Chicago

CHICAGO
Home of the Brookfield zoo, the best pizza I have ever eaten and our good friends the Zortmans who moved here from New York last Spring. We camped in their yard in Schaumberg. Our kids hit it off like they had never been apart.

Kirtland Ohio

Kirtland Ohio. September is such a great month to travel. No crowds, perfect weather. We had personal guides at the Kirtland visitors center (sister Leavitt) and at the Kirtland temple.

Finally the road trip pictures!

Day 1

So we decided to buy a pop up trailer and pack up the kids for a road trip across the country! The trailer was bought "damaged"(hence a good deal)" and Jon somehow fixed the canvas on our ancient sewing machine it did put us 2 days behind, but it was all part of the adventure.

Here we are at the begining of what would end up being an 8,126 mile road trip. Classic Americana- camper, s'mores, national parks, everyone needs to do this at least once in their life!

Rendez-vous in Quebec City

For our 14th (wow!) anniversary, Jonathan and I managed to leave the kids for 3 days to take a trip North. Quebec is a beautiful province with a very European feel. We have been a few times to Montreal (about 3 hours North of us) but never to Quebec City which is 3 hours Northeast of Montreal. It is on the St. Lawrence river which drains into the North Atlantic.

Originally when we were trying to decide on a trip, I was imagining someplace like this, eating out, nice hotel, etc. Jonathan was imagining a backpacking trip through the Adirondacks. We compromised on Quebec City but taking our bikes. It is a great place to cycle and we saw a lot more than if we would have been on foot or in the car trying to park on narrow streets. The old city is walled with a fortress. On the last day we cycled across the Ile d'Orleans (Orleans island) which is in the St. Lawrence. The island is known for their berries and the oldest church in Quebec. We bought raspberries as big as strawberries! The path we took across the island was paved, with no traffic and had wildflowers along each side with cool shade from trees. Couldn't have asked for better conditions. We also got to practice a little French which is woefully rough these days, sigh.

Day 5 Cycling the Erie Canal

OK, not much cycling today, in fact we loaded up the bikes and headed for home. The weather turned cool (yes that's Charles in a coat in July!) and it was supposed to rain the entire day. It was great to get home and the girls especially loved sleeping in their own beds again. The trip was an adventure and we learned a lot about taking this kind of trip with 4 children. I was especially proud of the girls. They looked at the map several times and could outline where we rode. "We rode this whole way on our bikes!"

Day 4 Cycling the Erie Canal

We stayed at Green Lakes State Park, another gorgeous campground with beaches, trees, trails etc. Charles wandered away around dinnertime and there was a full on search for him. He was found about 20 minutes later in a group of kids in another section of the campground.

I had to work overnight so I left Jon and the kids and returned the next afternoon. It rained all morning so they had some bonding time in the tent with no car...

We had wanted to go to the Palmyra pageant in the evening but we were too tired. So we went into town for an ice cream and went to bed early.

Day 3 Cycling th Erie Canal

Day 2 of the cycling trip took us through the beautiful countryside of central New York. Old farmhouses and vegetable stands, rolling hills, streams and villages- spectacular! The village of Chittenango is where the author of the Wizard of Oz was born. The sidewalks are yellow bricks. The girls, Charles and I rode for about 8 miles and then Jon and the girls rode another 17! They were tired when they reached the camp. To be fair, the girls are the only ones who rode the entire distance since Jon and I swapped driving.