Road Trip!

1800 miles - 6 states - 38 hours on the road - in two days.

Michael and I took Chelsea to Ball State this week. We left on Wednesday morning about 6:45 and drove to Winona Lake, Indiana - where we dropped Meredith off with her parents, then dropped Chelsea off to spend a little time with her mother, and we picked Calen up for a late dinner.

A couple of hours later, we dropped Calen off at home and picked Chelsea up and headed to Lafayette, Indiana. I guess we got to Lafayette around 12:30 a.m. Michael and Chelsea loaded the car (a mini-van that we rented) with all of Chelsea's college "stuff" and then Michael and I went in search of a nearby motel where we collapsed at about 1:30 a.m.

Back up the next morning to pick Chelsea up at Heather's at about 7:15 a.m. and then on to Muncie, Indiana - to Ball State to deliver Chelsea to her dorm. Michael spent a little time in the dorm with Chelsea and Meredith (and Meredith's parents) and then he and I did a car-tour of the University with a stop at the College Book Store where Michael picked up t-shirts for Chelsea and Meredith (for $6.50 each - amazing!). And then we were off toward home.

On the way home we made a side trip to Uniontown, PA to visit my Aunt Ginny who I haven't seen in years! I'm so glad we went! My cousin Tom stopped by to say "hi" with his friend, Mary. It was fantastic! I didn't realize what an impact Ginny had on my life until I looked around her house.

There were little boxes on everything - porcelain boxes, glass boxes, pewter boxes - just like the ones I have at home

There were fresh flowers in vases all over the house (Ginny used to belong to the Garden Club). A couple of weeks ago, Michael cut some Hydrangea blooms from the bush on our side yard. I brought them to work and sat them on my desk and just LOVED having them here. I think they reminded me of Ginny.

In the dining room - a watercolor painting of flowers over an old dresser - bright pinks and blues and purples just like the painting in my dining room.

It was fascinating for me see how Ginny's influence peppers my life and that it's all sub-conscious. Pretty cool!

So, for me - the trip was fantastic! I felt free - light - enjoying new places, soaking in the pleasure of favorite places from long ago. The mountains in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania were beautiful! The fields in Ohio and Indiana were lush and green.

Indiana? Corn, beans and trucks - tons of trucks - more trucks than cars. There were fields and then there were more fields and then there were more fields - some with seed tests, some with markers as to what kind of seed was planted, some without any markings, but there were fields. I would ALMOST say that Indiana was one big flat field! Almost! :)

I DID see John Mellencamp, though, on a motorcycle. Michael laughed and said that John Mellencamp doesn't come that far north, but I choose to think it was him. I am at home with my own reality! ;)