Along the way...

We are on our third day traveling. It seems hard to believe that it was such a short time ago that we left Rochester. We left a houseful of “kids” (young adults, really). Joe, Laura and David were all there to say goodbye to us, as were our summer boarder (Laura’s former and once again roommate) Pam and another Crown College friend of Laura’s, Jessica. All reports indicate that they had some good times without us. In the three short days since we left them, we have driven through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and are now in New York.  We traveled at a leisurely pace our first day, stopping to walk at one rest area and again for lunch and a longer walk at another rest area. This was all country we had seen before, so the drive itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was fun to finally be on the road. Our final destination for day one was in Plainfield, IL, staying with Mike and Karen Ferguson and family, dear friends of ours. We had a fun evening with their family, including a cookout and a rousing game of Bananagrams.  The Ferguson summer theme is “Let’s have an adventure!” and I’d like to think we got them off to a good start (and certainly, they got our adventure off to a great start).  We attended church with them the next morning, ate a quick lunch, and were on our way.

Day 2’s driving started a little later than we will typically start our days on this trip, but spending time with friends is a good excuse to start a little late. We hit the road at about 1:30 (virtual 2:30, as we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone later that day). We skirted the edge of Chicago and headed into Indiana and then Ohio. The one thing I noticed about Ohio was that everywhere I looked, there were picturesque old barns. I tried to take pictures out the window of the van, but they were not the best (partly because we killed a good number of the bugs in Indiana and Ohio with our windshield).  We were more serious about our pace today, stopping less frequently and for a shorter time. Our goal was to make it all the way past Cleveland proper, and we did it! We arrived at a little Day’s Inn in Willoughby, OH at around 10:00 pm. It was just right for what we needed – queen bed, wireless internet, and even a little microwave and refrigerator. Perfect! We slept well after a long day of fun times.

Tiny dot in center is R.J.,  halfway down

Day 3 promised adventure, because neither of us had ever been to Pennsylvania or New York. New things are fun! One of the expected outcomes of this trip is that we will see all five great lakes. Our on-the-route place to see Lake Erie was in Cleveland; since we missed truly seeing  it last night as we arrived at Cleveland in the dark, we took a little “detour” this morning into Ashtabula, OH, to drive along the lake all the way to Conneaut, OH before rejoining the Interstate system. Oh what a great choice! We stopped at Lake Shore Park in Ashtabula and walked around. There we found the biggest shelter ever  built, with swings on one end and grills on the other, all overlooking Lake Erie. We had a fabulous view of the lake and I got to take lots of pictures. Great Lake number one is well and truly checked off our list! The scenic drive along the lake from Ashtabula to Conneaut was delightful as well. I loved seeing the variety of lakeside residences all along the way. Next, we traveled through just a bit of Pennsylvania, and then were in New York. It was rainy all day long, sometimes hard rain and sometimes just a drizzle. My pictures out the window of the van suffered because of it, but I still had to try. Traveling through the Allegheny Mountains, even in the rain and through the low hanging clouds was an amazingly beautiful experience. I kept looking all directions and trying to take it all in. There was one point when the mountains were all around us and the Allegheny River was winding along beside us that I felt tears coming to my eyes. I am without words to describe all the beauty that our Creator God has designed in this world.

We ended up this day in Endicott, NY, with another friend. Teri Franzen, a friend since our college days, has opened her home to us. Teri and I were able to take a hike in the rain at a wonderful park near her home. We had a simply amazing time. And now, supper smells scrumptious. Wow, what a travel day!! And we’re just getting started!

Teri, as we hiked