I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since June 1!! The picture here is of my friends from Seattle that I met up with in Boston for quick trip!
The end of May was filled with getting my daughter packed up from school and a trip to Chicago with her. A road trip with someone was a new thing and I liked it! We traveled through PA and then to Akron, Ohio for our first night. We stayed in the Quaker Oats factory that had been converted into a hotel. The rooms were in the old silos and ROUND! It was fun. Ohio was very flat to Rachel who is used to the mountains and hills of the Northwest.
From Akron we traveled on small state roads to Lake Erie and then onto Indiana where we spent the night in Michigan City. Rachel got to see her first two Great Lakes in one day. The next day we were on to Ann Arbor to see a roommate of hers from school and see the town. It is a fun college town and we had a great lunch at Zimmerman’s deli. Go if you have the chance.
Off to Chicago for the Art Institute. We had planned the trip around going to this wonderful art museum and we were not disappointed! We spent five hours there and still did not see everything! Thankfully it was rainy out so we didn’t miss being in the sun. The next day we spent walking the magnificent mile of Michigan Ave. and visiting with Rachel’s childhood friend who attends the University of Chicago. I loved seeing her life and yet yearned to be back in that student life – although the crammed student apartment didn’t appeal.
I put Rachel on a plane back to Seattle and then I traveled through Indiana to Kentucky. It’s the last state for me – now I have all 50. It is beautiful there but I must admit it was the first state I visited on this trip where I felt odd and uncomfortable as a woman alone. Perhaps if I had spent time in the cities of Louisville or Lexington I might not have but in the country areas – I felt that I was being looked at often. I didn’t like that.
Since returning from that trip I have been helping my sister and enjoying NJ. I have discovered though that the NE fondness for conversational arguing just for the sake of arguing is not fun for me – I want to get away from it. The fireflies though have started and I love them and we have had some great thunderstorms. We also went to a small town display of fireworks that the volunteer firedepartment put on - beautiful and very homey.
The best storm (and the scariest) came while driving to Boston. Last week, on a lark, I drove to Boston to see friends from Seattle who were there for a child’s graduation from Law School. I drove through the most incredible storm – 40 miles of thunder and lightning and hail! I had to pull over once and then crawl at 10-20 miles per hour for some time. That wasn’t even the most exciting part of the trip!
While approaching the Tappen Zee bridge in New York state (near Bear Mtn) A BEAR ran across all four lanes of the highway!!! I gasped as I saw it and then feared the bear would be hit and then relieved when it wasn’t and then scared that the cars and trucks in front of me who braked to avoid it would then hit each other and I would hit them! Wow, it was the most exciting and scary driving day of my whole trip!
Today I am writing from Ft.Lauderdale , Fl. My sister and I found cheap flights (cheaper than driving) and decided to head south so I could fulfill a long time dream to go to Key West. It’s as far away from Seattle as I can get and still be in the US. We will drive there tomorrow so I will write more about the trip then.
I miss everyone I love a lot right now. I promise to write more and stay connected. I love to hear from you all.
Thanks, Libbie
