two seconds, but then they asked him who I was and he said, “Mommy.” I don’t know what he was thinking, but all was well.

Once we got over and bought our passes, we decided to see the IMAX movie first. I figured that the movie would be a gradual introduction to the falls before we got on a boat and went up close. WRONG! This turned out to be a terrible mistake because parts of the movie showed some of the dramatic (ie, scary) stories of the falls. More specifically, it re-enacted the original Maid of the Mist steam boat tearing downstream through the rapids (and almost falling apart), the woman going over the falls in a barrel, and kids falling out of a capsized boat in the American rapids (one child being rescued inches before the falls and the other actually going over the falls and being rescued). Bryan loved the movie and Calliope even enjoyed it. Neil was quite scared but seemed to be reassured by the happy endings.

Well, then we went down and got on the Maid of the Mist. Neil was terrified and kept saying that we were going to fall out and go over the falls and the boat was going to crash downstream. So much for the movie easing him into the falls. Thankfully, he calmed down quickly and spent most of the ride watching the little whirlpools in the water with seagulls wading on them. Going past the American falls and Bridal Veil falls was really amazing…and pretty wet despite the ponchos. Then we arrived at the (Canadian) Horseshoe Falls and it was as if time stood still in the presence of the pounding waters and the resulting strong wind and mist (which was more like a pouring rain). I held Neil tight and we all just stood in amazement at the power before us. It felt like the beat of the water matched the beat of your heart as the water washed away every thought from your mind. It was totally overwhelming and emotional. It was one of those moments so joyous that it brought tears to your eyes and left you speechless. Wow. If you’re going to Niagara, you don’t want to miss this ride.

It felt so strange to leave that and go back into the tourist realm. As we went in search of the trolley, we ran across Do Do the Clown in Prospect Park. Of course the boys insisted we wait a few moments. Even Calliope enjoyed all the silly jokes and pranks…from a safe distance of course! The boys also got balloon swords, which we tried our best to protect through the rest of the day. (Bryan’s lasted all day, but Neil’s burst right before the Cave of Winds.) Next, we went to the Aquarium. It was certainly nice, but nothing when compared to the Chattanooga or Atlanta aquariums. We all really enjoyed watching sea lions swim and play in the center tank, but the kids seemed most excited by a yellow funnel to “race” your coins in. We “donated” quite a few Canadian coins here before prying the kids away. After that, we went to the Discovery Center to watch an okay movie about the falls history and to “ride” a cheesy simulated elevator ride down in the earth. The kids loved it, so I guess that’s all that matters. The rest of the center was covered in cool stories and information about the falls. I could’ve spent all day in there reading, but no one was in the same “boat” as me (ha ha). However, now I’ll be on the search for some good books about Niagara, because I’m fascinated and want to know more. I wouldn’t pay extra for either of these places, but it was included in the pass (which was a deal even if you just went on Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds).

Next we headed over to the Cave of the Winds attraction. I was a little worried about doing something so close to the water with Neil (because of his previous reactions), but I decided to go ahead and try. I’m so glad that I did, because he absolutely loved it! We put on our “free” ponchos and rain shoes and walked through several series of stairs and platforms. Neil laughed and giggled and cheered through the entire walk. We even went up to the Hurricane Deck (correctly named) and stood within inches of the Bridal Veil Falls. You could barely hear anything except the constant beat of the water. The spray was cold, forceful, and plentiful. We were soaking wet and happy. The beauty of this natural wonder, the scariness of the power behind that water, and the look of joy on Neil’s face was all quite inspiring. I would definitely recommend this attraction. (We were paired up with the kids, so I didn’t witness Bryan and Calliope’s reactions…but they both said they loved it and wanted to go again!)

Another storm popped up during this time, but there was no lightning and we were all so wet that it didn’t matter. (It turns out that it’s quite normal for storms to pop up over Niagara Falls quickly.) We walked down to Terrapin Point to stand mere feet from the rapids at the top of the Horseshoe Falls. This view was majestic, as you couldn’t see the other side because the rising spray was so strong and so high. It was also a little scary, as you could see the fury of the rapids leading to the falls. It was a reminder that things with so much power demand attention and respect. As beautiful as this all was, I don’t believe I’d want to live near the fury and strength that is Niagara Falls.

Lots of other little things occurred on our way back to the hotel and into the evening, but I just can’t consider discussing them now. The important story of this day was the amazing beauty of this area. I hope I get to come back here again soon and have more time to just sit and look at these waters. It really draws you into an inner reflection and brings you to pause everything else in life, if just for a moment. If you ever get the chance, come see what I’m talking about and, perhaps, you’ll have better words than I to describe these awesome sights.

(Day 15)
So let’s wrap up all the other stuff at Niagara. After a full day of the falls, we headed back and picked up Little Cesar’s pizza on the way. After dinner, Ryan and the kids enjoyed the pool and game room while Sheri and I walked around the tourist stuff. We went down to see the falls lit up again and tried to take pictures again. Neither of our cameras could properly capture the rushing water at a distance with soft lights shining on them. We enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds of wall to wall people speaking in every language besides English. (Actually, most people were speaking french.) Then we went window shopping and ended up at Candy Mountain. It was appropriately named as I believe there were several thousand kinds of candy available. We got a few partial scoops of a few things (including some Turkish Delight…just to show Bryan that it is a real candy). At two cents per gram, we had no idea how much money that would come out to be until we got the bill for $15 Canadian dollars. Good grief!

We also went into the cheapest wax museum around because, well, we had a coupon. Actually, Sheri had never been in one so that was why. We should’ve sprung the extra few bucks to go in one of the bigger, better ones because…guess what? The cheapest one was fairly crappy. Funnier yet, we went in the Famous Criminals wax museum, which was strange because neither of us are really interested in criminals. It was creepy, not because of the realistic figures, but more because of the realistic blood and “parts” from the crime scenes. We got back in time to see someone being arrested from the store next to our hotel (we’ll just say that it had a giant green leaf on the sign). Based on the number of pipes and such for sale, I’d say Canada has some different laws than we do. We came back to the hotel to find that Bryan had made a friend and was furiously trading Pokemon characters from his Nintendo. I’ll stand by my belief that Pokemon is the universal language 🙂

As much as I would’ve liked to stay and look at the falls some more, we had a long day of travel ahead of us. Our trip to Columbus was pretty uneventful. We got through US customs in about 15 minutes (or two lifetimes for Ryan). We got to see Lake Erie and, you guessed it, more corn fields. We crossed New York, Pennsylvania, and into Ohio. We met up with Sheri’s brother, Shawn, for dinner and some hanging out time around the pool. It was a nice, relaxing evening before another long day of driving.

(Day 16)
This was sort of a sad day because it was the last day of our trip. Of course, we’re missing all our family and friends, but this was just an adventure that we didn’t want to come to an end. It was a cool, drizzly day for almost the entire drive. Nothing really eventful happened on the way home. We didn’t stop at any roadside attractions because we left a little later than planned, ran into quite a few construction zones with slow traffic, and it was drizzly. Instead of talking about just this day, I’ll use the space to sum up the trip with all the random bits of information.

We traveled about 2500 miles…being in the car for just over 40 hours total. We traveled through 9 states and a different country. No one asked, “Are we there yet?”, but there were plenty of questions about what state we were in or what day it was. We passed the car time with 10 movies, 24 cds, random searches through local radio stations, and lots of video game time for the kids. We saw four of the five great lakes. (I tried to get someone to ride to the upper peninsula of Michigan to see Lake Superior, but no one was interested!) We saw car tags from 27 states (including Alaska), plus from Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. The most expensive gas was in Canada (about $5 a gallon), but New York was a very close second (at $4.69/gallon). Ohio had the cheapest gas at $3.47/gallon. The most prevalent site on the road was corn fields (it’s obviously what holds North America together), but we also saw cows, horses, deer, raccoons, and a skunk.

We discovered that a breeze across a 200-foot-high sand dune can temporarily block the sun. We found out that the sun comes up at about 4:30am in Nashville, while the sun doesn’t set until after 10pm in Northern Michigan. I found that I’m able to make tea without a “tea-maker”, that I can cook (sort of) on an electric stove, that ice cream CAN be lunch, that you can grill breakfast food in a park (hooray for cast iron skillets), and that cherries are good in everything…especially wine. We knew that northerners didn’t typically have grits or sweet tea, but we found out that they also don’t have Splenda…but they do have beans on the breakfast bar! We found that you must trust the GPS, but not ignore signs about construction or road closings (or maybe you just have to pay the money to update your GPS information).

We learned many lessons about the potty. I found out that the kids can go longer than adults without a rest stop. I often heard, “Didn’t we just go to the bathroom? I don’t need to go!” To which I replied, “Go anyway!” On the flip side, I remembered that you should always go to the bathroom before leaving your current location (in this case, Navy Pier). There’s a lack of bathroom stops near big cities, so you might have to find a bush. In relation to that, you will then have to “un-train” the child who pottied in the bush, because he will think this is a great option for any occasion. (We got to see Neil’s white bottom too many times when in the great outdoors after the infamous roadside potty break.)

We learned that all internet surfing in Canada sends you to the Canadian version of the site (ie, http://www.google.com.ca). When going through US Customs from Canada and they ask, “Where are you coming from?”, don’t answer, “Canada”…they want something more specific! We found out that Canada charges more taxes on goods than Florida. We discovered that Chicago and Niagara Falls are similar in that a storm can pop up and blow through the area very quickly and without warning. It was also quite interesting to see the differences in the Canadian and American sides of the falls. Both were fabulous, but the Canadian view was far better. Canada had the tourist stuff right up to the edge, but America had the beautiful parks all around. (I’m assuming the American side had plenty of tourist stuff, but it must have been tucked further away since we never saw any of it.)

Everywhere we went would be worth repeating. Bryan’s favorite stop was Ruby Falls. This, of course, will be easy to repeat since it’s just over an hour away. Neil’s favorite was Six Flags Great America. We realized later that we missed an entire section of the park, and we didn’t ride many roller coasters, so we’ll just have to go back someday. Plus, we all really want to go spend more time in downtown Chicago and at Navy Pier. (Barbara, Eileen, and Brenda: I promise that next time we’re that close to Madison, WI, we will come visit!) Calliope’s favorite stop was Niagara Falls. If nothing else, I have to go back there with Thom someday.

I’m really glad we took this trip. It was certainly a chunk of change, but then I put that in perspective. The amount we spent on this entire trip (of over two weeks) was the same as we would’ve spent just going to Niagara Falls (for two nights) and flying there. We got 13 more days and lots of fun stuff for what four round-trip plane tickets would’ve cost. I’m happy to drive if that’s the trade-off! I would love to go on another road trip because the kids did really well, and we all had a great time. We’re planning to go to Disney next January, but Bryan said that isn’t a road trip because there’s only one stop. But, since money doesn’t grow on our trees, we probably won’t take another road trip for a few years…probably going to Washington D.C. and perhaps up the eastern coast or something. I have fallen in love with travel, for better or worse. This trip also reinforced my love of nature. There’s just something so fulfilling about enjoying the natural beauty in this world.

I do want to say a special thanks to Thom. He was a trooper putting up with us all being gone for so long. I’m so sorry that your ticket to Niagara fell through! I also want to thank him for not complaining as I hoarded mine and the kids “portions” of Christmas money, tax refunds, and birthday money to put towards this trip. It made it so much more enjoyable to know that everything was paid for in advance. I also have a big thanks to mom and dad for loaning us their car. It was nice to not worry about having car trouble while on the road and to have a van with better gas mileage! Lastly, I have to be thankful to God for blessing us with monetary gifts so we could afford the trip, for keeping us all safe, and for creating such a beautiful world just for us to enjoy.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the tales of our travels and maybe, someday, I’ll post some of the pictures from the trip. For now, we’re all trying to adjust to being back home. We had to bury Bryan’s pet frog this morning and the sky let loose a momentary torrent of rain as he cried and said a prayer over his beloved Xan. We went to the store and went to the gym and now it’s time to unpack. It think I’ll actually miss living out of a bag and on the move. But, life moves on, with the next stop being the start of school in just over a week.
Au revoir!

Back to the regularly scheduled programming…

(Day 6)
My favorite quote of the day comes from Neil. Upon arriving at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, he said, “Whoa, that’s a big sandbox!!!”

We headed over there for most of the day to climb the dunes and have a picnic. At the top of the first dune, Ryan turned back. Halfway up the second one, Neil sat down and said he was tired. He and Calliope were quite happy to sit and play in the sand. Bryan, however, was anxious to get to the top of the dune because he heard that you could see Lake Michigan from there. I couldn’t be in two places, and I wasn’t going to carry Neil, so I watched Bryan finish the climb. He came back to report that he could only see a tiny bit of water and that the next dune was just as big as the others. But that was okay since we got to run and roll all the way down to the bottom of the dunes.

Now, if you’re thinking about the little piles of sand that many beaches call dunes, you’re probably thinking we’re wimpy. However, these are real, manly dunes. The first one is over 200 feet high at a 75 degree slope. The others are slightly smaller and slightly less angled. The national park stated that a round trip to Lake Michigan and back is a very strenuous 4+ hour 3 mile hike (not including time to play at the lake). So, you see, I never planned to walk to the Lake (at least not with my kids along).

Regardless, the kids had lots of fun and we enjoyed a spectacular, panoramic view of Lake Glen and the surrounding area. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a nice breeze and temps in the 70s. This made it a perfect day for a picnic as well. Afterwards, the kids played in the sand some more and chased sea gulls all over the place.

We got back just in time for a little swimming at the lake, while Sheri’s dad cooked his signature dish, Chop Suey. It was quite good and the company of Sheri’s family was even better. Of course, it made me miss the rest of my family!

(Day 7)
It may have been a lazy day with no big plans, but you can always find some stories to share. 🙂

Shawn, Garrett, and Lori (Sheri’s siblings) spent the night at the house with us, along with Lori’s children. So, I did the proper southern thing and cooked everyone breakfast. There were a few hitches, however. First off, I forgot how different it is cooking on an electric stove (I have a gas stove at home). So we lost a few of the scrambled eggs to the frying pan…no big deal, we’ll just make some toast. Oh yeah; there’s only two big burners on this stove and one’s being used for grits while the other one is burning the bottom layer of eggs. Well, we’ll just microwave the sausage like I often do at home anyway. But wait; this microwave is from the 70s so it took 15 minutes to do the sausage instead of the typical 5. With a sigh of relief, I am thankful that the signature part of the meal, slow cooked grits, will be awesome. Then I taste the grits…they are SALTY! I salted straight from the salt container since there’s no shakers and was apparently a “little” heavy handed. Make more toast!!! Oh, and did I mention that the coffee maker will only use half of the water that you put in, and it takes an hour to make a (half) pot of coffee??? I consider myself to be a good cook but Sheri’s family will never believe it! (In all fairness, everything was good except for the grits…which were fine if you mixed them with cheese, eggs, and sausage plus ate some toast!)

We spent the rest of the morning chillin’ out…watching cartoons and playing video games. After lunch we took a stroll around downtown Northport. We took several pictures of the charming metal statues around town and strolled around a few shops. We visited Sheri’s old school and played on the playground. We even had a tetherball “tournament”, in which Sheri stomped the adults, and the kids complained about how tetherball isn’t a nice game. Walking back into town we came across the largest blackberry plant I’ve ever seen (I’d really call it a tree since it was over 20 feet tall). The owner was outside and told us to help ourselves, so we did. Those were the sweetest blackberries I’ve ever had! Even the kids liked them…so much so that everyone had slightly red palms all day. 🙂

While we were out, we got ice cream cones at a local store (the cheapest, biggest cone I’ve ever seen). We hung out at the park until everyone was done and then we strolled along the boat docks. Now my kids want to live on a boat! While on the docks we could see Gull Island across the bay. All you can see are two chimneys (the house is gone) and lots of white specks. The specks, I’m told, are hundreds of sea gulls that took over the private island and made it uninhabitable. As a side note, we’re on the bay, so I keep arguing that these birds can’t be called sea gulls…they must be called bay gulls (prounounced “bagels” if you want to be cheesy like me).

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful but nice. We made taco salad and enjoyed dinner with Lori, her kids, Garrett, and Sheri’s dad (who brought delicious Leelanau Great Lakes red wine for dinner). Anyway, after dinner we just enjoyed some nice conversation and looked forward to another day together.

(Day 8)
It was a gloomy, chilly day until about 6pm when the drizzle finally stopped and the sun came out. I believe the temperature topped out at 65 degrees.

We still had some fun around the house though. We bundled up in blankets and watched movies and played board games while Ryan boiled peanuts all day. There was much silliness, snuggling, snacking, and napping. The weatherman keeps saying that “tomorrow” will be sunny and warm, but it would seem that tomorrow never comes.

After the sun came out, the kids had fun at the playground. They had a late dinner with Ryan and Garrett while the girls all went out to dinner in Sutton’s Bay. We had great food and good conversation, plus enjoyed a window-shopping stroll around town afterwards. When we got back, the kids were only halfway through movies so they got to have a late bedtime.

The adults stayed up late as well, enjoying the starry night and some more games before bedtime. So it was a relaxing, nice day. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow.

(Day 9)
The sun came out, and it was a gloriously beautiful day. It didn’t quite reach 80 degrees, but that didn’t matter since it was warm in comparison to the previous few days.

After breakfast we headed out to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. We didn’t climb up the lighthouse for several reasons. First, it wasn’t very tall. Second, the little kids didn’t want to do it. Third, they wanted $4 a person to walk up (on top of the $8 park entry for out-of-state residents). We did walk around the museum and shop though. The kids really loved the shop because there was a whole room full of Legos and “old-time” toys (like Jacob’s ladder). There was also a cool Lego replica of the lighthouse which made me think of Christian. We also walked down to the water to see all the waves on Lake Michigan. Naturally, we also had to play on the playground before leaving.

After lunch, we went out to Leelanau State Park. We hiked just over a mile through the woods and over a few small dunes to arrive at Lake Michigan. We practically had our own private beach. There was one family about a quarter mile away, but otherwise we couldn’t see anyone. The sand was soft and covered with rocks, small and large. We all got in the very cold water and played frisbee for awhile. Neil got out quickly and enjoyed digging up rocks at the water’s edge and playing in the sand. Ryan, Bryan, and Calliope stayed in swimming for quite some time. Sheri, Garrett, and I got out to enjoy just laying on the beach. I could’ve stayed there all day…listening to the waves…listening to the kids laughing…watching Neil play…wiggling my toes in the sand…feeling the sun and breeze on my face. It was bliss. But, all good things have to end eventually, so we packed up and headed out. On the hike back, the sun was streaming diagonally through the trees; it was so beautiful that Calliope said it was an enchanted forest. I’d have to say the only possibly bad thing about the trip was the amazing number of bugs in the woods. (I thought they didn’t have bugs up north??)

We got back and changed clothes just in time to head out to Peterson Park. We played volleyball, played on the playground, and walked down the trail to a rocky beach. Neil said it was the best rock garden ever! Sheri’s dad made breakfast for supper while we played. We ate as the sun set over Lake Michigan. While the grownups cleaned and packed up, the kids sat on a blanket and watched the stars come out. Even the ride back was eventful, as we almost ran over a skunk.

After we got the kids back and tucked in, Sheri and I went over to the grassy airport field to gaze at the stars. It’s so amazing to see the stars without city lights around. We saw several shooting stars and watched the moon rise. We would’ve stayed longer, but the chill of the night and the buzzing mosquitoes motivated us to get back home.

It was a beautiful day, filled with reminders of all the awesome sights and sounds God gave us. We enjoyed so many glorious things today: the sun setting, the moon rising, the blue sky, the starry night, the sound of waves, the sound of stillness, the warmth of the day, and the coolness of night. I’m so thankful to have the chance to enjoy these things and to share them with my kids. I’m just sorry everyone else I love couldn’t be here with me today!

(Day 10)
While it couldn’t match the day we had yesterday, today was a really nice day. We spent the first part of the day sleeping in and lounging around, since we were all up so late last night. We eventually got out and went to a local cherry orchard to pick cherries. The kids wanted to pick the bright red ones but Sheri explained that those were tart cherries. So, they happily went along with picking the darker, sweeter ones. Everyone had fun reaching to pick the biggest ones. Then there was an impromptu contest to see who could pick the biggest bunch still connected (without pulling a whole branch off). Neil got a double, Calliope got a triple, and Bryan got a quadruple; even I couldn’t beat that record. We also got to sample some queen anne cherries, which were a light, mottled red and tasted just slightly sweet. When we got back with all these cherries Ryan pointed out that we can’t carry fresh fruit into Canada. That would’ve been good information before the cherry picking…

After lunch we went down to the beach for a few hours. Bryan and Calliope went in the water for a little bit, but Neil wasn’t having any of that. He was content to play right at the edge with shovels, buckets, and rocks. The kids made a few rounds between the playground and the sand until Ryan was ready to pack it up. I just enjoyed hanging on the blanket and watching the kids play. (I’m getting pretty lazy on this part of the trip…the gym is going to kick my butt when I get back!)

The evening has just been a typical “last evening” of a trip. We’re doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge, and searching for missing toys. I’m actually going to be a little sad to leave Northport. I’ve really enjoyed spending time with Sheri’s family. I’ve also grown to love the weather; especially as I think about how hot it will probably be in Georgia when we get back. (It’s all relative, isn’t it?) Regardless, we still have several days of adventure ahead, so I’ll just look forward to that and ponder the thought that we might could come back and visit here again someday.

This family loves a road trip, and it’s been way too long since the last one.  (Neil was just 4 years old, and now he’s about to start middle school.)  Discussions of another trip have reached a fever pitch, so I’m trying to figure out how to make it happen next summer.  In light of that, I thought I’d re-post my original ramblings from our trip with my three kids, brother Ryan, and SIL Sheri.  What follows is a summary of the “first leg” of our trip from Georgia to Michigan.


(Day 1)
So we survived the first part of our two week road trip. We left right after lunch and used some free tickets for Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. I hadn’t taken the kids there before because of the walking involved, but it worked out fine today. Everyone had lots of fun, and Bryan even wanted to know when we could come back. They do a cool thing for Halloween so you never know…

After that, we went straight on to my youngest brother’s house in the Nashville suburbs. We ended the day running around outside, playing on the playground, and playing Donkey Konga. Everyone should sleep well tonight! 


(Day 2)
We started the day off with a homemade breakfast. (Thanks Michael!) We filled up the car with some “cheap” ($3.91) gas and got on the road. Once we got to Kentucky, we stopped at the Welcome Center for maps and potties. Then it was back on the road until Louisville, KY. We stopped downtown to see the world’s largest baseball bat. We also saw a giant vampire bat a few blocks down. We parked at the scenic marker of the Birthplace of the Happy Birthday song. We went down the street and had some awesome pizza for lunch. The drive through Kentucky was beautiful with all the rolling hills. Plus, the bridges right at the border of Kentucky and Indiana were amazingly cool.

Then we entered Indiana. We, of course, stopped at the Welcome Center for maps and potties. Indiana was pretty, but monotonous. I believe they grow all the corn in America here as that is ALL we saw. We had about four hours of long roads surrounded by corn fields and the occasional string of power lines. We attempted to find the world’s largest rocking chair in Franklin, IN but the country road names didn’t match the maps or GPS directions. However, we filled up with gas (now $4.13) and, you guessed it, used the potty. 

Part of the interstate was closed near the Indiana/Illinois border, but “Lori” (the GPS) got us around safely…however, we missed the Illinois welcome center. Oh my…the trip was ruined! 🙂 We headed out to Navy Pier in Chicago and had a wonderful time once we found somewhere to park. (That wasn’t cheap either!) Bryan wants to come back and spend a week at Navy Pier; that’s how much fun we had. We had a great meal outside along the pier at a BBQ place. We rode the carousel and the ferris wheel (Bryan was terrified to go on it, but afterwards he wanted to go again). We walked up and down the pier looking a boats, birds, water, and people. We watched the power of clouds blowing through Chicago and rounded out the evening with some ice cream. Unfortunately, through all the fun, we missed the memo of Neil having to REALLY go to the bathroom until we were back to the car. We figured there would be somewhere to stop once we got out of downtown. No such luck. He was a trooper and held on until I finally pulled off to a beautiful bush in an office park. Better the bush than my mom’s van 🙂

We raced the Chicago transit most of the way down the interstate and finally arrived at our hotel about 9:30pm. It was a long day with mostly fun events and very few problems. I’m thanking God right now for the GPS, a DVD player, and Nintendo hand-held games!


(Day 3)
Six Flags Great America was a total blast. It was also quite large (think about all the walking you do at Epcot, and that should be pretty close). It is basically a “regular” Six Flags in addition to a “White Water” type park…all in one. We got there about 10 am and left around 8:30 pm. We spent about half the day in the water park and half in the theme park.

Despite the numerous water slides and such, my kids still loved Skull Island the best. It’s a bit bigger than the one in Atlanta…but is basically the same premise. Bryan was quite content to just stand under the bucket to have water dumped on him every 3 minutes. I finally coaxed him onto a mini water slide; he said he loved it but went right back to the bucket! Calliope and Sheri rode quite a few of the basic water slides while Ryan and Neil rode a bunch of water slides that you ride tubes on. Everyone but Neil enjoyed riding waves in the “ocean”, and we all loved the lazy river (it was over a 30 minute loop…that’s how big this place was).

In the theme parks, we mainly enjoyed the kid or family rides. Ryan, Sheri, and I rode a few thrill rides and coasters though. It was obviously a light day for the park because we barely had a line for anything, so that was great. We spent an obscene amount of time in Wiggles land but everyone was enjoying it (yes, even Ryan)…part of the joy came from the play pirate ship and the octopus water sprinkler. Neil’s joys came mostly from the “barrels” (that’s what he called the log flume ride) and the train (of course). He had so much fun that he bawled after every ride…because he wanted to do it again! Calliope loved the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. I’m not sure Bryan had a favorite in the theme park area. This is mainly because all the kiddie stuff he wanted to do had a height limit and he was too tall. He was mostly terrified of anything geared for his height. He did seem to have fun anyway and enjoyed the water type things the most (log flume, raging river, etc.)

The raging river (like Thunder River) was much wetter than expected, so we got soaked at about 8pm after the clouds (and cool temps) rolled in. Needless to say, we shivered our way onto the double-decker carousel at the front of the park and then headed home. We certainly could’ve had fun for another hour and a half, but we were all happy, so it worked out fine. We headed back to the hotel to eat a late dinner and then swam in the heated pool for about five minutes. Thirty minutes after that, there were three kids snoring. (And I would’ve already joined them by now if I weren’t waiting on wet towels to dry.)
Quite a Great American day indeed! 🙂


(Day 4)
Let’s Kick this Thing! Well, it was more like let’s go really slowly through construction and rush hour in Chicago, but that’s no way to start a blog off! In all fairness, we did start the trip out today listening to Slow Children at Play, the best ska band in the world, “Kick this Thing”. (It made us all miss you, Christian!)

Well, I know that no one will believe this, but my kids ALL slept until I woke them up at 8:15! (For those who don’t know, Bryan always wakes up, on his own, by 6 am.) So, we didn’t even leave Gurnee until 10am. I don’t know if we encountered rush hour, construction, or both, but it took over 2 hours to get south of downtown Chicago…can you imagine how annoyed Ryan was at this point?!? And I thought Atlanta traffic was bad! At least the kids were all happy with an endless supply of video games, movies, and such.

We had the joy of driving through Indiana’s numerous corn fields again, but at least it was only for about an hour this time. However, Michigan wasn’t that much different in the scenery department. Because of all the delays in our start, we didn’t get to visit the Wizard of Oz park or see the “eiffel tower” in Paris, MI. Instead, we just stopped at a Cracker Barrel and had the only sweet tea to be found north of Tennessee. (Thanks Debbie for the gift card…lunch for the kids and I was a whopping 78 cents!)

As we inched northward, we witnessed the temperature drop pretty dramatically. It was 90 degrees at a rest stop in Indiana, then it was 85 at the Michigan welcome center. When we stopped north of Grand Rapids it was 80, and when we finally arrived in Northport, it was 72. (The kids immediately searched for their jackets!) The other big difference was the sunset…which didn’t occur until well after 10pm. The kids wanted to argue about it being bedtime because it was still a little light outside. 🙂

The house we rented for the week is best described as quaint or rustic. Don’t get me wrong; there’s plenty of room inside and out and it’s nice enough. It’s just a mixture of the past and the present, if you will. It appears to have been originally built in the late 1800s and some of the house seems to be “original”. However, bathrooms, electricity, and some other rooms have obviously been added on over the years. Some of the other fixtures seem to have been updated in the 70s and 80s. Then there’s a few things that seem very new. The other odd thing about this place is that it is sort of stocked with household items. I don’t just mean dish soap and trash bags type supplies. There are partially used bars of soap, shampoo, razors, and even toothbrushes (no, not in the original packaging)…there’s also partially used peanut butter and other pantry items. I feel like I broke into someone’s house for the week! 🙂 

The most interesting thing about the house is the lack of air conditioning. (Ryan almost passed out when he realized there was no A/C!) Don’t get me wrong, the temperatures are nice so it’s not a big deal. However, it was so humid that we were chilly and “sticky” at the same time. (I guess this is why the place smells musty like a cabin or something.) The lack of A/C also had to bring along lessons on windows to my kids. Don’t get me wrong, we occasionally open the windows at home, but they have protective stops so it can be locked into position (so no one falls out on their head). I may have to bolt Neil to the floor if he doesn’t stay away from the windows…

On the plus side, we are mere blocks away from the beach, playground, and downtown area. We’re looking forward to a fun week here on the water and hanging out with Sheri’s family. (Although we may have to go buy more long pants!) If nothing else, we’ll enjoy eating lots of fresh cherries!

(Day 5)
New state motto…”Michigan — We like it cold.” I thought the air temperature was a little cool for July but the water temperature blew that away. The water (in Grand Traverse Bay) was a surprising 60 degrees! Bryan said his brain was frozen after just a minute, and we all noted that your feet lost most feeling after five minutes. Ryan told us to go under quickly to be inducted into the Polar Bear Club. The kids believed him and complied…I am no fool. 🙂

In all seriousness, the kids eventually got used to the water and had lots of fun splashing around. Of course, their little chins were shivering non-stop, but they had fun anyway. The water was a beautiful blue-green color and clear all the way to the bottom. (The kids insisted on taking pictures of their feet in the water.) It was also nice that the water in the swimming area there wasn’t much more than 3 feet deep. We enjoyed quite a few hours at the beach and playground.

Our adventures today also included a trip to a local farmers market. Naturally, we got some fresh sweet cherries (since we’re in the “cherry capital of the world”) along with some fresh baked cookies (with cherries) and brownies (with cherries). Of course, we also had to get the best treat in the entire world: chocolate covered dried cherries (yes, I’m saving some for you Thom). There goes the diet!

We ended the day at Sheri’s dad’s house with a cookout. We hung out with Sheri’s dad, her two brothers, her sister, and her sister’s kids. Neil and the little guy acted like twin brothers, playing together quite well. Bryan took to the little girl, as he seems to take to all babies. All the grownups and kids had fun playing ball until time to eat. Afterwards, we were going to have a bonfire and smores, but Calliope started feeling poorly and wanted to go back to the house here. It was quite late, so I think she was just tired from a busy day. I snuggled with her until she went to sleep so all seems well. I brought stuff home to do s’mores tomorrow…it won’t be the same as eating them around a bonfire under the stars, but then again, how often do you get to eat s’mores in the morning???

Tune in tomorrow for part two of the adventure!