20200801 + Rushing Home

20200801 + Up early and got the car, rack on the back and loaded up. We headed out without a trip to the beach and got up the road. We got D on the phone. And he sounds much better today and is up and out getting his prescriptions filled. We stopped at the giant strawberry for an ice cream treat and some peaches.

Back on the road, L drove some so I could arrange some baseball tryouts for G. I got quite a few things lined up and took over driving just as we crossed the VA state line, and yes I missed the 'Welcome to Virginia' picture, which gave L great pleasure and reinforced her 'it is not as easy as you think' comments for years... We drove and drove only stopping 1 or 2 more times and pulled in tot he hose right at 9:00 PM. I checked on D, helped get things unloaded, and then got on the phone about baseball. About 11:00 PM all the calls were over and L finished up cleaning and D was OK and everyone, except Lilly, is home and safe. Hit the bed and crashed hard.

20190224 - Checking Things Out

20190224 - Up in the am and we took all our stuff, got packed up and J&G climbed the water tower to see the sights before we all jumped in the car and headed to McD's for bfast and on to the grave of King Tut and the ball field. Much windier and colder today than yesterday. The game started and no D on the field. J&G had had enough of waiting on D to play so they bailed out to sit in the warm car and play on their phones. L&I huddled in the stands and cheered on the team. After 4 innings I went to check on J&G and they had migrated to the practice turf Football field to have some fun. As I returned to my seat at the top of the 6th D ran in to the short stop position! I called J&G and they came running to watch. D did great in the field, turned a double play and picked a guy off stealing. He only got one at bat and hit it up the middle on the ground and thrown out at first, but came with an RBI so it was a quality at bat. WC Baseball lost 8-5 and we hung out a bit until the team walked out, said by to Dylan and then headed home with a stop about an hour up the road to see Pollard's Collection, 350 bumpers planet in the ground (bumper crop) an airplane crashed in his backyard and other stuff all over. We grabbed a bite to eat and hit the road for another 3 hours, got stuck in traffic for an hour, stopped to eat and drove 3 more hours. Finally home to find Lilly hiding in the bathtub scared of the high winds...  It was too much driving, too cold, too windy, too wet, but we got to see our boy play 3 innings at the next level as a freshman. Definitely worth the trip!

20180805 + Different Backyard

20180805 + Up in the am and down to the lobby for bfast. I met the Meijs and ate with them. We chatted for a bit, said goodbye until next time and then loaded up our stuff and hit the road. Five hours later, no traffic issues, no stops we swung through our McD's to get lunch. Home and Ashley was waiting for D's in his room, it was their 2 year anniversary last Monday while we were on vacation. I ran J to the high school to get his XC jersey but he has to wait until Monday... Home and we ate and I helped put some stuff away while the boys picked up the bug bombs, L cleaned everything and headed to the back porch to watch some pickers, do a logic puzzle and get caught up on email. We lost another big tree while on vacation, seems to be a common theme. L came out to mow and then hung out o the porch with me. We ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut that was a disaster... After dinner G didn't feel well so we hung out watching some TV and taking it easy for the rest of the evening.

20170806 + Putt-Putt & Tiny Soap

20170806 + Up in the am and we had a good bfast before getting packed up and hit the road. It was a nice day and we made our way across PA. We made a stop for ice cream and putt-putt at Dr. Doolittle's Roadside Cafe & Creamery in DuBois. We were joined by Bigfoot and a T-rex. It was a fun course surrounded by old train cars and we all did trick shots and had a blast.

More driving through PA, all the way to Grove City PA where we drove through the little town to see giant tools, a huge fish and a brain tree! We found a nice little restaurant and had a good meal.

On to Ohio and nonstop to the farm. Gma&paW weren't there so we ate a bunch of junk food, looked for some cats and got our picture pic taken in the corn, only a month late as I forgot to do it on the 4th of July. The last leg of the trip was smooth and we got home. We got the car unpacked, D&J vanished to DGF7's and scooter friends. G hung back with L&I and inspected all the little soaps we got on our trip. 9 great days, 1650 miles and countless memories.

The last leg of the trip was smooth and we got home. We got the car unpacked, D&J vanished to DGF7's and scooter friends. G hung back with L&I and inspected all the little soaps we got on our trip. 9 great days, 1650 miles and countless memories.

The Winger 2017 vacation was GREAT!

20160729 - Secret Bunker

20160729 - Up early and we packed up and drove a short way to the Greenbrier resort. The town had recently been hit by a flash flood and the damage was unbelievable. The New Orleans Saints football team trains there and they have been helping the community rebuild. We walked up to the fancy hotel (minimum $600 a room / night) checked in and then took a tour of the congressional bunker. It was super cool. I loved it and I think the boys loved it too. On the road and not too much to see. We stopped in a small town to catch some Pokemon and have lunch, then hit the road hard to get to Gma&paB's for a Chinese dinner and to relax. Lilly was happy to see us.

20130907 - 4 Script Os

20130907 - Up in the am and down to D's baseball game.  It was a good game but D was making too many errors.  Gma&paW arrived for the game, they were to take all of the boys up to the Farm and to a play tonight, but D blew that with his horrible behavior...  and he blew a nice break for L&I...  L&I left the game before it was over to head to the OSU Football game.  She mentioned on the way there she told D he could watch the game.  Well being grounded from all electronics I had unplugged the TVs at the cable box and the internet, no electronics means no electronics...   I had a big list of things for D to have done before we got home and had asked a friend to stop over to check in him and and talk with him while we were at the game.

At the game, and the atmosphere is historical and the traditions are awesome.

Watching the band come in and today another 700 alumni band members meant the band was HUGE.

  It also meant a special treat, 4 script Ohios

After the game we survived the 3 mile line to get to the bus and then to the car.  We had to stop at a CVS on the way to dinner to get a screw for my glasses which fell out during the game, meaning I had to wear my spring clip on sunglasses at night to hold my glasses together.  We went to dinner but L was too busy being worried about D at home alone for it to be enjoyable...  I dropped L off at home and went to my friends to see what he got out of D.  The bottom line is D wants our attention, and if being bad gets that attention, then that is what he is going to do...  Great....  Back home, L already dead asleep, I stayed up late watching more football with D.

20130726 - Long Drive, Many Sites

20130726 - Up in the am and heading out of town, but one last stop, at the worlds largest bronze statue of Neptune!

We hit McD's on the way to Mt. Trashmore. Not quite as scenic as Mt. Rushmore.  It is actually a converted land fill into a park

After lunch we were on the road for a bit in horrible traffic and made it to the Air Power Park in Hampton VA.  It was a really cool park with tons of airplanes and rockets.

Back on the road for a bit longer this time and we took a break at a tiny church in Doswell VA.  Someone was working on it inside, so it was a bit of a mess, but still cool these are around the country.  We had our lunch outside in the beautiful day at Burger King and then mounted up for an even longer leg of the journey.

While L was getting the boys situated in the car I checked out the Roadside America attractions that were close and found one I couldn't resist: Dinosaur Land in White Post VA.  This is a nice little park with the typical fiberglass dinosaurs, sharks, snakes and King Kong.  I was sad to see my family get eaten by a shark on this vacation ;-)

Just a littlw ways down the road we came to 2 more irresistible wonders of the natural world! 2 of the worlds largest apples in Winchester VA.

Done with all of the close sites we put the hammer down and raced towards home.  As the miles flew by L tried to capture all of the state signs.  See if you can find them VA, MD, PA (she is not a very good fast capture photographer...)

Now into PA we were hunting the world's largest sundae shop that is actually shaped like a sundae. We happened across the world's largest quarter (sorry no picture) and Kelly's Senic overlook restaurant, where we got some good home cooking. Down the road just a mile or so and there it was the sundae shaped ice cream stand in Everett PA. 

After our bellies were good and full we focused on getting to Gma&paB's.  As you can see L was having a hard time focusing...

We arrived at 12:30 am. A long day in the car, but many memories made on this road.