Day #33- Oh Give Me a Home

Where the buffalos roam?  Nope.  Not here.  Turns out, spiders must have roamed while we were gone.  We walked thru a few spider webs when we got home.  Not the best welcome, but it could have been worse. 

Writing this, I notice that today is day #33.  That is the longest summer trip we have taken.  The drive from Arkansas seemed like nothing as we were quickly into Texas.  We made it from Dallas in record time thanks to there actually NOT being any traffic for once.  There was still construction, but the cars kept moving. 

We have been listening to Bobby Bones pod cast.  On the show, they have been doing a fantasy draft, but with subjects other than football such as best fast food, people named Chris, best country song...I decided to round out this summer of travel by Loren and I having our trip draft of favorite places.  If either of us have the same answer, only the person who says it gets to keep it.  So, here goes:

Loren
1.  Paracom Hotel- Pennsylvania
2.  McRaven House
3.  Roanoke Zoo

Erin
1.  Driving the Blueridge Parkway
2.  Myrtle's Plantation
3.  Jimmy Buffet Concert

That's the end of this summer.  As usual, we had an amazing and unforgettable adventure.  We count ourselves as some of the most fortunate people to have the jobs and finances to just take off for a month at a time.  It will be a year of waiting, but I'll be back, so stay tuned!

Day #32- Coal Miner's Daughter

We are back on Central Time and to celebrate, we woke up before 6am.  I'm kidding, it wasn't a purposeful wake up.  That's just what happened.  Yes, we could have gotten on the road that early, but I really wanted to go to Loretta Lynn's ranch.  We farted around for awhile including spending too much time at my new favorite place- The Flying J/Pilot travel center. 

I got an app on my phone when we first started traveling this year.  It gives 3¢ off each gallon of gas.  This isn't a bank breaker, but it adds up.  These travel centers are far from the old truck stops.  Bathrooms are clean, food choices are endless, and there is merchandise like a mall.  Texans are used to Buckees, but places like that are not found on the road outside of Texas.  We decided on Cinnabon for our breakfast, I made a yummy iced coffee, and we headed out for the ranch.

Times for the opening of the ranch shops, museums, and tours were very inconsistent.  I had read anywhere from 8-10.  We arrived about 8:30.  What we didn't know was that the ranch hosts a yearly motocross race.  People were already arriving with their RVs, campers, trailers...We got up to the gate and Loren told the guy we just wanted to look around and were not part of the event.  He sent us on and we drove 2 miles through the lush lands of the ranch.  A huge area of the ranch land had been turned into motorbike tracks and courses.  Hundreds of people were already camped and ready. 

We arrived at the old Western Town part of the ranch.  There was a beautiful river, gristmill, general store, post office- all the things that we would be expect to see.  An employee told us the buildings opened around 9ish, so we drove back across the bridge so we could park in front of the haunted plantation house to look around.  The home was fenced off so we couldn't get too close.  Just looking at it from a distance, the creepy vibe was definitely there.  The spirits were probably confused because this really looked like a town from the 1800s.

We were finally able to go into the gift shop.  It was connected to a Native American artifact museum that displayed relics really found on the land.  That led into a whole walk that was built like a coal mine.  Loren suspects that actual mines had much lower ceilings because he was able to stand up straight the entire time.  It was all very cool to see.  Loretta Lynn's music was playing and I just kept thinking my Grandma Angie was probably watching us explore this place.  I remember all of her old country records that she would play when I was little.  Sadly, as tours of the home did not start until 11, we decided we just needed to get on the road.  But, we got to see a place that I am sure most people have not.  Totally worth it. 

We drove to Hope, Arkansas for the night.  We did not want fast food for dinner, so I researched local restaurants with good reviews.  I found a Mexican restaurant called Amigo Juan Mexican Cafe.  The food was probably the best Mexican I have had since Lupe's in Nacogdoches.  I have searched for years to find comparable Mexican food to Lupe's.  Enchiladas y Mas comes close, but not quite. 

Well, tomorrow we are on our last leg, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  I will be writing the blog from our own bed.  As our 2019 blog comes to a close, stay tuned for one final entry tomorrow. 

Day #31- Coming on Strong Like a Hurricane

We had a lovely drive today.  Zero complaints.  No traffic, no construction, no wrecks, no fighting.  We started out nice and early and made it through Nashville between any sort of rush hours.

Traveling with Loren is like traveling with a small child that I have to keep entertained.  I am happy listening to music the whole way.  He has to be actively engaged in something.  He has his Game Boy and we listen to pod casts.  He discovered a new activity today.  Our new GPS, Turkleton, allows drivers to report all sorts of road hazards so that other travelers will be warned.  Anything from cops to something in the road to disabled vehicles.  Oh, but there is more.  If someone is driving like a jerk, that can be noted as well.  The app allows for a picture to be taken of the vehicle and a statement of their unsafe behaviors to be submitted.  So now, Loren carefully watched the roads and would threaten (not that they could hear him, but...) to tattle if they kept driving like maniacs.  One guy in a blue Jeep was so crazy that Loren could not even get a picture.  However, Karma got this man.  We later passed him stopped with two cop cars behind his vehicle and the man with his hands cuffed behind his back.  Sucks to be him. 

We were somewhere between Nashville and Memphis when we saw signs for a town called Hurricane Mills.  That name rung a bell, but we were not sure why.  We then saw signs saying "Loretta Lynn's Hurricane Mills" and we remembered!  Ghost Adventures had been here to investigate her haunted plantation home.  Since we had already been on the road for 7 hours, we decided to stop for the night...if the hotel would have us.  They let us in early and we started to plan our investigation.  Sadly, there are no night time tours.  It was already past time for the last plantation house tour and we were not really interested in the various other museums and buildings.  We decided to wait and check it all out in the morning.  While researching, I learned that Loretta Lynn owns this entire small town. 

We had a great meal at a place called the Log Cabin.  It was southern home cooking and has been in this town for a hundred years.  The side options were any delicious veggie you could imagine.  I had pot roast and Loren had a steak.  We plan to take a plantation tour tomorrow and then head closer to home...unless something else grabs us and wants us to visit.  As always, stay tuned!

Day #30- I'm Damn Sure Not Gonna Fight Tonight!

Texas Country singer Cody Johnson got it right when he sang the title of today's blog.  However, 30 days with pretty much only one person and countless hours in a small vehicle can wear on even the strongest relationships.  Loren and I rarely fight.  He screams and yells at the outside world plenty, but it is hardly ever directed at me.  Well, by the end of our drive today, I was a smart ass about something and he was a nut case about something (I am not being evasive here, I genuinely have no clue what set us off).  We decided it would be better if we stopped because someone was about to left on the side of the road to walk home.  We were fine by the time we checked into our trusty Econo Lodge.  I guess we just had some travel frustrations built up. 

Today was pretty smooth sailing, though.  I downloaded a new GPS called Waves.  The Google GPS lady has been awful this trip.  The new app had me laughing.  I set the voice to be Cookie Monster.   "C is for crash- look out!" 🤣. Then while playing with the app, Loren changed it to be a British guy whom we named Turkleton. 

We are almost in Tennessee.  I imagine we just have a night or two left on the road and then it will be home sweet home.  Who knows what we can get into during these last few days, so stay tuned!

Day #29- Mary Had a Little Lamb

We are in Maryland.  The song has nothing to do with anything other than yet another look into my weird brain.  Mary-Lamb, Mary-Land?  Ok, I'll stop. 
Anyway, here we are in Maryland.  Did we plan to stop here?  Nope.  Do things tend to work out the opposite of what we want?  Yes.  The traffic on this side of the country is far from being a lamb.  It is a beast.  First, the tolls.  Oh, those damn tolls!  Unlike the ticket drama in Pennsylvania, we didn't just get a ticket when we entered and pay when we exited.  No, these tolls were stops every few miles.  None were consistent.  One would be 75¢ while the next was $2.19 and the next $4.  None of this was reported in advance, so it was a surprise at each toll booth.  There was no flying thru the Easy Pass lane as those had gates down that would only open once the pass was read.  The pay lanes were cash only.  Yep, no cards allowed.  So, no cash?  You're screwed.  There were 10 booths at each stop, but only 2 open.  Each line was about 20 cars deep.  This is no exaggeration...we had driven 4 hours and the GPS said we had only gone 2 hours towards our destination.  We had been using our Roulette winnings, but that ran out.  We had to stop at a gas station to get more cash for the roads. 
Next, the construction.  We were paying our family fortune to drive roads with lanes closed and construction going on.  Which leads to the third problem.  Accidents.  The final straw was when we started hearing about a 45 minute delay.  That notice came through a good hour before we ever hit the delay.  It was still saying 45 minutes.  Then, as we sat there, it turned into indefinite road closure. 
Having no idea where we were, we exited and spent another good hour driving through some nowhere town looking for a hotel.  Everyone that was stuck on the highway was now in this town.  There were zero hotels.  Hotwire finally told us of one 7 miles away.  I booked it.  But guess what?  It was 7 miles down the closed highway!!  Loren finally got the GPS woman to give us an alternative route to the hotel, which took 27 minutes for 7 miles.  We finally pulled up to the hotel and were very pleasantly surprised that Hotwire had given us a nice Holiday Inn for very cheap. 
We settled in and tried to get ourselves ungrumpy.  We have decided to forgo any other adventures and just head for home.  I checked the routes and finally found one not full of construction.  It may not be the straighest path, but hopefully the least stressful.  Tomorrow we are Austin bound, so stay tuned!

Day #28- Under the Boardwalk

Ok, I know I am weird, but there are certain places on my bucket list for travel.  These places might have some people scratching their heads wondering why I would want to visit.  Some of those places are to drive old route 66 (done), visit Coney Island (done), Astoria OR (not done), Savannah GA (not done), and Atlantic City NJ.  Well, today was the day to scratch Atlantic City off my list. 
The original plan was to move into Philly from our hotel on the outskirts.  We had a hop on hop off tour scheduled.  It was a last second decision, but we decided to get a refund on the tour, head to Atlantic City, and just book the tour for another day if we decided to go back to Philly.  Knowing how close Atlantic City is to where we were, I just couldn't miss it. 
If you watch Boardwalk Empire, you probably would understand why this Boardwalk holds so much interest to me.  I know it is not the prohibition era.  I know Lucky Luciano and other gangsters won't be roaming around, but I just wanted to see it. 
We found our trusty Econo Lodge right across from the huge Tropicana casino.  Check in was not until 3, so we set off to entertain ourselves until then.  We walked across to the Tropicana and first had their lunch buffet.  Casino buffets are far from CHEAP, but this one was great!  I guess that's why people pay the big bucks for them. 
We were walking through the casino looking for Roulette when we saw a sign for the arcade.  No surprise, this turned into our first stop in the casino.  Most people would hit the slots, but not us.  We walked around looking for the one game that I play- and play well!  Pop-a-Shot.  This one was different from others we had played.  It was one person at a time.  If you got a certain number of points, you move on to the next round where the basket moves.  I made it to the second round, but sadly, not the 3rd.  In total I scored 69 points in a matter of like 2 minutes.  Then it was Loren's turn.  He didn't, and never will beat me at this game.  Maybe it is because he is so tall and wastes time bending over to retrieve the basketballs.  Who knows.  I'll have to pay attention to his form next time and give some pointers.  Haha.  I'm kidding.  He is great.  His shots are more accurate.  I think maybe I just move faster being more compact.
We found the Roulette machine and sat down to play.  This one was much better than the game in Lake Charles.  It was still a $3 minimum, but the $3 could be spread out across the board.  After playing for awhile, we decided to max bet the money we still had.  I picked simply, black odd.  It hit and we made up the money we had lost, plus $3 more.  Ya, I know.  Not a huge cash out, but we are conservative gamblers. 
There were doors marked exit on the gaming floor.  I knew they were on the boardwalk side of the building.  So, it would make sense to walk out these doors.  Nope.  As soon as I pushed the door open, alarms started going off all over the casino.  I may have said 'oh shit' and we ran away.  We finally found the actual beach exit doors and walked out into the gleaming sun and the board walk!  It was packed with shops, restaurants, and people.  We walked around a little, but really wanted to wait until the evening to see everything lit up.  It was check in time, so we went back to our hotel. 
There were several groups checking in, so we had to wait.  A young girl walked in, obviously messed up on something.  The guy refused to let her get a room.  She argued saying she had money and was paying cash.  The man still refused.  He told her of another hotel that might rent to her.  She left all of her stuff (it looked like everything she owned) and went out the door.  It was our turn to check in.  Everything went smoothly.  Our room was on the bottom floor and we could park right outside.  Win win.  We get into the room and are greeted with something similar to the room we ran away from a few years ago in Hollywood.  This place was so old that the bathroom had mint green tiles and a pink toilet.  I pulled the covers back (I don't ever sit on the comforter because I assume they don't wash them) and there were stains and sand on the sheets.  Like I have said before, we are not hotel snobs.  We just need clean and safe.  This was appearing to be neither.  Loren went to the desk to ask for our money back.  The place refused, but gave us a key to a new room.  Loren noticed the sketchy people hanging around and made the decision that even if we couldn't get our money back, we were NOT staying there.  We found a nice hotel and were relieved to have been out of the drug den. 
When looking at what all the boardwalk had to offer, I saw an arcade.  I knew Loren would love that, so we had a starting point for our evening.  Just as we walked out of our hotel room, the sky opened up.  Great.  So much for a nice walk.  We drove to the arcade (glad we did because it was 1.6 miles away).  The rain had stopped as quickly as it started and it was a beautiful night.  The lights and sounds and shops of the boardwalk did not disappoint.  We took pictures on the beach and poked around the stores.  We chose Hard Rock Cafe for our dinner. 
As of now, our plan is to start our journey back home tomorrow.  However, the trek will be exciting as we plan to go home via Savannah!!!  Another place to mark off my bucket list.  Stay tuned! 

Day #27- We're Off to Never-Never Land

We have not slept-in later than 8:30 am so far since school has been out.  This is amazing for us.  We used to quickly get on a schedule of staying up late and sleeping late.  Then when work time rolls around, we are wrecked trying to wake up in the mornings.  Fingers crossed that we can keep up this schedule.  Being up early has completely changed our hotel stays.  We no longer sleep through breakfast and are able to eat and drink free coffee each morning. 
Our bodies must have been exhausted from the heat and the physical activity yesterday because today, it was 9:30 before we woke up.  Not wanting to miss our free coffee and chow, we threw on clothes and ran downstairs.  The breakfast room was packed.  Sitting in it was Steve Tango who we had investigated with last night.  Loren stopped by to say hi.  He remembered us and asked when we were headed back to Texas.  It is so cool that we are staying at the same hotel as the stars of the paranormal field.  We are actually able to have good conversation outside of the event. 
Since we had 2 day passes and still some autographs to get, we arranged for an additional night at our hotel and went back to Paracom.  It was still blazing hot out and many vendors had given up. The tents were virtually empty of booths and people.   Surprisingly, every single person we had met over the past few days were still at the event.  We were able to get each of their autographs on various items and found a shirt I had seen yesterday.  It was amazing how we were remembered including where we were visiting from. 
Having gotten more than our money's worth over the past few days, we planned on spending the rest of the afternoon staying cool in our room.  We would occasionally go downstairs to see if anyone of interest was around, but I think everyone had checked out. 
The excessive heat is supposed to finally break with it being highs in the 80s tomorrow and high in the 70s on Tuesday.  I think the cool down has already started as I hear snores from one side of me and thunder from the other.  We are headed off to Philly tomorrow, so stay tuned! 

Day #26- So Many Places, So Many Faces

Today was the big day of Paracom and our official overnight investigation at Pennhurst Asylum.  With very few exceptions (namely one show) everyone that we admire and like to watch on TV were scheduled to be at the event.  As you may remember, yesterday we ran into John Zaffis outside the hotel.  Well, this morning we ran into Grant Wilson and Steve Gonsalves from Ghost Hunters.  We chatted and took pictures. 
We have never been to Paracom, but we have been once to Comicon.  At these events, the "stars" sit at a table and charge for an 8x10 and an autograph.  Loren's idea was to have the pictures I took of him printed out before we went and have people sign those.  We found a CVS and had our own 8x10s made before we went to Paracom. 
Pennhurst was a place where kids with mental illnesses were sent.  They were treated horrifically.  Just setting foot on the grounds and looking around at the crumbling buildings is an oppressive feeling.  We walked around for a little bit and then went into the tents to see vendors.  We started by heading to the furthest tent and planned to work our way back up to the front.  The first person we saw was Katrina Weidman.  She just happens to be Loren (and Justin's) celebrity crush, so I immediately told her that.  Loren stood behind me, looking at the ground, kicking rocks, and looking all bashful.  We got her autograph and took pictures with her.  We then found Brian Cano at a booth and got his autograph and picture.  So now, there was only one person we had yet to meet- Dave Tango from Ghost Hunters.  He is my favorite and it was a bummer to have not seen him at the hotel or the event.  Loren did not get his printed pics signed...yet.
We came home for a long nap since our investigation was supposed to last from 7pm-3am.  We woke up and saw (felt) that the heat was still incredibly high.  We called to make sure the investigation was still going on.  At our own risk, we could still go. 
We loaded up our gear and once again traveled the winding roads to Pennhurst.  We were required to sign a waiver saying we would not sue if we died from the heat.  It was hot, but we were excited.  Our group only had 7 people in it!!  This was beyond ideal.  Our main complaint is always that there are too many people on our investigations.  The schedule was for us to have a guide to take us into 4 locations for half hour.  While in the locations, the professional paranormal investigators were supposed to come around and help.  We were standing in a dark room in one of the buildings when a familiar face walked in.  It was Dave Tango, the one person we had yet to meet!  He hung around with us for quite awhile and lended his expertise.  In the tunnels below the same building we were again alone and using our equipment when Grant came into the room.  He walked up and apologized for interrupting us.  Really?  HIM apologize to US?!?  Loren immediately pulled out the picture that we had printed earlier and asked him to sign it. 
After going through the buildings with a guide, the original plan was to then be set free to roam.  We had already been alone to investigate in each location, so we didn't mind that the event was cut short due to the heat.  Getting more than our money's worth with meeting people and paranormal experiences, we happily went back to our hotel to look at our pictures. 
Tomorrow is the last day of Paracom.  We may stay here or we may move in closer to Philly.  Stay tuned!

Day #25- You Never Even Called Me By My Name

I am not going to spend much time on today's drive as it was fairly uneventful.  I will just say that Google Maps need some help.  I had clicked on the address link provided by the hotel that tells the GPS lady where to take us.  After many twists and turns, we ended up on a college campus.  Nope.  Not our hotel.  That's when the fear struck.  If this lady sent us to some strange city, this husband of mine was going to blow his top.  I'm kidding...a little.  He grumbles and complains, but is pretty much a teddy bear.  I just did not want to listen to him grouching for another hour while we found our hotel.  Luckily, GPS lady was only 2.6 miles off.  Huge sigh of relief. 
This hotel is a little, well alot nicer, than others we have stayed at.  That's when the second round of grumbles started.  Loren was worried we were paying too much.  He forgets that I had ok-ed these reservations with him BEFORE I made them and that we got a nice discount with our Paracom tickets.  Anyway, his growling came to an end when we were walking in and saw a familiar face- John Zaffis!
For those who don't know about the Paranormal world, John Zaffis is somewhat of an icon.  He is the nephew of Ed and Lorraine Warren.  They were the leaders in paranormal research back in the 60s.  John Zaffis learned from them and has thousands of exorcisms, investigations, and experiences under his belt.  I always have my phone with me, but of course, this time I didn't.  Loren decided to mill around near Mr. Zaffis while I ran upstairs to grab my phone.  When I got back down, they were in the middle of a conversation.  He was the nicest guy.  He asked us which shows we don't like and why.  We kept apologizing for bothering him.  He told us that it is when people stop talking to him that he would worry.  Loren asked for a picture and Mr. Zaffis happily agreed. 
The funny part about all this is the fact that Loren can not get it through his head that this man's last name is ZAFFIS.  Just like Pop's calls Judy's family the "Zigler's" instead of the "Sigler's", Loren always calls him John CHAFFIS.  I asked him to please tell me he didn't call him Mr. Chaffis, and he was worried that he may have.  Luckily, Mr. Zaffis is an older man, so hopefully he didn't hear the incorrect pronunciation!  Haha. 
Tomorrow Paracom will be in full swing and we have our overnight investigation, so stay tuned!!

Day #24- It's Getting Hot in Here

Today was a travel day.  We took a vacation from our vacation when we went to Michigan.  Now we are back on our original vacation and heading to Philadelphia PA. 
We called Mom while driving and she informed us that Pennsylvania is under a severe heat warnings.  Temp are expected to range from the 90s-110!!  We could have stayed home for those temps.  We have an all night investigation planned for Saturday at Penhurst Asylum.  I doubt they have redone the place with AC.  I'm not sure how that will work, but I guess we will see. 
As we drove down the Ohio Turnpike, every mile or so, we would see a police vehicle and a border patrol.  Each time, they were standing outside of their vehicles complete with bullet proof vests on.  I don't know if they had some sort of intell about a drug shipment from Canada or what the deal was.  This went on for quite awhile. 
We finally landed in a town called Cranberry.  We (I) had driven until I was tired and sore, so that was our halfway point.  We may have further to drive tomorrow, but that's fine.  I woke up this morning with some sort of eye infection, thanks eye, so I needed time to just shut my eyes.  I took advantage of that time and had a long nap once we found our hotel.  We had Panda Express for dinner and watched Family Ties. 
Tomorrow is our drive to Philly, so stay tuned!

Day #23- That's Just the Way It Is, Baby

I often wonder what other people are like when they get to be with their childhood friends.  I know that Loren is super dorky whenever he is with Justin.  When I am with Ann, it is just laughing til we cry and talking about old times.  I feel like we have never been apart, despite only seeing her once a year.  Nothing has changed.  Ever!  Maybe that's not a good thing.  I don't know.
Anyway, Ann and Kevin came over tonight- without their swimsuits.  Ann scolded me for not telling her to bring it.  I assumed it was unspoken that Jen's equated swimming.  We ordered fancy pizza and sat around talking.  Throw Jen into the mix and we are unstoppable with our laughs and stories.  We even got out some old pictures.  All the guys just sat there rolling their eyes and probably counting down to the time when they could have some peace and quiet. 
We got out our case of ghost hunting equipment.  Ann was super intrigued, Jen and Kevin were not interested, and Bob just acted like we were insane.  Ann really liked the dowsing rods and the spirit box.  She asked a ton of questions and got a few responses.  Jen has seen a spirit in her house once and the old man neighbor was run over by a car, so...who knows who she was talking to. 
Finally, Loren announced that he was done.  That was Ann and Kevin's cue to head on out.  I could have talked all night, but people do have work tomorrow, so he was right to shut us up.  After they left, I played pool basketball with Bob and Jen before I headed up for the night. 
Tomorrow we rejoin our main vacation and head back to Pennsylvania, so stay tuned!

Day #22- Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville

Today was our 3rd wedding anniversary.  The first year we celebrated with an investigation and an overnight stay on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.  Last year we celebrated in Colorado Springs, and this year was all about Jimmy Buffet. 
We wasted the day away in the pool and then got packed, dressed, and pumped for the concert. 
The show was not scheduled to begin until 8, but half the fun is the pre-show tail gate.  We loaded the cooler with enough beer, soda, water, and cocktail fixins to supply the whole greater Detroit area.  The tradition is to stop at Taco Bell near the venue and to take that in for our tailgating snacks.  The Taco Bell we stopped at was very nice and had screens to order from.  As an extremely picky person, this was great because I could tell the computer exactly what ingredients I wanted left off my order.  Jen was very impressed with this innovation, was sad she ordered the traditional way, and wanted to try again after the show. 
We set up our little party with a table cloth, pirate flag, and of course a giant blow up parrot.  Our set up was cool, but not even a fraction as elaborate as many we saw.  We ate, drank, and people watched.  There were nasty looking storm clouds the whole time, but thankfully all we got was sprinkles. 
It was finally time to make the trek to the arena.  For all of my life, this place has been called Pine Knob.  It is a ski resort in the winter and a concert venue in the summer.  It now has some funky corporate name, but will always be Pine Knob to me.  We are way past the age where we would be happy with lawn "seats" and found our actual seats under the pavilion.  The seats were excellent and the people watching was almost as good as the show.  🦜 heads of all ages were dressed up and dancing.  Jimmy played all of my favorites of his and even sang the songs he did with Alan Jackson and Zak Brown.  Sadly, neither of them came out as guests.  He put on a very long encore and most people stayed until the very last second. 
Even with the crowds, we had an easy time getting out of the venue.  Jen was serious about the Taco Bell redo.  We found one near her house and stopped again.  Unfortunately, the lobby was closed so we just went home.  Exhausted, Loren fell right to sleep. 
Tomorrow Ann and Kevin are supposed to come over, which will lead to many shenanigans, so stay tuned!

Day #22- I am Iron Man

This title has zero to do with today.  It is just a song that Jen wanted Bob to play while we were sitting outside listening to music by the pool.  He and Loren always sit by the pool playing their favorite songs for each other.  The night culminated with T-Baby singing "It's So Cold in the D", but that is a story for the end of the blog. 
The plan for today was to meet the aunts for lunch at 12:30.  We were gonna check out of our hotel and head to Jill's, but she was at the dentist and he was running behind.  She told us to drive slow.  Instead, we went to Lakeside Cemetery to visit a friend.  I actually, sadly, have several friends buried here, but we only had time for one.  It's quite surreal to be visiting the grave of someone my age, someone Jen and I had spent a lot of time with, and someone that died tragically far far too young.  Most people would think we were beyond crazy for starting our day this way, but hey, that's us. 
We met Judy and Jill and had a very yummy brunch at a place called Johnny Cakes.  It was fun to catch up and hear all of the family gossip.  We went back to Jill's and Dallas forced a few rounds of fetch with Loren.  Dallas is a funny dog.  He drops his toy at Loren's feet, goes to stand in the next room to wait for the toss, and then barks if his gesture is not noticed.  I don't think that dog ever runs low on energy. 
After getting to Jen's, I did 20+ days of laundry.  We sat out by the pool, but had to wait out a heavy rain before Bob could grill our sliders for dinner.  We managed just fine with starters of margaritas, chips, dip, mini tacos, and pizza rolls.  The rain finally stopped and we had some yummy burgers.  Jen had been dressed in her swimsuit and ready for the pool since she got home today, but I was not ready for a swim.  However, I was ready to cool off.  My sitting on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in the water turned into a full clothed swim.  Hey, why not?  Jen and I floated around for awhile while the boys listened to music.  Jen moved from the pool to the hot tub, but I just sat wrapped in a towel and wet clothes.  Bob had to get up for work in the morning, so he told Jen he would play T-Baby if she got out of the hot tub.  He found the version that Beavis and Butthead watch, comment on, and dance to.  We probably woke up the neighbors laughing. 
Tomorrow is Jimmy Buffet and our anniversary, so stay tuned!!

Day #21- Sand Castles in the Sand

For any How I Met Your Mother fans, the song title needs no explanation.   For those who aren't,  you're missing out.  Today was as close to perfect as a day can get.  It was a beautiful  72° and we attended Sand Fest which supports a great cause- the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.  Sandcastles were built by kids, amateurs, all the way up to expert builders.   The various buildings of the lighthouse were open to tour.  My favorite sandcastle was built by an amateur.   It was a fire hydrant spraying water- all made out of sand, of course.  Another favorite was done by a master builder and it was of Aladdin and Jasmine.   Each castle had a money bucket in front of it and people could vote by placing in money.  I am not sure if the money then went to the builder or the charity.  This was the People's Choice portion.  There were also official judges for the event.  Other sandcastles included, well, sand CASTLES.   These were very intricate and one had a dragon surrounding the castle complete with scaly textured skin.  Another impressive entry was a huge duck.  Individual feathers could be seen on the duck's back.  I am not sure when the winner was set to be announced, but I imagine the Port Huron newspaper will tell us. 
We went over to Susie's for dinner and had a feast of Sushi.  Jeremy, of course, made fun of me for my sushi choices- no eel or shark for me.  It was all delicious.  Bill did not join us for dinner, but he did sit up in his bed for Jen and Susie to help him eat a few bites of his favorite tuna sushi.  He somehow got a mouth full of wasabi and Jen was able to quickly get him to drink some Gatorade.   I am wondering if this was a trick to get his liquids down him or if he really picked up the wasabi not knowing what it was?  Loren and I did not hang around long after dinner.  We know how difficult things can be and with it getting later, I knew they would be having to try to get Bill ready for bed.  Also, as usual, there had been multiple visitors throughout the day, so we did not want to overwhelm with an extended stay.  Susie had him blow me a kiss goodbye, as he does not like people to get too close.  He was funny and stuck his tongue out at me.  Susie is very proper and scolded him saying "she is your niece and she loves you, blow her a kiss!".  He obeyed, but I found it more in his character the other way.  We said our see ya laters and headed back to our hotel. 
Tomorrow we check out here and head to Royal Oak.  We plan to have lunch with Judy and Jill, so stay tuned!

Day #20- You Belong to the Night

I am sure no one will understand today's title- I have no idea if it is really from Miami Vice, but it's what I think of...so there is a look inside my brain.  Today, we went to a Miami Vice themed party.  But, we will get to that shortly.
We woke up before 7am like we have been doing since school got out- yay us!  We were going down for coffee when a work truck pulled up and workers got out.  Even though we were not sleeping, Loren took issue to them being here so early.  He told them it was too early for them to be working.  Apparently they agreed because they left with no arguement.   We watched Family Ties and waited to head over to Susie's for lunch.
We had been warned that Bill is not crazy about visitors.  I can totally relate.  Although my situation was much different, I remember mom telling me to just pretend to be asleep when too many hospital visitors were wearing me out.  We went in and he was laying on his hospital bed in the middle of the formal living room.   Again, I can relate, although my hospital bed was in the dining room.  Bill said hi to us, but didnt want us to get too close.  We just spoke briefly and then all went out onto the deck.  The wind was coming from the West, so the house blocked any sort of breeze.  It was HOT.  I dont care that we are from Texas.  Hot is hot.  Also, the fact that we are from Texas does should not lead to the assumption that we enjoy heat or sweating.  We have powerful ACs and use them 9 months out of the year.  We dont volunteer to go sit outside and swelter.  In this situation,  however, I did not complain.   I fully understand Bill does not like the chatter when he is trying to rest and it is better for people to sit outdoors.  The boys went out and got us the Michigan equivalent of BBQ.  It was actually pretty good.  After we had finished, Bill decided he wanted to come out to eat.  This was great considering he has not been eating or drinking anything.   He ended up having such a good meal that Jen gave him a second enzyme to help digest his food.  I thought it was very funny that I had watched him eat a cookie and then LIE to Jen that he had not been given one.  Let the man eat all the cookies he wants!  We had great conversation and were very happy to be able to visit with Bill.  We then went down to the jeddy for Loren to do some work since he is the giant of the family. 
We came back to our room for everyone to clean up for the party.  Not knowing we would be attending a Miami Vice shin dig, we did not have the appropriate clothes.  Jen suggested we just wear what we had brought for Jimmy Buffet.  As I got changed, Loren laid down to cool off and wait to get into the bathroom.  By the time Jen and Bob got here,  he was sound asleep.   He wouldnt know anyone at the party anyway, so we just left him to it.  The party was festive and there were lots of eats and drinks.  Bob even had on his white Miami Vice blazer, which lasted about 2 minutes due to the heat.  After standing around chatting and sweating for a couple hours, Annie texted to say she and Sage were coming to see us.  I headed back to the hotel to wait for them, where I found sleeping beauty still snoring.   There was no way he could sleep once Ann got here,  so he woke up for the visit.  As always, Ann and I were loud and laughed constantly.   Sage rolled her eyes a lot and Loren hid in the bedroom.  Jen and Bob came by when they were done partying, Ann left, and we headed to Freighters for dinner.
By this time, the sun had gone down and the wind had changed into a nice cool breeze.  Freighters is down under the bridge and on the water.  It is always beautiful to sit outside and watch the water.  The food is always good, but in our experience,  the service is abysmal at best.  Tonite was no different.  We ordered our drinks with no problem UNTIL the waiter got to Loren.  He was asked for his ID.  He checked his pockets and realized he had left his wallet in the hotel since we had not driven.  I never ever confront anyone or make a fuss, but the trigger button for me is when something like this happens.  I guess you could say sometimes our age difference bothers me.  I asked the waiter why he asked for Loren's ID but not for anyone else's.   He said because Loren looks young.  I said, well he is my husband, here's my ID.  You are saying I dont look young?!?  I cancelled my drink order, as did Bob.  The waiter tried to explain about not wanting to lose his job for serving under age people and blah blah blah.  I said it was fine, just bring the water.  It was very awkward and uncomfortable, which I usually strive to avoid.  Usually.   Then the manager walked up and said he was told by the waiter there was a problem with drink service at our table.  You betcha there was a problem!  I was gonna let my anger go and try to enjoy dinner, but when the manager decided to get involved, I was ready to revisit the issue.  I said yes, we all ordered a drink with no problem until the waiter got to my husband and asked for his ID.  I was calm during all of this encounter, btw, but was probably using my "teacher voice".  I told him that I understand serving laws and policy, but the issue I have is that if one person is going to be IDed, then the whole table needed to be.  I am sure I said more, but that's irrelevant.   The manager said he thought we were all of age and would get our drinks.  Thank you. 
So now the waiter comes back with our drinks.  Jen looks at her beer and scoops something out of it, thinking it is some sort of garnish.  Nope.  It is a June Bug kicking his legs.  She squeals and chunks it on the ground.  The waiter is standing there and stomps on it.  Then the manager comes back to ask if our drinks came out ok.  So, I tell him yes, but they included a bug.  The waiter is looking totally defeated at this point and affirms there was a bug in the beer.  To be fair, we were sitting outside, so the little guy probably flew in for a drink, but it was just added on to our problems for the nite.  Actually,  this part made us laugh.  Last year when we were here, the food took at least an hour to come to our table.  Loren had complained and we got a percentage off our bill.  This year was no different.   When our food finally came, about 45 minutes after ordering, Jen's food was ice cold.  I dont know if the waiter was busy or scared of us, but he never returned to check on our food.  Bob was paying for dinner and is known to be a generous tipper.  Jen wasnt having it after looking at the bill to see she was still charged for bug beer and had never been checked on so she could tell the waiter her food was cold.  She and Bob had words and she grabbed the receipt to leave the tip herself.  She said she would still leave the 15%, but no more.   We scooted out of there as fast as we could. 
We get out to Jen's new car and Bob could not figure out how to use the key fob to open the door.  Turns out, it wasnt Bob with the issue.  We were at the wrong car!  Apparently someone else in PH also has a brand new Cadillac SUV!  Finally making it to our actual ride, we were dropped off at our hotel with no further issue.  Tomorrow we are supposed to go to an event on the beach with sandcastles,  so stay tuned!

Day # 19- Long Hot Summer Day

Today's song title is one that probably no one (except MAYBE, Loren) will be able to correctly identify the meaning of.  Yes, it was a long summer day.  Not so hot, though, so that's good.  But, that's only a small part of how this song is relevant to today.  It is by the Turnpike Troubadours.  Turnpike being the key word here.  Let's continue...
Our mission for today was to make it to Port Huron.  When I had mapped out our trip AND when I looked to confirm things last night, PH was 242 miles away.  Thinking we were in no hurry because hotels wont let us check in until 3 anyway, we didnt rush to leave.  We set the GPS lady and suddenly, she has our trip taking 7 hours instead of 4 1/2.  We'll get into that drama later. 
The very first entrance onto the highway was, you guessed it, the ticket booth for the dreaded Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Determined not to have any more problems, I made sure to get into the lane that said "No Ticket" so I could collect one for our journey.  Nice try.   It was the same damn thing as before.  No ticket.  No person.  Only a button to call.  This time I pressed it and kept pressing it until a person appeared from behind a secret door.  He looked at me like I was crazy and asked what I wanted.  I told him I needed my ticket.  He then starts to yell and tells me I am in the wrong lane and this was the only place in the state to get a ticket.  I told him no, I specifically came to the line that says no ticket so I could get one.  This makes him madder and he tells me that the sign saying "No ticket" means they dont have any tickets in that lane, not that you go to that lane if you need a ticket.  I told him I am not from here and did not understand their messed up signs!  After all that, he handed me a ticket (ha! you do have them in this lane!) and sent me on our way. 
At the end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike we breathed a huge sigh of relief, paid $8 for the pleasure of traveling their roads and proceeded to immediately get onto the Ohio Turnpike.  Really?!?  At least Ohio has their lanes marked better and we were able to GET A TICKET!!!  Ohio charged us $14 to drive on their precious turnpike.  And then we were in Michigan, on their free roads, swerving from lane to lane to avoid potholes.  
Michigan has 2 seasons- Winter and Road Construction.   We had to dodge highway closures, wrecks, and whatever else by driving through the Pure Michigan country side.  Finally, hours and hours and hours later, we made it to Port Huron!  Jen greeted us with chips, bean dip, and margaritas.  We snacked, drank, and waited for Bob.  After Bob got into town, we headed for a late dinner at Chili's.   Not very exotic, but open past 9. 
Tomorrow we are supposed to see friends, so stay tuned!

Day #18- Second Verse, Same As The First...

...a little but louder and a little bit worse.  Well, today was one of those dejavu sort of days.  We woke up, had our coffee, and were planning to head to Pittsburg for the night and our tour.  A little drizzle out, but that's ok.  I run out to the car to grab something, and the moment I did- BOOM!  That loudest thunder we had ever heard the other day?  Silly me.  That was the tiny baby brother of this thunder clap.  Before I could even shut the trunk, the skies opened up.   In the few steps back to the hotel door, I was drenched.  I come back to the room, looking like I fell in a well, and Loren decided to check the weather while I used all the towels to dry off.   100% chance of thunderstorms and a flash flood warning.  Great.  We had already paid $70 for our hop on, hop off tour.  I guess we could have just hopped on and road around the city in the rain.  But that did not sound very appealing.  I attempted to get the tour refunded via the internet, but nope.  It wasnt 24 hours in advance.  So, always the one to do the dirty work, Loren swooped in.  He found a number and called the place.  Something they dont advertise is that the company has a weather center.  They check the weather themselves and if there are storm warnings like we were under, it is their policy to give a 100% refund.  The representative still tried to reschedule us, but really did not put up much of a fight about the refund.  If you have never used Viator when traveling,  check them out.  We have used them many times and have never had a bad experience.  
So now the next question.   Do we move 30 minutes down the road just to pay twice as much for a room to sit in all day?  Nope.  After yesterday's drama with the room, we were very happy with the end result and decided just to stay here, safe and sound.  Good thing we did because the rain did not stop all day.  Not just rain.  We were glad our room is in the basement  because it sounded like we were in the middle of a tornado.  Oh, just for clarification, I tend to exaggerate a tad from time to time.  While the hall our basement room is on does look like The Shining, if you look out our window, we are on ground level- not the dungeon. The hotel is on a hill.  You drive up to the lobby, which seems to be the first floor, but it is really at the top of the hill.  Our room is in what appears to be a basement, but is really just built down the side of the hill, so it is just down a floor.  Anyway,  I say all of this because we honestly did think we were in a tornado and wondered where we would go.  Turns out, we are just fine.
So, what did we do all day you ask?  Well, nap of course.  Also, Loren never travels without his xbox.  This is great because we have all the streaming services at our disposal.   I have come to learn that one fun thing about him being younger is that he missed all the 80s music, tv, and movies that I love so much.  I have been working on fixing that problem.  Today we marathoned most of the first season of Family Ties.  Loren went from cringing every time the theme song came on to doing a duet with me each time.  We are ready to take our show on the road!  Haha.  Yes, we have fun together, even on dreary days like today.
One of the episodes was about Steven Keaton (the dad, for those who dont remember) finding out that his dad had cancer and was refusing treatment.  Steven told him all about the Mayo Clinic and how they could help to extend his life while looking for a cure.  This episode hit way too close to home.  It was filmed in 1982.  37 years later and we still have no cure.   How is that possible?!? 
Anyway, tomorrow we head to Michigan.  It will be a different visit from what we usually do while we are there, but I am glad we are going.  It is my second home and where I leave a little piece of my heart each time I have to leave, so regardless of the circumstances,  I am happy to be going "home".  I am sure we will have plenty of road adventures tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Day #17- I Got That Tunnel Vision

Today turned into just a travel day.  The trip from Gettysburg to Pittsburgh was supposed to be around 3 hours.  We dont know if it was the GPS lady or the real route, but we spent well over an hour driving on one lane country roads that went up and over mountains.   It was a beautiful drive, but we started wondering if we would ever see a highway.  The highlight was getting to pass Amish farms.  We saw a man plowing his field using horses to pull the plow.  We also saw a home with a welcome sign and Amish quilts being sold.  I considered stopping,  but envisioned the plot of a bad horror movie unfolding. 
We finally made it to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  The first thing we noticed were toll signs.  Of course we had no cash and had to pull over and dig for change.  We came up with around $2 and headed on our way.  The toll plaza had 2 choices- ticket or no ticket.  Since we had no clue what that meant and had no ticket, we chose that lane.  No one was in the toll booth to take our money.  There was no button to push to take a ticket.  The only button was labeled "push to talk".  Since there was no one to talk to and the gate was open, we thought it must be like Texas and the toll people would just send us a bill.  Remember this thought because it is important later. 
The pike was very cool.  It sent us into tunnels that were cut thru the mountain.  That part was actually a little eerie.  There we are, inside a mountain, with trippy lights flashing, and tiles coming off the walls to expose the rock of the mountain.   We stopped at a travel plaza that had a historical marker.  Apparently the Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first long distance highway built in the US.  The travel center was an original stop.  Although I assume the Burger King came later.  Haha. 
At about an hour past lunch time, we decided to stop at Cracker Barrel to stretch our legs and get some chow.  This is where a whole new adventure began.  We exited the pike and immediately came upon another toll booth.  This one had a person.  I pull up and expected to hand the little old lady working the booth my hand full of nickels.  Instead she asks for my ticket.  I tell her we dont have a ticket.  She acted like this was impossible and we had to have a ticket.  I tried to explain what happened when we got on the toll.  She asked where we got on.  I said I had no idea, but it was after leaving Gettysburg and driving over mountains.  She wasnt impressed with my answer.  She said we must have gone thru an easy pass lane.  Now, I was 100% sure we had NOT done that and told her we stopped and tried to pay but no one was there.  She then acted like I was challenged and said I should have pushed the button for a ticket.  Wondering why any of this was relevant considering we could not go back in time and get a ticket, I told her there was no button.  She said I should have asked a person.  I told her there was a call button but no person to answer.  She said I should have pushed it and someone would have come out.  From where?  The side of the mountain?  I kept those thoughts to myself, but Loren was getting annoyed.  He leaned over and asked her to just tell us how much we needed to pay.  She says without a ticket, we had to pay the price of driving the entire turnpike which was $54.  I was panicking and reaching for my wallet.  He moves it so I cant reach and tells her we are not paying $54.  A back and forth arguement begins between the toll lady and an angry husband leaning across me from the passenger seat.  Meanwhile, about a mile of cars are stopped in line behind us.  He tells her to find a supervisor because we will not be paying.  She finally says, fine, but I'll need your lisence.   He hands it over, she does who knows what with it, and then hands him a paper to sign saying we refused to pay.  He signs the paper, probably with someone else's name, and she lifts the gate so we can go.  Still shaking from the unpleasant encounter, I try to shake it off and find Cracker Barrel.  This is where part 2 of the adventure come in. 
We are like .8 miles from the restaurant.   The GPS lady is giving her normal terrible directions.  We end up reenacting the scene with the Griswold's from European Vacation and we drive round and round two traffic circles, back on the highway, same exit, repeat for another half hour.  By the time we found the restaurant, we were done traveling for the day.  We had breakfast for lunch and reevaluated our plans.  Turns out, we were only about half hour outside of Pittsburgh.   This could really mean 2 hours, but we decided to risk it.  We have tickets for a hop on hop off tour tomorrow,  so we decided just to stay in whatever town this is for the night and then go to Pitt for our tour in the morning.  Happy with our decision, we headed to the Econo Lodge that we could see from the restaurant.
We are not hotel snobs and when we travel for 30 days, we have to be smart about what we pay for hotels.  We have found that Econo Lodge is cheap, clean, and for the most part, has comfortable beds.  This one appeared no different from the lobby.  And now adventure part #3 begins.  This Econo Lodge is enormous.   Somehow our room is in the basement down a hall that only be described as the Stanley Hotel and a scene straight out of The Shining.  We pass a laundry room being tended by the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  We enter our room and immediately see a towel laying on the bathroom sink.  The bed is rumpled and trash is still full.  Oh crap.  I think we are in someone else's room!  We try to turn on the lights for a better look- no power anywhere in the room.  We try to call the front desk- phone is broken.  Thinking we may die soon, Loren heads the mile down the hall and up the stairs to the front desk while I pace around,  gun in hand.  As I walk around, I see two light switches right by the door.  I flip them and the room springs to life.  One problem solved.  Loren then reappears with the owner/manger of the place who looks around and confirms the room was not cleaned.  No housekeeping is around anymore, so he sends the hunchback in for cleaning.  She is very disgruntled by this and keeps telling us this is her 1st day and she is laundry, not housekeeping.   We leave her to it and wander around the hotel for a bit.  Upon returning to a clean(ish) room, we try to get cooled down and relax.  As seems to be our problem wherever we go, the AC is not blowing.  Again to go find the owner.  For the second time he comes to the dungeon to inspect our room.  He confirms the AC is broken and moves us to another room.  He lets us in, but has no key for us.  Loren tells him we will just come get it later on when we go out for dinner.  Our new room is perfect.  Clean, cozy bed, cold air.  Finally happy we lounge around until dinner.  We got take out at a local restaurant and when we return, the owner again escorts us to our room to let us in because, well, I dont know why.  I guess he just likes us.  We still have no key.  Oh well.  We are in for the night. 
Tomorrow is Pittsburg, so stay tuned!

Day #16- Jenny, I've Got Your Number

Today we walked around Gettysburg and went into the little shops.  We saw hats to buy for both sides that fought in the Civil War.  Gray hats and blue hats.  But wait...there was a 3rd choice.  Pink hats.  Loren asked the lady at the store which side the pink fought for.  Either she did not understand or did not appreciate his "humor".  We bought a cute shirt that says "Got Ghosts?" on the front and "Gettysburg Does" on the back. 
We then went to tour the Jennie Wade house.  This would have been a great night time investigation, but we had already booked ourselves elsewhere tonight.   Jennie Wade was only 20 years old and was baking bread when a bullet shot through two doors of the house and into her heart.  I had one very cool experience while there.  All of the floors are original to the house.  They creak and groan when stepped on- especially the stairs.  We went up one staircase and were touring the upstairs.  The guide asked us to walk into the next room.  There was a second staircase in this room.  I was the first person into the room and walked over to look down the steps.  Everyone else in our group was still milling around in another room while I stood at the top of the stairs listening to someone stomping down them in front of me.  Listening, not seeing.  There was no one there.  I started taking a million pictures down the stairwell.  I asked Loren about the experience when we left the house and he had not heard a thing.  Jennie is said to still be in that house.  I don't know who I heard, but it was definitely someone. 
Our plan for the night was to go on a ghost tour at the Civil War Orphanage, also reportedly a very active place for spirits.  We got there early and noticed the size of the group waiting for the tour.  We saw kids riding on each other's backs and screaming.  We counted at least 20 people there already, half hour before our tour.  By tour time, we made the executive decision to just let the price we paid for tickets be a donation to Gettysburg and skip the tour.  I know we can not avoid people, but it just really takes away from experiences when people view the ghost hunts as a spectacle and dont take them seriously. 
The battlefield allows people to visit until 10, so we were able to walk around some after dark.  It's hard to see any ghost lights when about a million fireflies are wandering around.  It was pretty funny, though.  Looking out across the hills, past the cannons,  thinking maybe we had spotted something.  Nope.  Just more fireflies. 
Tomorrow we head to Pittsburgh, so stay tuned!

Day #15- Bridge Over Troubled Water

Today more than made up for yesterday!  First on the list was to find a new home.  Succeeding in this task improved Loren's mood 100 fold- especially since we did not get charged for the remainder of our reservation.   Next, we needed to plan our time until we were allowed to check into our new home. 
We got out our lists and found the most haunted places in Gettysburg.   Our first stop was Devil's Den inside the military park.  This is an area of huge boulders where General (Commander? Sergeant?) Hood led the first regiment of Texas.  It didnt end well.  Shortly after the battle, a photographer went to the site which was littered with dead soldiers.  To make, what he thought was a better picture, the photographer moved one of the soldier's bodies and posed it in front of the boulders.  Apparently, this did not sit well with the soldier and he haunts the place to this day.  There were a lot of kids screaming and climbing on the rocks, but I was still able to get some great communication on my device.  I got "you" "hunting" "today" to which we of course replied, "yes".  We climbed a steep part of the rocks and as we went I got "high" "doing" "great".  The soldier was encouraging if nothing else!  Loren asked if the spirit could show himself and my device said "shown".  We sadly missed it.
Next stop was Sach's Covered Bridge.  Sach's is a beautiful old red wooden covered bridge.  The story here is that 3 Confederate soldiers were hung from the bridge for desertion.  During the day the bridge was somwhat peaceful.  At one point I had goosebumps and all the hair stand up on my right arm and the word "spot" when I was asking where the soldiers were hung.  As the bridge is not in the park and had no curfew,  we decided to return tonite. 
It was getting close to check in time so we went to the store for provisions and checked into our new home.  AC works beautifully (at that time) and the room was half the price of the other one.  We napped and slugged around for a few hours and then headed out for our nite.
There were several cars at the bridge when we arrived about 10.  All teenagers.   These teens were awesome, though.  They were also ghost hunting and showed us a few really cool things about the bridge.  They had a pack of cigarettes,  not for smoking, but for the soldiers.   They would light the cigarette,  balance it on a guard rail, and watch as it truly looked like someone unseen was smoking it.  The cigarette balanced perfectly on this rail and every now and then it would burn down some like someone was taking a drag.  We had all of our equipment out and the kids were amazed with it all.  We had voices come thru on the spirit box, activity on the EMF, and just an overall great experience.  
We came back to our room about midnite and tried to settle in for sleep.  All of a sudden we smelled the smell that fills the house the first time the heater is put on each winter.  I went over to the AC unit and it stopped working.  Only the fan would work.  Thinking we were in for another uncomfortable nite and hoping we wouldnt catch fire with the AC, we just dealt with the fan. 
Tomorrow we have a ghost tour of a haunted orphange, so stay tuned!!

Day #14- Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

Over the 3 years of writing this blog, I may have used this song before, but it is to the point where it merits another use.  This is summer for goodness sakes!  Go away rain!!
We considered stopping in Antietam today on our way to Gettysburg, and we probably should have.  We are much earlier risers than we used to be.  Up by 7am at the latest most days.  We had our coffee and headed out.  The 3 1/2 hours flew by and we were at Gettysburg way before check-in.  Other places have allowed for early check in, but not this one.  So, we had 3 hours to kill before we could get settled.  Our hotel is very well located, so we parked there and walked across the street to a tavern for lunch.  It was funny looking around and seeing little kids dressed up in Military gear that I am sure cost their parents a fortune. 
With still hours to kill, we first drove through the town.  We saw tons of souvenier shops, museums, and people.  Again with the crowds!  We found the College of Gettysburg where one of Loren's principals attended.   We were going to roam around, but we were confused on days and thought it was Sunday.  Without the bookstore being open, or so we thought, we decided to wait for another day. 
We then decided to drive around the battlefield.  We did not start at the beginning and did not purchase the audio tour for the car.  From the small part we saw today, we were left more than a little disappointed.   Vicksburg was lightyears more impressive.  To be fair, we didnt give this National Park a full chance, again saving it for another day. 
We were finally able to check into our room.  We usually lean towards the affordable hotels.  If they are clean, have good AC, and a comfy bed, we are golden.  This hotel is the Quality Inn.  When I made this reservation months ago, I was dang proud of the rate of $133 a night compared to all others of $300+ here in Gettysburg.   I was also super proud of the location.  Our room is adjacent to and faces the battle field.  Well...we get into our room and it is very different from any other Quality Inn we have stayed in.  It is very fancy in comparison.   Ok, that's nice.  What isnt nice is an AC that hardly poofs out any air.  What isnt nice is the guests on either side of us being loud.  What isnt nice is the rock hard bed.  For double what we have been paying, we get nothing that we want. 
Sucking it up for the night, we decided to stay.   We had plans to head out to the battle field after dark and do some investigating.  This would have been very easy with our location.   Well, the weather had other plans.  It thundered a little at first, then the skies opened.  Torrential rains came and didnt stop.  Finally about 9pm, we got soaked in the short distance to our car, just to drive across the street to the one open place- McDonalds.  For anyone who knows me, unless I am in Europe with no other options, I do not eat McDonalds.  It is possible that my subconscious knew this because we got there and neither of us had our wallets.  So, back thru the flooded streets to our hotel to get money.  We returned for our nasty McDonalds and kept checking for the rain to stop.  Well, that didnt happen.  Our dreams of investigating turned into sitting on our porch and using the Flir heat sensing camera to look over the battlefield.  We did pick up blips of light showing a different heat signature, which was exciting, but nothing else like we had hoped.
Our plan for tomorrow is to find a less expensive hotel with a working AC.  We had just considered leaving town, but decided we would regret it.  There are so many documented haunted places here that we just couldn't pass up our chance.  Hoping for a happier day tomorrow- so stay tuned!
***Ammendment to the blog...madre pointed out that today was in fact Sunday.  Oh good grief!***

Day #13- Rock-a-Bye Baby

Well, we didnt end up at Antietam today.  We are still here in Charlottesville.   As we were starting our day, the hotel was shaken by the loudest thunder we have ever heard.  And it continued.  Loudly!  We decided that we would rather just stay safe in our hotel and skip a 3 hour drive through storms.   After arranging for another night, we laid back down for "just a minute".  Like storms frequently seem to do, this one lulled us into a deep sleep, once we stopped being startled by the BOOMS. 
We pretty much lounged and dozed all day.  We ate at a really great hamburger joint called Cook Out.  The hamburgers came wrapped in tin foil and tasted like they were cooked over a camp fire.  The new season of Stranger Things has started on Netflix, so we watched a few episodes.  We then found Ghost Adventures on local TV.  We cant miss Zak and the guys! 
Regardless of the weather, our reservations in Gettysburg start tomorrow.   We will head out in the morning after coffee.  Stay tuned!

Day #12- What'd I Miss?

Today we focused on Thomas Jefferson.  Although I have not seen Hamilton, I have heard some songs and had the perfect one for today's song/blog title.  We started at the college he designed and founded- the University of Virginia.  We have now been to many college campuses on our travels and this was not one of our favorites.  There was nothing wrong with it, just nothing spectacular.  We think we may have seen some basketball players on campus.  Their team won the NCAA tournament this year.  But...we didnt want to approach them and offend if they were just some giant dudes and not on the team.  
We then went on to the home Thomas Jefferson built, Monticello.   The website advised getting to the home 30 minutes before our tour was scheduled, but we didnt really take that seriously.   We should have.  Unlike the other homes we have toured, this place was like Disney Land.  The people!  The lines!  Surprised they didnt sell a fast pass.  I had no idea that Monticello was a HUGE tourist destination.   Maybe since the musical Hamilton?  Anyway, like Hearst Castle in California,  we had to take a shuttle bus to the top of the mountain for the home.  We joined our tour group of at least 25 people, which was far too many.  We had wanted to take the night tour which gave access to all 3 floors of the house, but it was sold out for weeks.  Our next choice was the all access day tour- also sold out.  So, we settled on just getting to see the first floor.  In retrospect, if the other tours had groups as large as ours, we lucked out not getting the more extensive one. 
The tour guide was a young girl, probably a history major somewhere.  Apparently all guides had extensive reading and studying to do before they could guide us thru the building.   As the guide was cheerfully telling us a story, a man interrupted her.  He said he had been a history teacher for 34 years and blah blah blah, challenging what the poor girl had said.  It was obvious that he had her shaken.  The rest of the tour seemed rushed and not as cheerful.   I think she was just trying to finish before the know-it-all scared her again.   It was a blazing hot day and with crowds like an amusement park, we really didnt have the energy to explore the grounds as we would have liked.  We had our picture taken from the back side of the house, which is the view depicted on the nickel. 
After catching the bus back to the museum area, we took a few more pics and went to the gift shop.   Always my favorite part! 
Tomorrow we head to the Antietam battlefield in Maryland, so stay tuned!

Day #11- Small Town USA

Today we travelled from Roanoke to Charlottesville, VA.  We planned a stop at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington.  As we drove through the small town, we noticed cars parked on either side of the road.  Then we were stopped by police barricades.   We thought maybe we had jumped into the middle of a funeral procession, only to realize we actually somehow made it into the middle of their small town 4th of July parade!  We quickly turned off and drove blindly through the neighborhood.  We ended up right where we wanted to be- at the cemetery.  
This cemetery is known for its hauntings...why else would we be here?  It was totally amazing and very old.  The graves are from the 1800s and moss covered.  Stonewall Jackson is buried here, well most of him is.  Apparently his arm is buried elsewhere as it had to be amputated on the battle field.  An example of the good stuff we get on our devices while investigating- while we were standing at his memorial and I was reading to Loren about his missing arm, my device said, "where" and then "my hand".  I guess Stonewall is still looking for his hand in the afterlife. 
We saw a big bunny hopping around the headstones and then a baby Bambi deer.  We watched him for a long time.  He looked way too young to have been away from his mama.  He bounced between markers and nibbled at the green grass.  Interesting to see such active life in a place of the dead.
We were able to check into our room early and planned to watch the Nathan's Hotdog eating contest as we have done for all of our years together.  We missed the orginal airing and hoped to catch the repeat.   The hotel had other plans and did not get the channel.   We just hung around and rested for the afternoon.   For dinner we had another yummy meal, this time from a Chinese restaurant next door to our hotel.  I had looked up local fireworks and we had considered venturing out.  Instead, we just stood on our balcony and watched multiple shows. 
Tomorrow places should be open again, so we will see what adventures we can have.  Stay tuned!

Day #10- So Go Downtown

Today we wanted to explore the downtown section of Roanoke.  We knew it was going to be a positive time when the parking was only $7 for the whole day.  Just last year we paid $30 to park on Navy Pier in Chicago. 
We started at a little breakfast place called Scrambled.  Both restaurants we have been to here in Roanoke have been great! 
We walked through the downtown and poked around little stores and boutiques.   There is even a daily farmers market that sets up. 
There were two things we specifically wanted to see- a Dr. Pepper sign that was put up in the 1940s and the Greetings from Roanoke sign painted on the side of a downtown building.  We found the postcard sign without much problem, but were unable to take a good picture with both of us in it due to two problems:  1. Loren cant seem to keep his finger off of the lens lately and 2. The sign was too big for a selfie.  So, a few grumpy (on his part) pics later, we went off in search of the Dr. Pepper sign.  The GPS led us to Dr. Pepper park, yet not to the sign.  Dr. Pepper park was pretty lame.  It had a small stage and a grassy viewing area that would probably hold 50 people at most.  There were posters up that Tesla, Jamey Johnson, and some  tribute bands had been there earlier in the summer.  Those must have been some sad little shows! 
We finally gave up on the sign and headed back to our hotel, only to see the sign along the highway at our exit.  Grr!
Tomorrow is the 4th and we dont want to be on the road for long.  We are headed to Charlottesville to see the University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, so stay tuned!

Day #9- In the Jungle, The Mighty Jungle...

...the lion sleeps tonite!  Did I get you singing?  I hope so.  I have been singing it all day in my head.  Now I can share the joy! 
Today we went to the Mill Mountain Zoo.  It is a small zoo on top of the mountain that also has a giant star that can be seen all over Roanoke.   With the cooler air and the early time that we went, the animals were mostly all active and alert.  While we really didnt see a lion, we saw many other creatures.  The otters were fun to watch play.  One had a pet rock and he would just roll all around holding his rock in his front two paws.  We met a Marmoset with the same hair do as George Costanza from Seinfeld,  so that's of course what we named him.  I am not sure I have ever seen this animal.  He was tiny, looked like part monkey, part rodent, and had a cute pig nose.  We spent a lot of time watching the snow leopard named Bali.  He was quite the show off.  He jumped to the top of his rocks and did a handstand for us.  Then he decided to explore the baby pool that was just put into his enclosure today.  He spent time swatting the water with his paws.  Finally, he picked up the edge and dumped all the water out.  He looked around,  quite proud of himself.  Such a naughty kitty!  One animal we didnt see was the red panda.  Apparently she is a bit of a diva and stays mostly in her bed which is in an air conditioned part of her enclosure. 
We went to Walmart for some groceries and planned to have lunch, rest, and then go downtown to some attractions there.  The "rest" somehow turned into a 5 hour nap.  Needless to say, our evening activities didnt happen.  That's ok.  We slept thru a thunderstorm that obviously lulled us into a long nap.  
We will find a new Roanoke adventure for tomorrow,  so stay tuned!

Day #8- Sweet Virginia

Today was all about nature.  This is the first time either of us has been to Virginia and it is beautiful!  The wind still has a chill in it and everything is green. 
We spent the day driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway thru the mountains.  Every so often there would be a scenic overlook to stop and look out over the mountains.   One of the stops was Mabry Mill.  Built in the early 1900s and using water to power the mill, people would come from all over to have corn ground into corn meal.  The wheel still slowly fills with water and turns on this old wooden building.  Flowers were blooming throughout the property and the whole place smelled like perfume.  We had food in our cooler so we decided to have a picnic. 
We ended up in Roanoke, VA.  As we roamed around town we saw a place that looked fun- The Mellow Mushroom.  The Mushroom is a pizza place that has been around since 1974- a great year,  I must say.  We each ordered a personal pizza and a salad.  I cant remember ever having a more delicious pizza.  No wonder the place has been here for so many years!!  Roanoke may be our home for a few days.  The town, the weather, our hotel...all perfect.  We have no idea what will be our adventure for tomorrow,  so stay tuned!

Day #7- You Spin Me Right Round

Today was basically a travel day.  And a screwy one it was!  We thought we were going to Tennessee,  but ended up in Georgia.  Then we thought we were in Virginia,  but it was Tennessee.   We must have been driving in circles at some point. 
The drive was really pretty and fairly uneventful except for an accident that had traffic stopped in Knoxville.   We cut across all of the lanes and exited for Cracker Barrel to have lunch and wait out the traffic.  Nice try.  Traffic was still there when we finished.   However, because of how we entered back on the highway,  we pulled on right at the accident site.  It was nothing major, but we saw why traffic was stopped on the other side.  A guy with a mini van full of kids must have been rubber necking the first wreck and crashed into the divider.  As we sailed along,  traffic was at a stand still for over 10 miles the opposite direction,  all because one guy wanted to be a looky loo. 
We landed in Bristol for the night.  There seems to be some exploring to do here tomorrow,  so stay tuned!