Midwest Tour '08

From November 21st to December 1st, we drove 2600 miles and spent 50+ hours in the car! Leaving CT at o'dark thirty Friday morning, our first stop was cousin Brian's house near South Bend, IN. We drove through snow in Penn and Ohio and then saw Maddie and Lauren playing in about 9 inches when we arrived. Brian and Pam took us on a tour of the area and Mark got to see 'touchdown Jesus' at Notre Dame.
Over the weekend, we spent time with Mark's brother's family. It's always great to laugh with Josh and Katie and we can't spend enough time with Nolan and Tyler. They grow so fast! We were relieved that they seemed to like their early xmas presents and that they remembered us! We both had tears in our eyes as we dropped Tyler off to school on Monday morning.
Sunday afternoon Kar accompanied us on our trip to Cabela's where we refrained from spending a fortune. Mark hadn't seen my 'big sis' since our wedding!
Sunday night we ate at Aurelio's--original brick oven-with Grandma Shipley and Monday we got to look through neat old pictures of her and Grandpa.
Monday and Wednesday we got to spend some time with Mark's Mom at Grandma T's house. Grandma is recovering from a stroke and Darlene helps out a lot. We also go to see Aunt Debbie and showed off pictures of our house while she showed pictures of her grandkids.
Monday night, Mark had dinner with his Mom, Lou, and Corey, while I took the train downtown. I was able to hang out with cousin Cassie and then meet up with my old college friend Erik--whom I haven't seen in five years! Makes me feel a bit old to realize that Cassie is graduating this May and I graduated almost 10 years ago!
I could have been happy with the highlight of Tuesday being lunch at Jimmy John's....but it got better! We took the train with Lauren downtown to meet up with cousin Steve for dinner at the Italian Village and to see WICKED at the Oriental Theatre. What a fun evening; I'm glad Mark finally got to see my favorite musical!
After stopping half way to have lunch with cousin Bailey in my old stomping grounds --Champaign, we arrived at my parents' house in Carbondale. Wednesday night, Mom instructed me on how to make cinnamon rolls since I will have to tackle them for Christmas this year. Thursday morning before the Macy's parade was over, we were out the door to Jackson, MO where my G'pa and Sue were hosting dinner. It was great to see them, Uncle Ron and Sally, and much of Sue's family. Cousins Bailey and Carly finally arrived, and we felt honored that they chose to sit with us to eat! We had a bunch of laughs and I don't think Mark picked on them toooooo much. Ladderball was played, pictures were taken, and at the end of the day there wasn't a sliver of turkey left! On the way home, as is tradition, we go to listen to xmas music and I finally heard Josh Groban's "Noel" cd.
Black Friday was lost on us...instead we started with bfast at Mary Lou's to fill up on biscuits and gravy before the big hike. Then we were off to the Little Grand Canyon for a 3 mile hike/climb down the canyon and back out again. I wouldn't have wanted to go when it was any wetter--it was already slippery, and I can see how flash floods happen in a hurry there.
We found the Root Beer Saloon in Alto Pass for lunch...after we hit a few places on the wine trail...my favorite remains PAMONA where they make the wine with apples.
That evening we polished off two pizza's from Pag's and were exhausted! Mark and I would need a good night's sleep to get up Saturday and ride in the car again. After a 6 hour ride, we arrived in Ft. Wayne, IN and spent he weekend with Grandma Weiss, Aunt Sandy and Von, and cousins Melissa and Kristy and their families. We put up Christmas decorations, saw Christmas lights around town, and I got my broccoli soup!
Monday morning at 4am we were back on the road. We finished, Eldest, our book on tape and made it home in 12 hours.
Thank Goodness Mark likes to drive! It was a great trip and we hope that all the people that said they will now visit us can get out here next year!