Let's Hit the Road (Yet Again?)

Eliza continues to show that she’s almost ready to walk. Sheroutinely stands up or pulls herself up onto her feet by grabbing onto whateveris convenient (a wall, a chair, a big brother, etc.). She takes one or twosmall steps before plopping back down. She also pulls herself up onto a windowsill or a chair or a laundry basket—anything taller than she is—and lets herfeet dangle in the air.

OK, I'm up. Now how do I get down?

Hallie attended Time Out for Women, an inspirational event forwomen sponsored by Deseret Book. She had been planning to go alone, but thenight before, we mulled it over and decided that we didn’t really have a reasonfor us all not to go. After all, Mike would be looking after the kids inMichigan just as much as in Cincinnati. Besides, the hotel had a pool!

So the following morning we quickly packed up the minivanand started our trek south. This was also the van’s inaugural run as ourlong-haul vehicle in preparation for trips in November and December, and itpulled through with flying colors. Landon could actually see where we weredriving, so he had plenty of insights to offer. The van also had a regularpower outlet, so Mike could sit in the way-back and get some work done.

Before she had the rest of us as her guests for the journey,Hallie had planned a little itinerary of her own based on a story she had readcalled “4 Ultimate Food Trails,” one of which just happened to be on the wayfrom Detroit to Cincinnati! Because this was originally Hallie’s trip, we wantedto make sure she got to do and see everything she wanted, so she got to makeall the decisions about stops and so on. She took us on a tour of culinarydelights along the back roads of Ohio.

We stopped first at Dietsch Brothers in Findlay, a store thatmakes chocolates onsite and has an old fashioned soda fountain. We bought somebuckeyes for the road and had some handmade ice cream sundaes there in thestore. Even though he was a young man, the attendant at the fountain behavedlike a throwback from an earlier time. Hallie loved sitting eating our sundaes and watching the men in the back make chocolate. Now you know it was not imported from somewhere else with a label of their own slapped on. We like going to local businesses, andwe learned about something called The 3/50 Project from the Dietsch Brothers’website. The 3/50 Project essentially encourages people to invest in the localbusinesses they love to ensure their continued success. The project even has an app so you can find your own local favorites!

From Dietsch Brothers, we continued down Highway 68 to the Country Variety Store and Country Baked Goods, an Amish shop north of Bellefontaine, where we got apples and decorative gourds. They were also known for their sky high Angel Food Cake. Landon got to pick from plain, strawberry or raspberry and he chose strawberry. We did not touch it until we got home and since arriving home it has not lasted long.

We continued to West Liberty and Marie’s Candies, which is housed in an old train depot. The cashier was where the ticket office used to be. The ladies fawned over the kids, which netted Landon extra samples, the sly devil!

By the time we left Marie’s, time had run short, so we had to beeline to Cincinnati (actually, Covington, Kentucky) to get to the hotel and then take Hallie to the convention center. After we dropped her off, Mike and the kids went to the Penn Station sandwich shop. After hanging out at the hotel and watching the kids bounce off the beds and walls and ceilings as they got their wiggles out, we went back to pick Hallie up and finally get to bed.

With Michael McLean

After breakfast at the hotel the following morning, we took Hallie back to the convention center, and Mike and the kids played in the pool. Around noon, we picked up Hallie again and set off on the road back home. We took in some of the places we missed on the way down. We started at The HomePlace, another Amish shop. The store had a wide variety of homemade foods and beautiful wood furniture.

We then went to Peifer Orchards to try some apple varieties,and we almost (should have?) bought some potted chrysanthemums. We thought we’d come back after we went to the next stop, which turned out to be a mistake, because Peifer closed at 5 (who closes at 5 on a Saturday during the harvest?!). Oh, well.

Mum's the word in the Midwest at this time of year.

Landon was looking at the flowers and pumpkins when he says, "Dad! Dad! Come here!"

Turns out he saw a grasshopper hidden among the blooms!

Love the smile on this little girl!

We headed up the road a couple of miles to Young’s Jersey Dairy for more agri-tourism. We took pictures with pumpkins, fed animals at the petting zoo, watched cows get milked, and rode around on farm equipment. Landon even rode on a train caboose shaped like an airplane. We made one more stop for handmade ice cream over at the dairy store before heading back to Peifer Orchards (only to find it closed).

The things a goat will do for food pellets . . .

A Cornucopia of Fall Colors

"Can't you just let a girl eat in peace?"

By this time, the sun was getting a little lower, and we knew we’d arrive home pretty late if we didn’t make our way back to the interstate, so we blew back on through some of the towns we’d stopped at the day before and got back home in time to see that miserable bottom of the third inning where Texas dashed the Tigers’ hopes of another match-up against St. Louis in the World Series. Then the Lions lost today (against San Francisco, so Mike’s not so sad). Still, we love our Motor City Kitties!

Days to Bottle Up and Remember

Hallie bought Landon some glow bracelets. This week she got them out, and the kids had fun having a bath in the dark.

We mentioned earlier that Landon had learned how to ride this week. He and Dad continued practicing, and they even brought Eliza on the kangaroo seat. She loves feeling the rush of wind as she rides, and she coos and giggles as we go along. 

We had some fun time traveling this weekend. We decided that, as this is the last fall weekend that we won’t be involved in something locally, we would take a last minute trip up north to see the fall leaves. We didn’t go as far as the tunnel of trees north of Petoskey and Traverse City (all the hotel rooms were either booked or pricey), but we did go up to Cadillac and take in some country roads along our route. What a weekend to travel in Michigan! Clear skies, temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s, and dry air with hardly a hint of humidity.

We stopped off at Uncle John’s Cider Mill just north of Lansing. Landon and Eliza tooled around in the playground, and we bought apple cider and donuts to give us sustenance along our way.

The afternoon light at our backs showed off the beautiful hues of yellow, orange, and red that continued to deepen the further north we went. The following morning we headed south and west. We saw more amazing trees and even some deer as we took a fall foliage route along the back roads.

With Landon in our own tree tunnel

The above are views from the Caberfae Scenic Overlook in the Manistee National Forest outside of Cadillac 

We played in the early afternoon in Holland, a gem of the Lake Michigan shores. A couple of years back we took a trip there, so we wanted to take advantage of being out roughly that way to take in the farmers market and the beach (and Gandolfo’s Deli, a taste of New York by way of Utah). Instead of returning to Tunnel Park, we opted to go to Holland State Park this time. Hallie bought Landon a kite as a surprise, and he set it flying as soon as he got onto the sand.

After a bit of that, Landon, Eliza, and Mike went down to the beach while Hallie relaxed in the shade further up shore. Eliza played a little on the beach with Landon before the two of them ventured into the lake’s chilly waters. It didn’t take us too long to get used to the water, and Eliza jumped and splashed with Landon (with Dad’s help to keep her upright).

Practically flies itself! 

Nothing like a little grit to clean out the system

(Similar scene two years ago. What a difference two years makes!) 

The coordinating outfits are purely coincidental.

"Big Red" and boats entering and leaving Holland Harbor

Lots of people were out enjoying the warm sun and cool, dry breeze. In fact, one shop owner joked that all of Chicago had come to town. We didn't bother to take a crowd shot.

Landon decided he wasn't hungry for dinner, so we took his sandwich back to the hotel. Eliza found it.

Caught! 

The following morning, the kids and Dad enjoyed the hotel pool. Once again, Eliza could not get enough of playing in the water and swimming around with her big brother. We celebrated Landon’s birthday with lunch out on the patio of California Pizza Kitchen. The kids behaved themselves, our waitress was very friendly and attentive, and of course the food (BBQ chicken salad and Thai chicken salad) was delicious. Eliza could not get enough of Mike’s meal. We remarked about we wished we could take days like these and bottle up the memories!