On the road again

6/29

on the road again... 

Last night I went to bed really early, falling asleep around 8:30.  I'm glad I did because we we drove to Louisville today, from northern IL.  My sister and her sons came with us for this leg of the trip.  We left around 9:15 am.  The kids looked like they went through a serious battle with the mosquitos the last few days.  They both had mosquito bites that looked like welts all over their face, back, arms and legs.  Arden actually has one in her armpit. They haven't complained yet which has been surprising, and I'm thankful for that.  

We drove around the city (Chicago that is, see previous post) this route, not through it, as it's easier with a big rig like an RV, and you miss city traffic.  I always get a kick out of driving on IL toll roads.  They are permanently under construction.  I90 toll road goes from Rockford to Chicago, and since I was a kid I remember some stretch of it being under construction.  For you Denver folks imagine a project like the TREX/I25 expansion of the early 2000's FOREVER!  It's ridiculous.  We made it around the city in good time, and our first stop was the Hinsdale Oasis to get some coffee, gas, and take a little break.  Tracy and Arden walked to the Starbucks, while the rest of us gassed up and went to the bathroom at the gas station.  We had already used a little over ten gallons of gas so we put another $50 in!   The kids helped me wash the windows with the squeegee they provide, and they all had a blast doing it.  

Everything was pretty uneventful until we got just South of Chicago.  My brother called to discuss our plans for when we reached GA, and unbeknownst to me while I was on the phone the GPS didn't interrupt to tell me which highway to take.  I hung up with my brother and the GPS was re-routing.  I quickly realized we had driven 10-15 minutes in the wrong direction.  It wouldn't be our first detour of the day.  Surprisingly, it was our first directional mess up since we've left.  We turned around and got back on the right highway pretty quickly.  As Tracy pointed out, we are grateful for Siri, and not to be using a paper map.   It could have been worse.  

Another fun experience was crossing the state line from IL into IN. Tracy got all the kids to lift their hands and feet into the air and scream "welcome to Indiana".  She's been doing this since CO.  We've been through Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and now Kentucky and every time the same drill.  We also do this with our arms up in the tunnel heading up to ski. 

Tracy spent the morning resuming "mommy school" as "Mrs. Mommy" and had  her special guest teacher Aunt Colleen AKA "Mrs. Magoo" which the kids thought was a hoot.  

It was clear the kids were getting hungry, so we stopped in Merrillville, IN at a Cracker Barrel.  We thought it would be a good idea to have a good old fashioned lunch and share that experience with the kids.   I parked far away in the corner of the lot, as the RV takes up quite a few spaces.  On the way in I noticed Cracker Barrel has RV parking which I thought was cool.  Next time I'll park in the designated area, and not take up a half a dozen spots.  The front porch of the restaurant had a bunch of rocking chairs lined up.  Clearly the Cracker Barrel in Merrillville, IN is the place to be after church on Sundays.  The hostess said it was going to be a 20-25 minute wait.  I was feeling anxious about stopping for lunch as I was so focused on driving I didn't want to spend an hour eating.  After Tracy and my sister outvoted me 2-1 we decided to wait.  We hung out in the gift shop, and luckily about 10 minutes later the hostess called "Arden party of 7".  Our waitress greeted us and we ordered for the kids immediately, so their food would be out ASAP.  Our waitress was probably in her mid 60's, and my sister commented on how she was perfect because it felt like your grandma was serving you.  It was a good midwestern experience for the kids.  The kids turned crabby quickly, as we realized we were about 30 minutes behind the "hunger curve".  If you are a parent you understand what I am referring to.  That's the point that your kid turns into a monster from being hungry.  While we sat and waited for our food the kids played this game that was made with a triangular piece of wood with holes drilled in it for what look like golf tees.   The point of the game is you start with one open spot and you have to "jump" the others until you can't make any more moves.  If you are left with only one tee you are a "genius".  If you're left with three or more you're an "ignoramus".  We explained what that was to the kids when Aunt Colleen was left with five golf tees.  Austin won with only one left.  I got two.  The rest fell somewhere around "ignoramus".    I told the kids in the "olden" days this is the types of games kids had.  No ipads, iphones, etc.  My nephew Caden replied "it's fun too"!  He's an old soul so I wasn't surprised.  After lunch the kids became bored quickly so I went outside to rock in the rocking chairs and play chess with them.  A few minutes later the moms came out and we got back on the road.  

After a few hours we got to Indianapolis which is where we had our second minor detour.  Arden sat up front with me and was chatting up a storm and I missed an exit.  It didn't take long for us to get turned around and back on track.  We drove through Indianapolis and it looked like a nice small Midwestern city.  It's size reminded me of Denver, but a little smaller.  Indianapolis is about 120 miles North of Louisville.  We drove a little longer and got to the Kentucky state line.  Hands and feet up, and lots of yelling "welcome to Kentucky"!  Louisville is a really cool looking city.  Seemed newer and nicer than Indianapolis.  Our campground is 20 minutes South of Louisville.  We kept on driving and it wasn't long before we pulled into the campground.  

It was about 7:30 and Aunt Colleen and I took the kids swimming while Tracy set up the RV.  The kids definitely needed to blow off some steam.  This KOA is nice but nowhere near as nice as the Mt. Rushmore KOA.  If I graded the Mt. Rushmore KOA a 9, this place is a 4 or 5.  Lots to do, but just not as nice as the Mt. Rushmore campground.  Tracy ordered pizza and about 45 minutes later it came.  We got the kids out of the pool and ate on a picnic bench outside of the RV.  

It's good to be back on the road.  

Favorite part of day:

Aunt Colleen - the triple layer chicken fight in the pool  

Arden - getting here safe

Tracy - resuming mommy school 

Davis - chicken fights in the pool 

Caden - when we were eating pizza Aunt Tracy opened the box and the lid hit him on the head which was funny

Austin - jumping on this blow up trampoline they have at KOAs 

Daddy - when three kids got on each other's shoulders in the pool, and when the kids realized there were lightning bugs outside as it got dark and went crazy trying to catch them.  This was on my list of summer things to do on a previous post.   (Arden was busted later in the evening trying to sneak one in the RV at bed time).