Day 35

Dave and I were up early to begin packing and getting the kids moving. Once everyone was sufficiently clean we enjoyed a nice breakfast Joann had left out for us again and finished up laundry. Joann and her home had been so welcoming and comfortable, we were sad to leave! The kids mentioned several times to me they would rather stay with her than a hotel!

We said goodbye to Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue and were surprised also be able to say goodbye to Natalie and Samantha. It was a beautiful, cool morning and they were all out getting some yardwork done. Aunt Sue directed us to a 7 Eleven for the kids to get Slurpies and we stopped by Target to stock up for the first few days of our stay in D.C. After a couple hours on the road we were there!

This time we were staying in Maryland just a few minutes from the train that would take us to the city. We were in a horrible spot with barely any room for our tents but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of picking out a new spot, figuring out if it was open for our six days, and wasting our precious potential time with Dave in the city. Once we got the tents set up for the night, we hopped on the train to explore. The night before I'd booked us a night walking tour of the monuments we were all looking forward to.

We made it to the National Mall just as they were closing many of the food options so I turned to Zamato for the 19th time this trip to find us a quick and delicious place for food. We found the Elephant and Castle Pub and were all starving after just snacking all day! We all ate as quickly as we could as we only had about 40 minutes before the start of the tour, but it was delicious!

Tonight's tour was a little bit different than the tours we'd done before. I believe the tour was called D.C. by Foot, but it was free and we were encouraged to pay what you thought the tour was worth and the end or what you felt you could give. If everyone were honest and generous, wouldn't that be a great way to do business? I do believe it might make some people in the service industry work a little harder!!

   

We were greeted by Ingaborg at the Washington monument, a native of Washington D.C., ready to learn and explore. We were treated to an extensive history lesson as well as a city background at each stop along the way.

Here we all are!!


We visited the Washington monument, World War II memorial, Vietnam memorial, and Lincoln Monument. This tour was definitely one of my favorite things of the trip.


   

   






This was definitely one of my favorite pictures from the tour. This statue of Abraham Lincoln is so big! The kids were almost as impressed as I was too!

This tour was such a nice look at all the monuments at night. The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Monument reflected the Washington Monument beautifully. It was definitely a moment I will never forget.








We stumbled on a monument Dave and I had accidentally found in our travels here before the kids loved. Albert Einstein was just sitting on the steps free to climb all over. We might just have to come back here one day.

   

We made it back home shortly before midnight exhausted and ready to collapse. The kids were all packed in like sardines in their tent and had a difficult time settling down from the day. Dave and I however, were asleep within minutes.

Day 45

Dave and I had both been semi-dreading our night the day before as our neighbors moved in all around us as well as in the middle of us!  Every since I first started camping as a child, there is a rule of a invisible boundary around campsites.  Apparently these three or four families decided that was not a rule at all!  At one point the kids even parked their bikes in our parking spot for the car!

There were quite a few kids, older teenagers, and adults in these two site so Dave and I looked at each other thinking the night was going to be quite loud.  We joked about finishing all the beers in the cooler just to have a good nights sleep.  We did share a few beers but our night was surprisingly quiet and we all slept quite well.  

The morning was chilly and Dave started on pancakes early so we could get on the road pretty quick. 

The kids were up with the delicious smell and we were packed up and on the road by 8 which is probably a record having a cooked breakfast.  It's nice having that guy around to share the load!

We decided on the first hour or so of backroads then we would stop for a stock up and drive on the highway for the rest.  We had about a 6 hour drive ahead of us so we wanted a least some of it to be enjoyable.  After about 45 minutes all the kids faces were turning green in the back and we had to stop.  Dave and I felt like we'd been on a roller coaster too!  The drive was beautiful though and we especially loved all the old barns and look what we ran into around a corner!

Dave and I switched driving so I could have some fun and Ryan decided to use Dave as a target.  We were back in an area where we had cell service so he was go through all his emails from the past few days.  Every 30 seconds or so we would be pegged in the head by taped up balls of paper!  Whatever keeps them smiling!

We stopped for a quick stock up on food for our last few days in the woods as well as a quick ice cream.  The kids and I had hit Smokey Mountain National Park last year on our way north so I knew it would be beautiful to share with Dave.  One of the parts of the park we'd missed was Cades Cove so I decided to have us camp there.  I knew it was going to be a fun drive when we still had 45 minutes and only 10 miles left!  The temperature was dropping about a degree each couple minutes too!

We checked in, grabbed some firewood, then set up our site.  Have I mentioned how nice it is to have Dave helping?  We're on our 3rd day of camping and everything takes about half as long with him around!  While I did our dishes from snacks in the car, the kids played target practice with their rubber band guns and lego guys.  

We decided on a hike of the nature trail nearby after a little while.  Every nature trail we'd ever done so far had been a flat, wide, accessible, winding path through native plants and trees.  I had everyone stay in flip flops.  I should have known better in the Smokey Mountains!   

We learned a lot about the native trees in the area as the kids read the interpretive signs along the trail.  The afternoon was beautiful  and we were getting a little relief from all the heat in the woods.

This girl is so happy to have Dave back.  She wouldn't let go of my hand the entire trip and now I haven't seen her for days!  The only way she holds my hand is if she's already holding his!

Once we got back to the site and all the groceries put away, Dave started cooking dinner.  He even had an assistant chef!  

After dinner and dishes all the kids wanted to throw the football with Dave.  I took the opportunity to get everything ready for the night.  The girls enjoyed teaching Dave about poison ivy as we've run into so many different varieties these past few years of trips.  

Our next night program was one Brayden was really looking forward to - a night hike!  We got dressed and headed over to the shelter to meet the park ranger and get on our way.  

Our park ranger was fun and he told stories at a few stops of the history of the park.  The kids really enjoyed learning about the Cherokee so we'll be sure to focus a little more time on that this year. While we were hiking there were rangers on the trail doing studies on bats we were seeing flying above us.  I was hoping they were going to take a minute to talk to us, but I guess not everything can be a learning opportunity!

We walked on a cut through road of the Cades Cove Loop back toward the park in the middle of one of the horse pastures.  There was a half moon so the sky wasn't all the dark, but it was absolutely darker than what we see at home.  The big dipper was hanging low in the sky and it looked so close as if you could grab it.  The kids were more impressed with the ranger's laser pointer as they've seen so many dark skies on this trip.  

The ranger ended the trip with a wonderful quote from President Lyndon Johnson played on a small tape recorder, "We must not only protect the country side and save it from destruction, we must restore what has been destroyed and salvage the beauty and charm of our cities … Once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted."  The ranger then thanked us for his job which I thought was awesome and we thanked him for a wonderful hike. 

We were all asleep within minutes of zipping the tent closed.  We had a big, full day the next day as we would be trying to eek out every last minute of our last day.  

Day 41

The kids woke up one by one and headed upstairs for breakfast with Dave and Patricia.  Ryan slept the longest until after 9am and that was only after Dave came back down and bounced on her bed. The kids were so thrilled with the breakfast choices of Cheerios and bagels they each had both! Most exciting was their discovery of brown sugar and cinnamon cream cheese for their bagels. They all looked at me like "why have we never had this before!?"

Pat got out the polly pocket dolls for the girls and they organized them all into their right homes. They had so much fun!  Brayden was jealous wanting to play with them too.

Once we all got ready for the day, we headed to walk up Mount Pleasant just like we did three years earlier. I reminded Dave this was where he'd told the kids they could each have a puppy. That was definitely a moment of weakness after being separated from us for 3 weeks so I separated him from them just in case. Once the kids got to the top, they all remembered the view of the town below. Dave pointed out what he thinks was Terry & Jude's farm and we searched for all the baseball and soccer fields.

Laney wanted to climb down the rocks, but I didn't think that was such a wise choice in flip flops so we just went down a little ways before climbing back up.

We did a little exploring before we headed back down to the playground.  Of course, the first main attraction was a stand-up see saw. I guess I know what we need to add to our backyard play area!

We were all getting pretty hot and haven't adjusted back to the weather yet, so we headed to a branch of Dave's college and let the kids look around the store. When they have money they definitely want to spend it! Our biggest spender Laney bought a super sparkley purple shirt (would you expect anything less?) with the letters OHIO across the front. Made Daddy proud! Brayden wanted to buy a shirt, but decided against it in hopes we could find him a pro soccer shirt of the local team in Columbus.

We drove around for a little while looking at Dave's old haunts and then started to find Terry and Jude's house.  Dave knew the street and once he got close recognized the area but needed a little help from Terry.  The kids were excited to see them since they'd left Florida a few months earlier.  We got a tour of the updates of the house since we were here last then retired outside to chat for a little while. We were getting hungry so Terry offered to take us out to eat to a Mediterranean restaurant nearby. After a few days of pizza it was a refreshing change to have some delicious fresh vegetables.

Next up we headed to a putt putt golf course for some friendly competition.  The kids all looked at me as if to say, "Is this allowed on our trip?" because my answer to something like this has always been, "Oh, we can do that at home." They are now learning that when Dad's around rules don't apply!

The first hole the kids were adjusting to the course, clubs, and balls with some shaky first shots.  I nailed it with a hole in one.  I thought about throwing down my club and walking away, but high-fived Brayden who was barreling toward me.  I didn't do quite that well the rest of the afternoon.  It was a very well thought out course with some very fun obstacles and holes and we had a ton of fun.

After stopping by the grocery store for dinner groceries we drove out to the Leaky Beak Pub for a few beers with Dave's friends.  The kids enjoyed playing chess, cards, and Connect Four while they guys caught up with each other.

We grabbed a few six packs of local beer before heading back to Patricia's for a cookout. It was fun to see everyone again and hear all the stories of Dave growing up. The kids even laughed a few times at them!  The girls enjoyed helping make Ohio buckeye necklaces for Abbie who was heading to a national softball tournament the next week.

After awhile they decided to go watch American Ninja and I joined them shortly. They all loved watching the strength and determination in the contestants and we talked about doing a kids version some day soon.  With Ryan's six-pack abs she could probably do a kids version tomorrow!

After everyone left we put the kids to bed and stayed up to talk with Patricia awhile. I'm always so impressed how she can keep up with all the family and stay up late! Without a nap I'm out early!

Day 35

The threat of rain the night before didn't materialize so we had a nice, quiet night of sleep.  As I climbed out of the tent I took a peek at the bridge thinking I would see the same view as the last few days, but alas this morning there was fog hiding the top half of the bridge!  I just had to get a picture!

I went in to wake up the kids to get on the road a little early and they somehow talked me into reading just one more chapter of Harry Potter.  Ryan is really motivated to finish before we pick up Dad!

We packed up early and headed to have breakfast in Mackinaw City.  I just had to get one last shot of the bridge as we were driving over.  I wanted to be able to remember the sheer height of the supports and the feeling of driving across.   Be sure to pay attention to the size of the car in front of me for an accurate perspective!

Breakfast out is always such a treat not only because of the variety of food to choose from but also because we don't have to do the dishes!  I had checked Urban Spoon the night before for local places and happened upon Cunningham's Family Diner.  We ordered a giant, gooey homemade cinnamon roll first, then french toast and pancakes all around.  Since Brayden has been eating non-stop lately we've been moving him to ordering off the adult menu.  Thankfully, I had him only order 2 pancakes as they were the size of the plate!

We were on the road shortly and headed to once of our much-anticipated stops - Sleeping Bear
National Park.  We turned on some music and I didn't hear a peep from the kids until we were there. I'd only been able to secure a reservation for one night in advance so we'd gotten there early in hopes of being able to switch sites and have two nights.  We were excited to get the last spot for the next two nights!

We grabbed a program sheet and map and headed to our site.  With Ryan navigating, Laney read the programs for the next two days. She said there was a program in about 90 minutes about the life saving station so as the kids set up the tent, I put together a quick snack and we were ready to go.  We got there a little early so we had time to explore the boats and station itself at the maritime museum.  The kids enjoyed reading about a day in the life of these brave men.  They also enjoyed the feeling of being in a pilot house on the lake.  At least they appear to be paying attention to where they're going!

Next we headed outside for the demonstration.  The girls were excited to be volunteers again learning how the station used to pull people from boats in the lake.  Fortunately we had just watched a video inside about the process so they were pretty familiar with some of the steps.  The weather had changed pretty quickly as we got there with some wind kicking up some pretty big waves in the lake. It was easy for us to imagine ships having trouble on a day like today.

Hooray, Raggedy Andy is saved!

After the girls received their certificates we stopped by the blacksmith shop for the live demonstration happening.  We'd seen many of these demonstrations before, but this one was tailored more toward how the entrepreneurial owner of the land, D.H. Day used the building and what particular things they made or repaired.














Our next stop?  The dunes of course!  It is really very difficult to show the immense size of these sand dunes in photos.  We had so much fun climbing all the way to the highest point on the dunes in 10 or 15 minutes, just to run all the way down in less than 1 minute.  Here is the view from the top most tier of the dune. Notice the tiny cars down below in the parking lot where we parked!

Here is a view just before I came down the bottom tier of the dune.  See my little people at the bottom?

Climb.  Run.  Repeat.

  Check out Ryan's first of many face-plants into the sand!

 

We were all pretty exhausted after all the climbing so we headed back to the site to find some dinner. While we were eating I let the kids know their options for the night: a program about the stars or going to see the new Minion movie.  They of course chose the movie, but I didn't tell them where it was until we got there!  Just down the road from the park is a very reasonable drive-in movie theater. Children are free so it only cost us $10 to see a very new movie!  And if I had been crazy enough, every night is actually a double feature so we could have stayed for Jurassic Park until 2am.

The kids had a blast running around until dark and we all piled back in the car to enjoy watching Stewart, Kevin & Bob get into trouble.

We got home at midnight and sleepily walked to the bathroom.  As we walked out I realized how dark the park was and the countless stars we could see.  The girls spotted the dippers right away and we all "wow-ed" at just how many stars we could see being away from lights.

Sleep was easy tonight and I gave the kids permission to sleep in as late as they wanted!

Quote of the day: "I'm just saying we are going to be here a long time."  says Brayden once he sees the sheer size of the dunes.