Sunday Drive

I felt like I was re-enacting parts of my childhood today. Only this time, I got to "play" the adult!

Since we had nothing on the agenda after church, hubby and I decided today would be a good day to take a Sunday drive and see some relatives. This was something we often did when I was a child, many times driving around a wildlife preserve and then stopping in at this cousin's house or that one. Even if us kids were crammed in the backseat -- sometimes 4 of us -- we didn't mind all that much. We knew our aunt (no matter which one) would have something yummy and homemade in her kitchen ... pies, cake, cookies. Sunday drives were A-OK.

Today we headed northwest. We first stopped in Marshfield to see Jim's aunt and uncle. Since it was her birthday, she had other family coming to take her to the casino. So that was a short visit.

Next we headed east past Stratford and into Halder or, as Jim likes to call it, "God's Country." I guess it is sort of like when God created it. They've still got gravel roads and all. We stopped at Austin's Pour House to visit the owners -- another aunt and uncle. Since the bar was closed, we sat around their kitchen table a few hours and had a very nice visit.

On the way home, we decided to stop somewhere to eat since today is sort of an anniversary for us -- 13 years of lovin', baby! We were north of Rapids so we swung over to Rusty's Backwater Saloon and enjoyed their awesome chicken strips. (Some things just aren't the same, though, without Carter with.)

Speaking of Carter (and Sunday drives), we finally talked to him tonight! He is having the time of his life. The trip out featured all kinds of interesting things to an 11-year-old, from a special penny machine in Cleveland to driving through the mountain tunnels in Pennsylvania.

Today they tooled around Washington, D.C., where he rode on a train for the first time and saw all the "big" sites, like Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, etc. They also toured the Air and Space Museum, which I did, too, years ago and he agreed was waaaay cool. He was firing off World War II facts like nobody's business so this has turned into a learning trip, too.

He said the drive out went much faster than he expected -- with the help of a portable DVD player and other diversions. Now, he said, "When we go 4 hours Up North the time will just fly by!" We'll see if he remembers that the next time we go to Luck.

I'm just glad he made it out there safely and that he is having a ton of fun. And glad, of course, that I finally got to hear his voice.

That's better than any homemade treat after a Sunday drive.