May 05

West Virginia, Mountain Mama

West Virginia borderMay 5 – Han and I exchanged sleeping arrangements and I slept in the single bed and Han took the larger blow up mattress. We both slept so much better and are prepared to get back on the road. Mind you I did not say “ready”, as I could have stuck around with my bestie a little longer.

But Han’s knee was calling for another medical opinion and Europe was only a couple more weeks out, So we had more fantastic coffee, Amy and I hugged a bunch and we packed up the car to begin our next journey: Destination Charleston West Virginia.

Lots of construction in the Metro Cleveland Area, but I think Ohio has the most reasonable, considerate, law abiding, non-aggressive drivers compared to any other state we have driven through. It could very well be the result of enforced behavior as we also witnessed a large police presence in Ohio; traffic police who take their jobs seriously.

We arrived in Charleston, it was raining, we were so tired we just stayed in our room and ate the beet hummus and chips that Amy had packed for us for dinner, because she knows how much we love the beet hummus, sadly very hard to get these days.

5:5-Willoughby to Charleston WV

Travel Hint: Begin your day with a slower rate of speed and increase to your normal speed after about 30 minutes. Gives you time to wake up fully and acclimate yourself to new surroundings.

Then about 30 minutes away from your daily destination, slow down to about 60 mph, to relieve the stress built up from driving on the interstates. It will help you sleep better.

May 04

May 4 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Allan Freed EulogyMay 4 – We took our sweet time get up and around this morning. Relished our leisurely cup of slow drip coffee by Amy, and she fixed a delicious vegan breakfast.

We headed to Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Amy drove and I was able to sit back and watch the scenery go by.

We rolled up, went inside and set Han up with a wheelchair, then proceeded to begin our walk through the history of music. It was better than I had figured on. I love music but Han is the HUGE music lover. So I was happy that we both equally enjoyed ourselves. The stories, the music playing, the outfits, the instruments and amazing amount of memorabilia kept us interested and even the design of the building was quite unique along with the surrounding areas to gaze at through all the windows. It is right on the water which made it all the better for us.

Of course the one person who stood out from the rest was “Prince”, since he was the most recently passed artist and I have always been fond of his music.

I could hear doves cry in the distance.

Afterwards we headed back towards Willoughby and had lunch at the Willoughby Brewing Company. Amy and I had the Erie Street Tacos and they were small but filling and OH SO good. We ate every little morsel. Han ordered the Secret Recipe Fried Chicken and he thought it better than his other favorite fried chicken. Believe it or not, that would be Publix Supermarket.

We dropped Han off at the house so he could do some work and us girls took off for some sightseeing. I had wanted for Amy to show me her beach where she collects sea glass, but the weather did not cooperate and was too cold and drizzly.

We drove around, took in some breathtaking scenery, looked at some HUGE homes aka possible hotels, went to the first Mormon Temple in Kirkland, Amy shared some of her childhood memories and then we went shopping at this very cool store in town called “Enchanted Grove”. I purchased four gemstones that now travel with me wherever I go. They each have different qualities and every time I see them I think of my dear friend Amy.

After we had played hooky long enough, we went back to wind down with beer and pizza. Amy’s mom, dad, son and daughter-in-law stopped over. I had previously met everyone else besides her dad, and he is just as great as I had imagined. Really enjoyed sitting around and just cutting up being silly.

Sooner or later the party has to end (especially if you are above a certain age) and hit the bed to get ready for another 3 day of driving to Forida. Boo-Hiss….

May 03

May 3 – Cleveland Ohio is Big, Beautiful, Loud and Proud

Entering Ohio from the NorthThe trip from Whitehall south turned morbidly sad through Ohio. We have now traveled thousands of miles, on many different roads across the US and never have we seen so many dead deer and other evidence of roadkill, than we saw in Ohio. It seemed like at least every other mile there was a dead deer and every half a mile a dead possum or skunk or squirrel. So many deer in fact that I purchased deer horn alerts off Amazon for our friends Amy and Jeff to place on their vehicles. We have them on our car and had not even close calls through many wild life areas.  But sometimes in the high plains areas of Wyoming we actually saw animals in the distance lift their heads to look around. Are they hearing the horns? I don’t know but it certainly cannot hurt to install these simple, inexpensive and possibly life saving devices. You can get them at http://www.amazon.com/Custom-Accessories-17381-Chrome-Alert/dp/B000BO71UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462897814&sr=8-1&keywords=deer+horn+alerts

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May 02

May 2 – A Week to Rest in Whitehall, Michigan

Chicago Skyline

Dreary, cold and dangerous Chicago

Got up this morning to high tail it out of town, destination “Whitehall, MI”.

We will be staying with Greg, who is my daughter’s husband’s dad. Got that?
The trip down, around and up the shores of Lake Michigan was great for the most part, except for the nightmare drivers and traffic of Chicago. It is now at the very top of my list as most dangerous and worse city to drive in. If you are driving in Chicago, you had best be on top of your game and be able to make split second decisions and reaction time be fine tuned. That is one scary ass place to deal with. Construction directions are confusing, drivers are beyond the realm of aggressive, roads are in desperate need of repairs, infrastructure must have been laid out by a toddler and driver rudeness prevails. I was extremely grateful that we came out on the other side unscathed.

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Apr 25

April 25 – Catching Up with Dave and Mom Pat

DSC_2226Today we checked out late from the motel in Lake Geneva, drove around some so Han could take pictures, drove into Twin Lakes to see our friends lake front cottage (it is beautiful) and then began our very short trip into Kenosha, Wisconsin.
For old times sake, as I had previously lived in Kenosha for 11 years, we stopped at the Brat Stop to have lunch.
Not the best restaurant if you don’t eat meat. We both had Caesar Salad and shared a side of fries. The fries may well  be the best in the world.
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