We took a road trip out to Illinois to visit my family for Thanksgiving. This trek from New Jersey is normally a full two day drive for us. This, of course, not counting in car sickness, cranky kids, bathroom stops every 2 hours, etc. Having ‘fond’ memories of our last trip out to IL, Chris decided (quite wisely) that we needed to take our time getting there so we would arrive happy with happy kids in tow.
We left Saturday morning before Thanksgiving and made a little detour up to Kirtland, Ohio to see some Church History sites. We were able to attend church in the morning and enjoyed seeing their Primary program. Then after church we checked out of our hotel and toured the Kirtland sites. The last time I was there was in high school when we were doing a Church History tour for seminary. It had changed a little bit since then and was really an enjoyable visit. The kids had a lot of questions for our guide, which surprised her. It seemed like they were on the tour and we were just tagging along. It’s better than the other way around though – Chris and I didn’t get cranky and fidgety!
[mygal=kirtland_2007]
We drove to Dayton, Ohio Sunday night. We liked our hotel so much, we decided to stay there Monday night too, which left the whole day to play in Dayton (one of the many places I lived growing up). We spent most of the day at the Air Force Museum. It’s really a lot bigger than I remember it being.
[mygal=af_museum]
Of course, we went by the infamous airplane my dad always talks about when he discovered I could really read [on one of our visits when I was little I pointed out the name of the airplane to him – of course, not knowing what it meant]. Chris and I just quickly led the kids past it to avoid any repeat performances of my past.
[mygal=strawberry_plane]
Of course we did some great R&R at the hotel with naps, swimming in the pool, and vegging in front of the TV. Then Tuesday we only had to drive half a day to my parents’. Mission accomplished with arriving happy and with happy kids in tow – ready for playing with cousins and the dogs!
[mygal=hotel_pool]
if you’re not supposed to touch the astronaut suit, how were they in it? 🙂
Sounds like it was a great way to break up the drive and make it fun for the kiddos. I am laughing about the airplane name. So funny. So was the return trip good as well? We are planning to drive to my parents down in Florida for Christmas, so I am trying to come up with ideas to make the trip bearable. We will definitely be stretching it out over a few days.
Welcom home! Sounds like you guys had such a great trip! How nice to be able to have some fun things to do on the way. Unfortunately for us, there’s not a lot between here and CO and then from CO to UT…unless you enjoy looking at antelope! Ha! But we are grateful that we at least have CO to stop at as a half-way point! I would love to go to Kirtland someday! Looks like such a neat place! And now we’ll have our own personal expert when Kirsten gets home from her mission there!
What fun to read about all of your adventures! I miss living on the East coast and being able to take car trips! There was always somewhere new to go!