And the Heavens Laughed

862 Miles

Day one was a monster but we did it. We got out of the house before 7, and it only took 6 minutes to realize that the door to Second Wave (the working name for our RV) was still open. Rookie mistake, I'm sure! We intended to get as close to Chicago as we could, and 13 hours later we made it. Along the way, between bouts of car sickness and wifi issues, James managed to get some work done, the girls "went" to school, and I mastered driving the beast. Along the way we stopped in Akron, Ohio, to visit the gravesite of James' wonderful late Yia Yia. It was a noisy drive around the cemetery, and we were certain everyone was waking from their eternal slumber. We finally made it to Yia Yia's plot, and we all got to say hello. She was either laughing her a$$ off at the scene, or rolling over to hide her face. My money's on the former.

Hours later, we rolled into Menno-Hoff, a Mennonite Museum in Shipshewana, Indiana, and posted up for the night. We were all so exhausted, so after a dinner of ramen and instant mac, we went to bed.

Morning was a delight as we drank our percolated coffee while Ollie discovered the field beside SW. We decided to ride our bikes into town for breakfast, and after sharing the shoulder with a few horse and buggies (15 actually), we had a great meal, popped in some Mennonite farm shops, and had a visit to Millie's Bakery.

As if the morning wasn't amazing enough, we were soon back on the road to meet up with some old friends and family in Chicago. Our girls played with new friends and a cousin, and we spent invaluable time catching up. We're exhausted again, but filled with love (which is more than we can say for our water tank, which is looking anxiously empty actually ...). Off to MN in the morning!