Our Trip to Ohio

Ben came over Wednesday night and showed us how to use our remote.
He said he's look in on Sallycat while we were gone.

Thursday morning found us pulling out of the drive at 7:07 and heading north on 121 to McKinney and across to Texarkana. We spotted a lone hot air balloon that morning. (and one here in Ohio this evening!) It took us all morning to get out of Texas. And the rivers were full when we crossed into Arkansas. Rice fields were flooded, too, with green bits poking up. Amber waves of grain looked ready for harvest in Texas, but none was being harvested until Arkansas and further north. We stopped at a few Walmarts, as Walmart was born here in Arkansas, and they have plenty, and the clerks ask if you need help, but, alas, they no longer carry the big, big, super size ziplocks that I like to use as luggage.

I had such fun texting Amber since we were away from the computer and thusly, email. We stopped for the night north of Nashville. It was a long, long day of driving. We did not get to the hotel until 10 pm.

When in Tennessee, where Cracker Barrel was born, we knew we must stop for a meal. Good, clean bathrooms, too. They seem smaller, like the prototype. Breakfasted and rested, we headed out from our Quality Inn on Friday morning and headed for Louisville, Kentucky, where we planned on stopping for dry ice, and the last northernmost store to hold Blue Bell. While hunting for the elusive dry ice company, the addresses were missing from some of the building, and then I spotted an ice cream truck---the kind that sells ice cream in your neighborhood, and told Bob to follow that truck! Sure enough, it lead us right to the dry ice place under the bridge. Bob bought ten pounds, enough to keep three half gallons cold. There is even a new flavor, Groom's Cake, which is wonderful. We sat in traffic for an hour outside Cinncinnatti, but surprised our daughter-in-law by 5pm. And we got to see our granddaughter's daycare, and took them all out to eat after Andy got home from work.

Good to see our granddaughter, who is now over two years old, but it had been a year, and phone chats and even visual skype phone chats don't allow for all the expressions, all the eyebrow movements, all the high voiced speeches and observations. But, we were strangers to her. And it took a while to warm up to us, and let Granddad read her a story, and she was mighty tired from a long, long week. Saturday morning, we enjoyed bringing them breakfast, and Bob and Andy went over the trip to Alaska plans. Sunday afternoon we got to babysit so that Andy and Lauren could go check out the new 3-D movie, UP. We had such fun with the granddaughter, as she finally warmed up to us enough to let us kiss her on the neck, and she kissed me back. Too cute. She loves oranges, and can turn crackers into shapes, like cars, trucks and trains. Very imaginative. And cutting the velcrow fruit kept her busy for a long time.

Tomorrow is the captain bars pinning ceremony. with cake. Then, we head for home.