Shoofly pie???? Who knew???

Phrases I use more often now than I ever imagined possible…

THAT is an interesting smell!

No, I don’t think I took a shower yesterday either….

It’s fine, just pull over, I’ll pee here….

You can wear those pants more than twice…

Is that smell coming from me?

I love cleaning this place!

      But everyday I find myself saying, “This is so beautiful!” What an amazing country we live in! We have been able to show the kids how the majority of America lives, and it looks vastly different from Castle Rock, CO. They have really gotten to see how much of the landscape is made up of people who are producing our food, and what that looks like. Not just in terms of the crops but also the houses near them and the towns they are in and around. They have also been able to compare that to the cities like Chicago and other urban areas. It’s been a fantastic look at America so far and we aren’t even halfway through! We are also really seeing that there are a million different ways to make a life, the possibilities really are endless. It becomes easy to feel like there is only one way to do things, but we are seeing everyday that there are so many different ways to live in this world. This week I am continuing to ponder the idea of raising bees and alpaca when we get off the road. Why not???? Next week maybe it will be motorcycle mechanic! When we take a moment of bravery and run with it, the world is our oyster.

     I am completely enamored with Pennsylvania! The low, rolling hills, the red barns on every corner and the wonderful people we have met…. it’s amazing here! The Amish have fascinated me for years now so getting to eat at an Amish restaurant was a real treat. I had no idea that “Shoofly Pie” would be so delicious! Many of the families have stands outside the front of their homes so we have been able to stop and chat and buy local fresh produce. And of course I have taken a million pictures of the buggies!

     

     We spent a day at Gettysburg Battlefield. It took us HOURS of walking around and talking to people to really understand the scope of the battle. It is humbling to be in a part of the country where history is really all around us! It’s a fascinating place to spend some time, one day isn’t enough. Talking to people along the way has provided us with all kinds of interesting facts that we wouldn’t get otherwise. At the National Cemetery we spoke with a man who used to give tours and has written a book about it and learned so much more! The small towns, dotting this countryside are astounding to me. People actually live in homes once occupied by the very people who founded this country. It blows my mind.

            As an added bonus, we went to see this amazing bridge, (Sachs) and got tons of Orb photos, it’s widely known for it’s paranormal properties, but look at it, more than that it’s just beautiful!

                                                            150 year old graffiti!

                                                           Tomorrow, Philly!!!

August 2 - 4

We have made a hard push across Indiana and Ohio since there wasn't a whole lot on the northern section of these two states that we could tie into the curriculum for the boys. As Laura told everyone, the dang toll ways out here go from one end of a state to the other. We didn't take any pictures but the toll way plaza's are pretty cool, all equipped with overnight RV parking (with electric), stores, fast food and of course gas so you don't have to leave the road. 

     We stopped at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park just outside Cleveland but found out its not like our national parks in the west. There were towns inside the park which we have never seen and no entry gates. The visitors center was in the middle of one of the towns and we could not navigate to get to it with the trailer so no Junior Ranger Badge in Ohio. So far I am not to impressed with Indiana and Ohio and miss the open areas in the west. The main issue with the mid west so far is you cant see the towns unless your in the middle of them as the trees hide everything and I can never get my bearings. That said, the country side is beautiful and the old farms, Amish communities and other sites are amazing which is what we are taking this adventure for.

     Pennsylvania is an interesting state to say the least, beautiful scenery but the roads are narrow and the some of the people scared me a little. We got into the KOA late as our google maps took up into the back woods on one lane roads to get to the place when there was a paved county road that went right to it from the other direction. Well, at this point I am frustrated and now have 25 miles until we are out of gas. We are told to go to our camp site and there is someone in it so I am getting more frustrated! I drive around to discuss with Laura and get stuck in a mud pit so now I am on the verge of mass killings in the KOA. I get the truck out of the mud, (I love my F350) but when trying to get it back into 2H it started grinding and I thought I dropped or stripped the transmission. At this point I decide to just drop the trailer in a site they tell me about so I can go get gas before I run out completely. Now I know most of you are saying, Why haven't you just opened a six pack and curled up in the fetal position, well I tell you I am a Hamilton and a glutton for punishment dang it! At this point Laura has taken the boys to the pool to keep them from hearing the mass of F Bombs that are flying and I decide to go get the gas. I get directions from the office and set out not knowing what awaits me in the small towns of Pennsylvania. Well its a Saturday evening at 5pm and in the rural parts of the state and nothing is open past 5pm. The Gas Buddy App has failed me three times and I am down to the last 15 miles of gas before I don't know what happens. I see that there is a truck stop off I80, (the route we should have taken into the KOA by the way), and its 14 miles away. At this point I am bitting my nails and driving 25 miles an hour so I don't run out and make it with my display saying 0 miles to E. I was able to fill up get back to the KOA and drink the last six pack before eating some pig that the locals cooked for the while campground.

     Now we are at a Thousand Trails near East Berlin and Dover Pennsylvania on a working farm that is quite nice. Tons of people here and we are going to hit Gettysburg, Phillidelphia and Lancaster while we are here.

On to Pennsylvania

     We have made a hard push across Indiana and Ohio since there wasn't a whole lot on the northern section of these two states that we could tie into the curriculum for the boys. As Laura told everyone, the dang toll ways out here go from one end of a state to the other. We didn't take any pictures but the toll way plaza's are pretty cool, all equipped with overnight RV parking (with electric), stores, fast food and of course gas so you don't have to leave the road. 

     We stopped at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park just outside Cleveland but found out its not like our national parks in the west. There were towns inside the park which we have never seen and no entry gates. The visitors center was in the middle of one of the towns and we could not navigate to get to it with the trailer so no Junior Ranger Badge in Ohio. So far I am not to impressed with Indiana and Ohio and miss the open areas in the west. The main issue with the mid west so far is you cant see the towns unless your in the middle of them as the trees hide everything and I can never get my bearings. That said, the country side is beautiful and the old farms, Amish communities and other sites are amazing which is what we are taking this adventure for.

     Pennsylvania is an interesting state to say the least, beautiful scenery but the roads are narrow and the some of the people scared me a little. We got into the KOA late as our google maps took up into the back woods on one lane roads to get to the place when there was a paved county road that went right to it from the other direction. Well, at this point I am frustrated and now have 25 miles until we are out of gas. We are told to go to our camp site and there is someone in it so I am getting more frustrated! I drive around to discuss with Laura and get stuck in a mud pit so now I am on the verge of mass killings in the KOA. I get the truck out of the mud, (I love my F350) but when trying to get it back into 2H it started grinding and I thought I dropped or stripped the transmission. At this point I decide to just drop the trailer in a site they tell me about so I can go get gas before I run out completely. Now I know most of you are saying, Why haven't you just opened a six pack and curled up in the fetal position, well I tell you I am a Hamilton and a glutton for punishment dang it! At this point Laura has taken the boys to the pool to keep them from hearing the mass of F Bombs that are flying and I decide to go get the gas. I get directions from the office and set out not knowing what awaits me in the small towns of Pennsylvania. Well its a Saturday evening at 5pm and in the rural parts of the state and nothing is open past 5pm. The Gas Buddy App has failed me three times and I am down to the last 15 miles of gas before I don't know what happens. I see that there is a truck stop off I80, (the route we should have taken into the KOA by the way), and its 14 miles away. At this point I am biting my nails and driving 25 miles an hour so I don't run out and make it with my display saying 0 miles to E. I was able to fill up get back to the KOA and drink the last six pack before eating some pig that the locals cooked for the while campground.

     Now we are at a Thousand Trails near East Berlin and Dover Pennsylvania on a working farm that is quite nice. Tons of people here and we are going to hit Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Hershey while we are here.

Toll ways make me cranky ....

Universal travelers truth…

The only tv channels that will ever reliably come in are Bounce and Create. No matter where we are we can watch cooking channels and African American movies from the 1980’s.

    Maybe you aren’t aware but I am pretty tight with a penny, I get it honestly, my Dad is the same way. So when we came across a toll road that went ALL THE WAY ACROSS Indiana I was convinced I could successfully navigate us across the state in almost the same amount of time without an extra $50 bucks. Well, it took us 7 hours to cover 3 hours worth of ground. Tempers were running high! Lots of detours that took us right back to the beginning, traffic and no internet made it a tough one. 

        HOWEVER, even with all that, we got to check off another big ticket item on the must see list! We saw tons of Amish on their way around town, really cool! I am fascinated by the Amish culture so it was a real thrill. (I know, I’m easy to please!)

     We also got to see GORGEOUS landscape with red barns and rolling corn fields on all sides. It was wonderful as far as detours go. After that rather rough start to the day we decided to concede and spend the money on a KOA so the kids could have pool and playground access. When we checked in the guy at the store told us, “Get your wallet out! You’ll be paying tolls all the way from here to New York!” Awesome, just….Awesome.

     The last few days I was fortunate enough to get to see one of my dearest friends who was out in Chicago to visit a very ill relative. It was wonderful to see her, and strange to be reminded of the life continuing without us at home. Back to school sales and emails all around and we are just moving through the space around us. It’s like being launched out of the space ship with just a small tether looking back at earth!

     She asked a fantastic question that has really kept me thinking the last few days. She asked, “ What have you learned about yourself, and what have you learned about Alan?” Hmmm, so far, I have been surprised to find out that while Alan has jumped in with both feet, no looking back, I am the one who thought I was really flexible, and actually the one who needs a little more structure in our wanderings. Actually, it’s the perfect match. I make plans, they don’t work out and we all make it work. I am happy because I got to plan, and they are all happy to just roll with it! Of course we are all learning much, much more but tonight is a night for wine, listening to the rain come down and planning out tomorrows adventure!

 Off to Pennsylvania!

Illinois

     The Illinois Thousand Trails campground here in Belvidere is OK and we have extended our stay another couple days to meet up with AJ who had to fly in today due to a family illness. I have become sick, (I think Chicago did it to me!) and have been down for the whole day. We are leaving here early on Friday morning to get into Pennsylvania as quick as possible since there really isn't a while lot to see on the upper parts of Indiana and Ohio.

     On Tuesday we went into Chicago since we had never been there as a family and it was, well lets just say its a big city and the drivers are actually worse than Denver. The train routes are expensive from where we were, 50 bucks for us to get into town on a line that was to far from the attractions. We had to take a couple cabs around to the Planetarium and Millennium Park to save on time as the bus maps were just to much for me to navigate on a 6 hour trip.

Upper Level on the Metra train

   

Chicago Sky line from the Planetarium.

Working the Robot Arm!!

Learning to poop in space!

The Bean in Millennium Park!

     As I said, we extended our stay here at this campground so we were in one place for a week and like most TT campgrounds, most sites are people that live or keep their rigs here. So since these trailers are used like cabins for the weekends it was real quiet Monday - Wednesday and we had everything to ourselves. We are off to Pennsylvania to spend a week before heading up to see Jon, Heather and my favorite girls Allison and Julia for a few days. We will be in Northampton Massachusetts for almost two months before we head south. 

     The last thing I wanted to go over is the whole double black tank fiasco that I went through a couple weeks ago. I am glad to announce that the gagging has finally stopped a short two weeks after the whole hellish ordeal and the nightmares have also subsided. I would like to thank John and Jema for letting me know everyone has gone through this at least once. 

From here, looks like being the Daddy is hard!

This goes into the, “Someday we’ll look back on this and laugh…but not today…” category.

            Further proof that Alan is a keeper and being the Daddy is really hard. Twice now the black tank valve has been open when we go to dump. The result is that all the, er…. Black waste… is in the pipe, not in the tank so when Alan goes to put the dump tube on, it all, and I mean ALL, comes spilling out. The result is a fantastical stream of waste and profanity that really should be (but hasn’t been) video-ed. It’s reminiscent of that epic scene in RV in which Robin Williams launches a poo geiser.  This happened all the way back at Leech lake but the trauma of it is just now far enough behind us to bring it up. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we don’t have to re-visit this epic, poo covered event.

     The brilliance of starting our full time experience at the Rally has become evident. We were able to hook up with Jema and John Anderson and the kids in Minnesota. They are from the area and had great advice about what to see and do. More importantly, they are outstanding people, parents and travelers that we adore. They are kind and loving, and they sat and talked through so much with us. Jema taught me how to make Kefir soda! She is an amazing artist and teacher, John is full of fantastic ideas and has really helped us to see more of life outside the box.

    Minnesota is clearly the land of many lakes and even more photo ops that require our family to be in a fishes mouth….

I'll post more when we get somewhere with better Wifi!