The goals for the trip were simple: see as much family as we possibly could, visit Rachel's friend Misty from Medical Corp school in Virginia, hit the beach and meet up with the Doolittle's to see Brian in Fort Jackson. Additionally we committed to running as much as possible on the trip so I could train for officer basic camp and we could control the damage the we knew good southern food would cause.
I thought I would try and do the trip in installments so it isn't too overwhelming.
Rachel and I went running Friday morning and on our way out Wisconsin stopped at the Jelly Belly factory to get the rejects, aka belly flops they sell.
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
We then had what was supposed to be an eleven hour drive to our cousin Ami's house in West Virginia. We hit about $40 worth of toll roads. I had no idea it was going to be that bad in the midwest. We drove through Chicago, across the top of Indiana, Ohio and through Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was much different from the others and very pretty. I hope to go back sometime with Jason and do some camping as well as historical tours. I didn't realize we were going to be driving right next to Pittsburgh. If I had found that out earlier I wonder if we would have been able to get a hold of Nate and Ellie. It would have been nice to see them to since were that close.
Unfortunately the toll road in Pennsylvania was under major construction and our exit was not labeled. We were about 40 miles past our exit when we realized we were probably off track. At that point in rural Pennsylvania you have to go about 20 miles until the next exit. When we got off this is what we found at the gas station:
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
I'd never seen anything like it. The owner called it the widower and he had custom designed it to be a Harley Davidson/stage coach/car type of piece that apparently was going to be in a parade the next day.
So we got back on track to our cousins at about eleven pm and as we were driving along passed signs welcoming us to Maryland. Maryland? That certainly wasn't part of the plan, we just passed through the tip though as we were back tracking. If we had enough time on the trip Washington DC was only 3 hours away - maybe next time.
So we finally arrived at Ami and Anna's house around midnight. The next morning we went running true to our word. The hills were definitely different and I was sore the next day. We then went to lunch to meet up with my cousin Matt and his new wife Nicki. We were fortunate to catch Matt since he will be deployed with the National Guard soon and was only home for the weekend. We had lunch along the Ohio river? Regardless, the weather was perfect and the scenery was nice. I had some crab cakes which were fabulous. My plan was to eat as much seafood as I could stand on the trip so I was well on my well.
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
We then drove over to my Uncle Lewis and Aunt Becky's where we enjoyed conversation and food. It was really great to see them again.
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
Anna and Ami were great hosts. We enjoyed staying with them and getting to know their daugher Evelynn. Evelynn was one of the sweetest babies ever - she only cried when her Uncle Matt took off his hat. We're assuming she thought he was removing body parts, or she's afraid of bald men.
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
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| From SC Road Trip Summer 2009 |
Wendi, sorry we couldn't make it any further North. There is so much to see out East and so little time, I'm hoping we can come and visit you someday.
1 comment:
Haha. You had to know I was going to give you a bad time. Well next time you get a chance, you will have to come visit up here in damn yankee land. I recommend the fall or the spring... all roomies are invited!
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