Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!

A saying that I have heard time and time again, and I have waited and finally a good thing has come to me! I have accepted the Customer Service Specialist position at Scenic Hills Care Center. It has been a long process but in the end it has been worth every minute of my time. I have been wanting to get a "big girl" job for quite some time and I just couldn't find that perfect job. I heard of an opening at Scenic Hills and I went in and picked up and application and I filled it out and waited a week to be sure that this is really what I wanted to do. After a week I turned it and and waited and waited and waited. After two weeks of not hearing anything I called and asked if the position was still available. It was and I was scheduled for an interview. After the first interview two weeks passed again and I hadn't heard anything so I called again to see if they had filled the position, and they hadn't so I was then scheduled another interview. After that interview I waited a week and then I heard form them and they asked me to come in a job shadow for a day and I gladly accepted. After I shadowed I waited again, and then I was called a few days later and was asked to come in for one last interview. I went in and had the fastest interview of my life, but was feeling very confident afterwards. The next day I got the call and was offered the position and I ever so excitedly accepted! I am so excited for this new adventure that I am embarking on. Something that I have wanted for so long, and something that I think will be the answer to my prayers! So now I just have to go through with a TB test, and a physical and then I will be given my orientation dates and times and then I will be well on my way with my career, rather then just going to my job every day! So it's true what they say good things will come to those who wait!

2011: A Review Of Our Year

2011 was quite possibly one of the toughest years for us. It was a good year non the less! There were many happy memories made, a few sad days, and a whole lot of fun along the way!

January:
      We rang in the New Year with some of our closest friends, although we had all taken a little cat nap before midnight we made it to celebrating both the central and the eastern time zone New Years!
      Soon after the new year our friends Sara and Chad welcomed their sweet baby boy Lane Alan into the world on Jan, 5th! I think he stole all of our hearts and has most of us wrapped around his little fingers!!
       Our world was rocked a little when Brad's grandfather passed away. At the age of 91 he gained his angel wings, we were so blessed to have had him in our lives for so long. Not a day goes by that we don't think of him and remember all the wonderful memories that we were able to make with him!
         I had the opportunity to join my cousin Allayna's birthday party at Club Tabby in the mall. She and 3 of her friends were given makeovers where they had their hair, nails, and makeup done! It was so fun and the girls had a great time. After the makeovers we were all treated to Olive Garden!
         January also brought us lots and lots of snow! We had a few days that we couldn't go anywhere and stayed home cuddled up on the couch! My favorite days!!

February:
       February seemed to be a pretty uneventful month for us. We celebrated valentine's day with a night out to dinner, but nothing big.

March:
      We along with the Angle's and the Speicher's had an adult day and went to Louisville/Clarksville and did some shopping at The Bass Pro Shop and a few other stores in the area.
       Other then that March was pretty uneventful for us also.

April:
      April was a very rainy month, but did bring us some very beautiful rainbows!
      We also celebrated four amazing years of marriage in April! What a wonderful, fun, adventurous four years it has been!

May:
      May was a very busy farming month for Brad. They rainy weather finally let up and they were able to get the crops out.
       We also welcomed our second nephew in May. Matt and Jen and big brother Lucas welcomed Caleb Matthew on May 2.
       Brad was the best man in Michael and Jennifer Lueken's wedding in May too. And that wrapped May up for us!

June:
      St. Meinrad celebrated it's 150th birthday in June, so we spent a weekend celebrating! Brad and my cousins' husband Chris played in the cornhole tourney, we attended the various celebrations and the parade that wrapped it all up.
       Our worlds were once again rocked unbelievably when my grandfather passed away in June. He had a short battle with cancer and we lost him at the age of 77. Not a single day goes by that we don't also think about him. So many memories were made with him and he made a huge impact in both of our lives! We miss him dearly!
        We celebrated Brad's 32nd birthday in June too!!

July:
      We attended our first "Dragging Main" event. We were able to drag main street Tell City like my parents did when they were teenagers! It was a very neat event and lots of fun!
       We made our first trip to Santa's Candy Castle in July too. It was a very neat experience and I look forward to going back again and again.
       
August:
       August came and went without much going on. We did take our big vacation in August. We were gone for 7 days and we visited 14 states up the east coast. It was an amazing adventure! Next time we vacation I don't plan to take on that many states in that few of days!

September:
       September was busy farming month again, as the weather cooperated and the guys were able to get some harvesting done.
        We also took a mini trip to Brown County over Labor Day to celebrate my Birthday! Misty and Brad went with us and we all had a great time!
          The annual Jeep Poker Run was also in September. All the money raised goes to the Lange-Fuhs Cancer Center. This is one event that we truly enjoy and feel the need to attend as cancer has touched our lives in so many ways!

October:
        Brad and I took a trip to Loogootee to Lark Ranch to venture through the corn maze and enjoy some of the little joys of fall.
         We also were able to take a trip to Buzzard Roost in the Jeep and the weather was amazing and we were able to do it topless!!
          We hosted a small Halloweenie Roast this month. And attended a weenie roast at the Angle's too!

November:
          November was an uneventful month for us too. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our families and I did some Black Friday shopping and we worked hard on getting our Christmas shopping started and finished this month. Along with getting our house ready for the holidays!

December:
          A month full of Christmas celebrations!
          We started the month  off with helping the Speicher's paint the girls' rooms.
          Near mid-month I was offered the Customer Services Specialist position at Scenic Hills Care Center in Ferdinand, and I accepted it! I am so excited about this new adventure that I/we will be taking!
           We then ended the year, and vowed that 2012 was going to be a much better year for us, with a few friends at the Bowman's!

So 2011 is in the books and we are looking forward to the joys, laughter, love, and adventure that 2012 will bring to us!

Happy New Year to all!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Hope that everyone have a great Thanksgiving! We sure did, even if we ate way too much! We had all of our Thanksgivings in one day, it was busy but fun and kind of nice to get them all done in one day and be able to get other things done around the house the rest of the time we had off.

We started off Thanksgiving morning working on finishing getting the Christmas trees up. We then headed to Brad's mom's house for dinner with the Schuler family. We visited with them for a couple hours and then headed to Brad's grandma's house for some visiting with the Wilmes family. We had a great time with both families and look forward to visiting with them all again at Christmas! We then came home and I finished up the trees and got my self ready for Misty and I's Black Friday extravaganza!!

Misty and I left our house a little before 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night and headed to Jasper to Wal-Mart! We got to Wal-Mart and scoped out where all the "deals" were. We then took our stand near the items that we wanted, and made plans of where to meet when we had all the stuff on our list. At 10 p.m. when the sale started we got our stuff and meet up to make plans and scope out our "deals" for the midnight sale. We then made our plan for when the sale started. We were able to get everything on our list except for the waffle maker that we gone in 30 seconds! But all in all we were very successful!!

After our Wal-Mart trip we went to sit in the Home Depot parking lot but were finding it hard to stay awake so we decided to go to Carson's to shop around. We went in and found a few deals before heading back to Home Depot to wait until they opened at 5 a.m. When they opened we were the second and third persons in the door. Again we were very successful at getting what we went in for. Brad and Brad met us there to pick up our stuff and bring it home while we stopped at K-Mart to get an item.

We then headed back home, we unloaded the truck and headed out to Evansville. We went to Gordman's and got the item we went for, yes the ONE item and headed for the checkout only to have to stand in line for 2 plus hours!! So, after that we were just done so we headed for home! All in all we had a very successful Black Friday adventure!!

Now we are working on getting our home and ourselves ready for the holidays!!

A whole lot of nothing going on....

We have been rather uneventful for the last few weeks, hence that reason that I haven't updated lately.

We have spent much of the month of November working on getting ready for the crazy, busy, hectic, fun, amazingly, wonderful time of year: The Holidays!! I'm super excited about the upcoming holidays, I can't wait to decorate. I have already started and am half way done with our Christmas shopping, and I have everything that we have purchased wrapped and ready to go under the tree! Our Christmas cards and made, addressed and ready to be stamped and put in the mail come December 1! I LOVE being so ahead on the holiday to-do list! There is just something magical about being done with all the hectic stuff with the holidays and being able to sit back and relax in front of the fireplace, with the tree aglow, sipping on coffee or cocoa! Ah, just the thought of it makes me glow with excitement!!

So now we are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving with our wonderful families, and then take on all the CRAZIES and do some Black Friday shopping! And then I can get started on putting up my many many trees!

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ooops, I'm behind again...A review of Our October!

Yep, I'm a slacker again and I forgot to update the blogger world on the events of our life. So here is our October in a nutshell!

October was a pretty busy but laid back kind of month.

I scrapbooked with my Scrappy Sisters on the 15th. I hosted the event this month and we scrapped form 9-9ish again this time. I was very successful and completed 20 pages and also was able to finally get all of our vacation scrapped! Very exciting! Now I am ready to move on to our Labor Day Vacay, and all the happenings for the rest of the year!

On the 22nd, I went with mom, Lisa Stallman, and Jessica Anderson to the Covered Bridge Fest in Mansfield, IN. We had a blast. We laughed and carried on the entire day. I believe that we spent about 5 hours walking the booths and getting all the deals we could get. I think my best find of the day was a brown North Face fleece for only $35!! I also pickup a Christmas gift and a few other things that I thought were cute. All in all we had a great day. I look forward to going again!!

On the 28th we had small Halloweenie Roast at our house. We had purchased a little fire pit thing at Wal-Mart and I was dying to use it, so we did. We had a handful of people show up and we roasted weenies and just hung out. It was a fun time! We also had our first 2 trick or treaters of the year that night. Our niece, Adalyn, the ladybug stopped in for some lovin' and Jordan Scherzer, a candy corn witch came by for some goodies!

On the 29th we went to Haubstadt to Beth and John Angle's house for a weenie roast and bon fire. The fire was warm and cozy and we had a good time visiting. It also gave us an opportunity to catch up with Jen and Chris.

We had one other trick or treater on Halloween, Lane Vaal, Tigger stopped by and got some candy for mom and dad to enjoy!

So that pretty much wraps up October for us! Now we look forward to the upcoming holidays. And all the joys of Christmas shopping!! I'm so excited for this time of year, and can't wait to be putting up a tree and wrapping gifts, and eating all kids of yummy food!! This is my favorite time of year!!

Just the Two of Us: A Perfect Weekend

Oh what a wonderful weekend for us. It doesn't happen very often that just the two of us get to do something together not to mention to spend a lot of time together over a weekend. Especially this time of year when Brad is crazy busy with harvesting and just general farm work. But this weekend, was a rare occasion and we got to spend some time together. We spent Saturday evening together at Lark Ranch and Sunday we spent the day "Jeepin'".

Saturday afternoon when Brad came home for lunch he asked me what I had planned for that night, I didn't have anything in mind so I asked him what he was thinking and he said that he thought we could go to Lark Ranch. Lark Ranch is in Loogootee and they have a corn maze, hay ride, petting zoo, fun activities for kids, a pumpkin patch, and food stands. I was all for a trip there as it has been a few years since we have gone. So I asked a few people if they wanted to join and everyone had other plans and couldn't go so just the two of us went. We started out or "date" with supper at McDonald's, I know super classy. We then made the haul to Loogootee to Lark Ranch. It was very busy, but we got in and decided that since it was so close to dark we decided to go through the maze first. We wondered through the maze for about 45 minutes. It was too dark to really see anything and we had forgot our flashlight, so we  found our way to the entrance/exit. We then walked around to see all the other things there was to do, but since we don't have kids, didn't need any pumpkins, can see farm animals any time we want, and didn't need to eat we decided to go on the hayride. So we waited in line and got on the ride that went around some of the "farm", it lasted about 30 minutes. When we got back from the hayride we decided that we had had enough, so we left. As we were driving back we decided that we needed some pumpkin pie blizzards so we stopped at DQ! It was so fun to just be the two of us and get to spend some much needed alone time together! I felt like the luckiest girl ever to get to spend that kind of time with my guy during his busy season!

Us in the corn maze!

Sunday morning we got up and decided that we were going to go on what we figure to be the last "topless" Jeep trip of the year. So we had breakfast and packed a picnic lunch and headed out we decided to take the same route we took on the Poker Run last month and go up to Buzzards Roost for our picnic. Once again it was going to just be the two of us! So we took off about 11:30 a.m., and headed to Troy and took back roads up to Rocky Point. We stopped at the Riverfront Grille and picked up some sandwiches to take for our picnic. We then continued to Buzzards Roost. We arrived and picked out our picnic table and ate our lunch We then took a small hike down the trail it was pretty steep so we just went a little way down it before turning around and coming back. We then got back in the Jeep and headed toward Alton where we were able to cross 3 one lane bridges! So neat! We then headed back towards home on Highway 62 and then took a few back roads around home. We got back home around 5:30 p.m. It was such a wonderful day, it was so beautiful with all the leaves changing colors. And it was fun to just be the two of us again. And we never would have thought that we would be able to go topless jeeping in October!



Us on the trail at Buzzard Roost



View from the trail.

All in all we had a great weekend. It's not often that we get to do things like that, but when we do, I LOVE to take full advantage of the opportunity! I look forward to being able to have another weekend like this again! I know they are far and few between but a girl can hope!

What are we up to now?

It's been quite some time since my last update so I thought I would give a run down of a few things that we are been up to. We haven't had a lot of exciting things going on but we have somehow been very busy! I know it doesn't make much since but we always seem to be busy.

We had a family reunion for my grandma's family. It is an annual reunion, and we usually go every year. It is at mom and dad's house and not a lot of people show up but those that do make it worth while. We usually have some fishing and some card playing and what not going on but this year the weather was rather icky. It was cold and rainy and just down right nasty out! So we ate and a few fished and a few played games, and after a few hours that was it. Everyone left, but the longer we were there the ickier the weather seemed to get. Brad also had to feed so we had to leave early too. But all in all it was a good time and we got to see some family that we don't always get to see regularly. Which is always nice.

This past weekend, we had a wedding. Brad Gogel and Lisa Demuth tied that knot October 1st and what a beautiful day and event it was! Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Gogel!

We also attended the St. Meinrad Fire Department Open house. We went and ate and checked out the tractors and got to see life flight come in and fly out too! The food was yummy and we had a good time seeing everyone that was there. There was also a craft show going on at the Community Center so we checked that out, there weren't a whole lot of vendors there but I did find some super cute bows to use in our fall decor.

We also spent the past week/weekend getting all of my fall decorations out and also all of the Halloween decor out too! I love this time of year!

Brad has also been very busy with harvesting! The weather has been so wonderful for them! I hope the weather stays this beautiful, so they can keep in the fields, and get done sooner!

We are working on Halloween costumes and trying to figure out what we are going to be. Not a whole lot of idea yet, but we are working on it.

I have also started to think about Christmas! It's only 79 days away and I haven't started shopping yet so I am behind to say the least. So the next few days/weeks will be spent trying to get a start on shopping. Since I am usually almost done at this point and I haven't started means I am VERY far behind!!

Well, there you have it that's all the fun stuff that we have been up to!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!

Doodlebug Scrapbooking Retreat

This weekend I along with Misty, Sara, and Nicole attended the Doodlebug's annual scrapbooking retreat! What an amazing time. The retreat starts on Friday Night and ends on Sunday afternoon. Although the Friday night is optional. It's a weekend filled with scrapbooking, classes, food, fun, friends, good times, and very little sleep! We spend the entire day scrapping. We scrap until 3 a.m. Well there are a few break in there too. We have the opportunity to take classes, snack, and of course we stop for meals!

We arrived at VUJC around 9 a.m. on Saturday and unloaded all of our supplies. We then searched through our goody bags to see all the good that we got. And then set up our space for the weekend. This crop is the mother of them all! You get a full 8 feet of space all to your self!! Perfect for spreading out and being able to find what you need when you need it!  After we were all settled in we got started!

We scrapped all day and well into the night. We only stopped to eat, to snack, to potty, and to go to the store for a shopping spree!! Lunch was catered by The Millhouse and supper was catered by Sanders! It was all so yummy! And the shopping spree at The Doodlebug was so much fun! Misty's name was drawn to be the first group to go! We were so excited! Even tough we didn't really need anything we went and bought all kinds of goodies!!  We scrapped until 3a.m. before calling it and night and getting a little shut eye!

We were up and at it again at 7 a.m! We continued to scrap until noonish, only stopping for breakfast! Around noon we started packing it all it and the prizes were drawn and then we headed home!

I think got 22 pages done which is great, but still not enough. haha All in all is was a great weekend and I look forward to going again next year!

Jeep Poker Run 2011: Beating Cancer One Jeep at a Time

Sunday we attended the 5th annual Jeep Poker Run, of course it was only our 3rd year in attendance. The first year we went we ventured up into Dubois County, last year (our 2nd year) we went into Warrick county and this year we went to Perry County. All the money raised goes to the Lange-Fuhs Cancer Center in Jasper.

We started out at the Chateau in Mariah Hill and left shortly after noon and headed up State Road 62 to the Fulda Shortcut. We then took State Road 545 through Fulda, New Boston, and into Troy were we made out first stop at the boat dock. We headed out of there onto Troy Ridge Road to State Road 37 and continued to State Road 237 where we turned off on to all the other fun names of Perry County roads. We came out in Cannelton, and headed up to Rocky Point Marina where we made or second stop. From there we headed out onto more fun and confusing named roads and up past Buzzards Roost and into Alton where we made our 3rd stop at the American Legion. From there we headed up past Cape Sandy near Leavenworth were we hit State Road 62 and took that all the way back to the Chateau. We were out for about 5.5 hours.

Once we made it back to the Chateau we drew our final chip and then headed out to mom and dad's for my birthday dinner. So we didn't get to stick around for the prize drawings. But we didn't have much luck with our hands so we didn't figure we needed to stay.

The Jeep count was up near 160. Again growing from the 150ish last year!! We haven't heard the amount of money that was raised yet but I am sure that it was a good amount!

We had a great time and look forward to doing it again next year!

Brown County Labor Day Vacay....A Weekend Away

For Labor Day this year we, along with Misty and Brad decided to get together and go somewhere. We looked into going to The Smokey Mountains or Brown County. We looked into both places and weighed out the pros and cons to both places. And decided to rent a cabin in Brown County and get away for the long weekend! Ultimately we decided to go to Brown County because it was closer to home and with the price of gas and the knowledge of knowing that the price was going to go up for the weekend it was the best option.

So we then researched a few different cabins and places to go and things to see and made our plans for our Weekend Away! We decided to leave on Friday night after everyone got off work and head for Brown County. We decided to stop along the way and grab a bite to eat so that we wouldn't have to cook something when we got there. Our plan for the weekend was for each couple to take a day of cooking, and the couple would get to choose what they were cooking for breakfast and supper that day. We were just kind of winging it for lunch since we weren't sure where we would be or what we would be doing at lunch time. So we had a plan and were ready for a fun weekend away. As far as a plan for what we were going to do we decided to just "fly by the seat of our pants". We knew that we wanted to visit the State Park and go to all the shops in Nashville, so we had an idea just not a definite plan.

The weekend before Brad and I helped to move his sister, Abby to college in Indy and she had mentioned that she needed a wash machine and we just so happened to have an extra one. Since we were going to be just south of Indy we decided we would take it to her while we were in the area.

So we met at our house on Friday we loaded everything in the bed of the truck and what a funny site it was! We forgot to take a picture; but just imagine a truck bed with a wash machine, firewood, 2 totes, 3 suitcases, 2 cases of beer, 3 cases of soda, a dolley, and 2 coolers loaded inside driving down the interstate. We stopped at Corydon to get a bite to eat and  get some fuel. While we were fueling up a guy asked if we were going away for the weekend and we told he we were headed to Brown County, we chit-chatted some more and were on our way. When we got back on the road we started to think about how funny we looked with all the stuff on the truck! We couldn't help but laugh at the what people were probably thinking; huh those people are going camping and taking their wash machine with them that is interesting. haha

We arrived at our cabin Bearly Ruff'n It. It was a super cute cabin, in a great location! We arrived and went in and just took in the beauty and adorableness of the cabin! Before we unpacked the truck to settle in for the weekend. The cabin was so perfect for our needs. It had to suites, one upstairs and one downstairs. And an additional full bath downstairs! It had a small kitchen but it had all the things that we needed. It also had a nice living area with a fireplace and a big tv. Upstairs in the loft was a pool table and a few other games. Off the back was a screened in porch with a hot tub and off that was another deck with the grill and a lower deck that led to the fire pit! The bedrooms each had a king size bed and a fireplace and tv. The bathroom downstairs had a 2 person shower and washer and dryer! Talk able having all we could need and more! It was perfect! After we unpacked and got settled in we discussed our plans for the next day before heading to bed!

We awoke on Saturday and since it was my birthday I refused to cook! lol So Misty and Brad were in charge of making breakfast. Since the kitchen wasn't really big enough for 2 Misty and I went out on the lower deck and enjoyed a cup of coffee while Brad B. made us french toast and eggs! It was super yummy!! We then headed out to Indy to drop the washer off to Abby. After we did that we headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few supplies that we had forgotten or didn't realize that we would need. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to Brown County. We went to the cabin and changed and got our stuff and headed to the State Park to go swimming. We got there and were in the pool for about 20 minutes when we were told that we had to get out for an hour because a kid fell and cut his chin open and then threw up in the pool, yucky! So we got out and drove around the park for a little while and went to the country store and got some ice cream before heading back to the pool. We got back to the clean pool and got in and were hanging out for about 30 minutes when we were told we had to exit the pool area due to thunder in the area and we would have to be out until a half hour after the last thunder. Well, we figured that it just wasn't our day at the pool so we packed it all up and headed back to our cabin. When we got back Brad and Misty started on supper. They made steak, baked potatoes, mac and cheese, corn, and rolls. What a wonderful birthday dinner!! Thanks guys for a great meal! We hung out at the cabin and the boys played pool and then they built a fire in the fire pit and we roasted some marshmallows! We also relaxed in the hot tub before heading to bed.

On Sunday it was our day to cook we had biscuits and gravy and sausage for breakfast. We then got ready and headed to Edinburgh to do a little shopping. When we finished there we went to Nashville and walked through most of the shops there. We then headed back to the cabin and we made chicken, cheesy taters, and green bean casserole for supper. It was yummy! We then relaxed in the hot tub one last time before heading to bed.

We got up on Monday and packed up our stuff and headed back for home. We decided to stop at The Falls of the Ohio State Park. When I was in 6th grade we took a field trip there and I got sick the night before and didn't get to go so I wanted to check it out. It was a neat place to see. There were lots of rocks to climb around on, we went down to the water and saw the falls. We also saw some neat fossils along the way. I was glad we went to see it. We grabbed something to eat and headed back home.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend away! I was glad to get away for my Birthday and glad that we got to spend time with some of our great friends.

25 and Holding or 26....

Argh.....well, here is it my 26th Birthday. I am a big fan of birthday's, I mean how can you not be a day all about you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Birthdays, but as this one creeped upon me I was dreading it. Where the heck does the time go. I swear just yesterday I was 21 and getting married and here I am dipping my toes into my late twenties!! I mean seriously early twenties that was a breeze, mid twenties no big deal, but late twenties mean only one thing....30 is just around the corner!!

I know 26 isn't old but it isn't as young as I once was, and that is for sure! So, if 26 isn't old then why was I dreading it so much? I know this sounds crazy, but I had this whole life plan thing and had all kinds of goals laid out that I was going to accomplish by the time I was 25. Well 25 came and I thought okay well I have 365 days to finish off my list I can do it no big deal. Now here it is 365 days later and I haven't accomplished everything! I had five goals, five should not have been that hard to reach.

So, all week long I have been dreading the big 2-6, but today as I really do reach that milestone I realized that if I had reached all my goals then I wouldn't have anything to work towards! So now I am working on my goals for the next 10 years and what do you know I have a starting point, that one goal that I didn't accomplish by 25, and believe me you I will accomplish it by 35!!

So Happy 26th Birthday to me!! Yes, that is right I decided that I won't hold at 25 I am going out on the limb and I am taking on 26! So here is to year 26 that it be even better than any of the 25 before it!!

Vacation 2011: 8 days, 14 States, and 2,855 Miles

Well folks here it is the long awaited blog of our journey to the East Coast and into the New England States. This is quite a lengthy post so I have broken it down into each day of the trip. So, grab a drink, get comfy and enjoy all the times, trials, and tribulations of our long, exciting, fun adventure!

Let's start with a little bit of background information on the vacation (although most of you probably already know most of it). I have a goal to visit all 50 states before I die, and after last years vacation to Iowa and Wisconsin, I started to think of all the places I wanted to head to next. Keep in mind due to Brad's type of work and a little bit of mine we are limited to the times that we are able to vacation. So, that always plays a role in where we go. I had an old co-worker of mine that visited the New England states and came back with lots of stories to tell of it, which sparked my interest in visiting the area. So, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to knock out a bunch of states on one vacation. So the planning went into effect. I originally wanted to visit in the Fall to see all the beautiful colors of Fall! But unfortunately it just didn't work out that way for us, so I re-examined the calendar and decided that August was a good time for both of us to be gone, so that was it I had the who (us), the what (vacation), the when (August), the where (East Coast/New England), I was well on my way to planning our vacation! The exact places were all dependent on an attraction that I came across on the web as I googled New England, the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. It popped up and I knew it was something that we had to do, so mapped out for our house to it's location in New Hampshire, and as I did that I picked places along the way in each state that we were going to stop with an attraction that would interest us. It took about a month of planning not something that I normally do, I normally would choose a place and we would just find things to do when we got there. This was not possible with this vacation. So I planned and thought out a lot of factors with this trip. I also had to figure out how far we could drive and what all we could get into a day and figure out where we were going to stay each night. I then used hotels.com and booked rooms for each night. I was really excited that I was able to get most of the rooms for $50-$65. Some days my planning was better than others! As I searched out each area I realized that there was no way that we could afford to take our truck on this trip so I made the decision to rent a car. What a great decision that was! Our trip includes 14 states, including Indiana and Kentucky.

My vacation technically started on Friday, so I spent the day cleaning the house, doing all the laundry, and getting everything packed up so that we could leave on Saturday morning. After Brad got home from work we went to Jasper to Enterprise and picked up our rental. We were hoping for a Ford Focus or Fusion, but we were given a Dodge Avenger instead. It was a cute little car, and a pretty nice ride. We named her Josie, so when I refer to Josie you know that I am talking about our little car. We loaded her up and got some rest before we headed out.

Our rental for the week, Josie!

Day 1: Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia

We got up around 7:30 on Saturday and got ready and loaded up all the final things and were headed out by 8:30. We hit the road and stopped at Corydon for breakfast and a little shopping (I needed a few items that were essential for the trip, lol). Then we continued through Kentucky, toward the mountainous region of West Virginia, I think I remember seeing the highest point we were at one time was over 2,000 feet! There were a few times that we didn't know if our little Josie was going to make it. It was up, up, up; then down, down, down; all the while going around crazy curves and turns! We headed to Charleston, West Virginia to see the New River Gorge Bridge. What a beauty! It's 875 feet above the bottom of the New River Gorge! We stopped at a State Park and walked down a bunch of steps and got some great photos (see below). Then we drove down the the bottom, what an adventure! A very steep, winding road lead us to the bottom. But I am so glad that we went down. It was very worth the adventure! We then made the trip back to the top, and got to drive over the bridge.



After we left the bridge we headed to Morgantown, West Virginia. We went to the Morgantown Brewing Company. They brew the beers they offer on site. They offer eight craft brews and several seasonal brews and small-batch special brews are released every week. We looked at where they brew that beer, although they weren't brewing any at the time we were there. We enjoyed our meal and headed to our hotel for the night.



Where they brew their own beer.

We drove about 20 miles to Hazelton, it was about 9:30 p.m. when we arrived, at Microtel Inn. We walked in and told them we needed to check in and the guy immediately apologized, and said they had had a lot of mix ups. I was a little worried but thought well whatever just give me my room. Well, as it turned out our room had been given to someone else! The guy told us that he could give us a room, but it would be a smoking room, or he could get us a room at another hotel, and he would give us a full refund and pay for our room at the other hotel. I was NOT about to sleep in a smoking room when I had paid for a non-smoking one. Not to mention the smell, yucky! So, I said find us a new hotel. He was able to get us a business suite at a Super 8 back in Morgantown, yep that's right 20 miles in the wrong direction. But, hey it was a free room. So we went with it. By the time we made it there we were exhausted! So we got settled in were out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.


Day 2: Maryland and Pennsylvania


We headed to Cumberland, Maryland to the C&O Canal, Paw Paw Tunnel. The Paw Paw Tunnel was blasted through a mountain in the 19th century so that the C&O Canal could take a more direct route. We arrived at the State Park where you could hike to the tunnel and got mixed up and misunderstood each other and opted out of the walk to the tunnel. Oops! After driving around and seeing a few other areas of the canal we headed north to Hershey, Pennsylvania.

We arrived at Chocolate World around 4:30 and headed inside to see all there was to see. We decided to take a trolley tour around town to see all the different sites of Hershey. We boarded trolley number 6 where Nick and Wilbur (yes, another Wilbur) guided us around town. They were so funny! Wilbur jumped off the trolley and would run back to the back and change clothes and come back on every so often as someone new, from the Milton Hershey family. It was a very neat, informative, and funny trip around town. When we arrived back at Chocolate world we went on a ride to see the making of a chocolate bar. This was also a very neat experience. A car took us around showing us the process, what an amazing process it is! We then made our very own chocolate bar! We got to choose from Milk, Dark, or White chocolate; what ingredients we wanted in the bar, and if we wanted sprinkles on it. We then got to watch it be made! After it was made we got to create our own wrappers for them. Definitely an experience of a lifetime! After we were done with that we shopped around the HUGE shopping area, where there was so much chocolate and other items, it was unbelievable. We made our purchases and headed out to get a bite to eat before heading to our hotel.

Chocolate World!!

Getting ready to Create Our Own Candy Bar

We headed toward Morgantown, PA along Jack's (our GPS) route, only to find out that there were road closures! So we had to detour, once we finally got on the right track we took the Penna Turnpike. We trucked right along, this was our first time on a turnpike. No one was at the toll booths when we got on so we thought we got lucky and didn't have to pay the fee. When we got off on our exit the tool booth had a worker and when I asked him how much the tool was he said I need your ticket. Uhhhhh.....what ticket?!?! He then informed us that when you come up to a turnpike/toll we had to stop and take a ticket, without the ticket we would have to pay the full amount!! Oops, so now we learned a lesson and were out $22!


We arrived at our Motel, I went to check in only to find out that they didn't have us written down to be checking in! Now I was furious, day 2 and the same thing keeps happening. The guy ruffled through some papers and find my reservation, so he made a phone call and got us into a different room. Okay, so we got a room, no big deal. Well went went to the room, and the "neighbor" lived in the room next door, he had his crap all in the way and his cat, yes he had a cat living with him too! A little creepy but whatever I just wanted to shower and get some sleep. We walked in and it just got worse! It was smelly, old, and nasty. But I was too tired to care. So we made do with what we had. Although, I didn't get a lot of sleep it was enough to help get me through the next day.


Day 3: Delaware and New Jersey
We woke rather early on Monday, but with the horrible hotel we were in we weren't surprised. So we got up, got ready, and headed out! We headed to Wilmington, Delaware. We arrived at the Riverfront and if was not at all what I was expecting. We walked down and checked out the river and then we walked that shopping area up to the Russel W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge. There were some good photo ops, but that was about it. After we walked back we got in the car and decided to head out to New Jersey.


Tax free shopping, and I didn't even get the chance to shop!!



We arrived to Jersey City Park, and walked around and saw the Statue of Liberty! Well, it was a far away and side view but it was her, in all her glory! We took a few pictures and then went in to the information area and found out that we had just enough time to catch a ferry over to the statue! We were all for it. So we got the tickets and loaded the ferry. We ferried to Ellis Island and then to the Statue of Liberty! Once we got there we got off the Ferry and went to the gift shop and got a few souvenirs, and then loaded on the ferry again. While we were on the ferry I was able to get much better pictures of her. Needless to say it was well worth it to ferry over to the statue, which wasn't originally in the plan!



On the Ferry to the Statue of Liberty!



We then travelled on to our hotel in Connecticut. In order to get there we had to go through New York City (actually around the outside). It was a little crazy, and the traffic was very hectic! Not my favorite place to drive but we, along with Josie made. Thank goodness for Jack! We arrived at the Super 8 with the hopes of them having us on file. We walked in and told them we needed to check in and gave our name and the guy pulled us up right away and had a room for us! Yay! I was so glad to know that we didn't have to go through what we did the past two nights! We had arrived early enough that we checked in and then found a place to eat and then were able to just relax and watch some TV.

Day 4: Connecticut

We were spending the day in Connecticut so from our hotel in Danbury we headed East to Milford. As I planned this vacation I joked with the girls I work with that since I was going to Connecticut I was going to check out the Subway World Headquarters. As I planned I realized that we would be going right near Milford, so I thought what the heck I am going to go and check it out. So we arrived at the Subway World Headquarters and pulled up to the gatehouse, yes it had a gatehouse. The man asked how he could help us and I asked if we could go up to the building or tour it or anything like that, we looked at me a little funny and said, No sorry we had a change in policy and I can’t allow you to do that. L Oh well, it wasn’t really a big deal so we turned around and pulled out and got back on the road and headed to New Haven.

We arrived in New Haven and went to the Knights of Columbus Museum.  I am not really sure what I was expecting from the museum, but after we went in I realized that it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. We went in and I was of course snapping pictures of the outside and Brad walked up to the info counter and told the man that he was a member of a council in our area in Indiana. The man then explained a little about the museum and gave us a map of it and a map of the area where we could go to see St. Mary’s Church and the World Headquarters. We then walked around the museum and looked at the various photos, paintings, and artifacts about the council and how it came about. After we saw the museum we drove to the church to get a photo and then we tried to find a place to eat but the town was crazy busy with people and there wasn’t parking anywhere close by. Not to mention that every time we found parking we couldn’t park there because of construction! So we just decided to head out toward Mystic and find somewhere to eat along the way. We found a nice diner down the way and stopped in for a bite to eat.

The Knights of Columbus Headquarters

St. Mary's Church, where the Knights of Columbus was founded

We then continued on to Mystic. We arrived and headed to the Mystic Seaport. When I researched this online I saw a lighthouse and I LOVE lighthouses, so I wanted to go. We got there and looked around and got a little info. We were informed that we would have to pay to see the lighthouse, so we went to get tickets and questioned this girl a little more and she said that it wasn’t a real lighthouse. It was instead a replica of one. So therefore we decided that it wasn’t worth the $24 to see it. So we looked at what we could see without tickets and then headed to our hotel. We arrived and checked in, and yes they had us on file and a room for us!! Yay night two of my reservation actually working out! We then decided to go out and grab a bite to eat. We searched a book in the room and found Mystic Pizza. I remembered a movie called that and read a little more to find out that indeed it was the place the movie was recorded. So we headed out there and enjoyed the famous Mystic Pizza. I will say the pizza was good but it just wasn’t a Homestead pizza! We then headed back to the hotel to just relax.

Day 5: Rhode Island and Massachusetts

We headed out of Connecticut and into Rhode Island, in hopes of finally getting so see a lighthouse. Well, I was hoping for a few lighthouses; but I was going to settle for one. We arrived in Jamestown and walked around and then got some info on where to go to see the lighthouse(s). We got tickets for a ferry and boarded, we set out across the water to Rose Island, which contained a lighthouse. this was not a typical lighthouse it was a bit smalled but was still cute. We decided that we didn't have the time to get off the ferry and explore since we were going to head into Boston yet the same day so we settle for seeing it from the ferry and I did get a few good photos of it! We then ferried over to Fort Adams, and a few wharfs before heading back to Jamestown. We didn't exit the ferry, just road along. It was a nice ride and we got to see some beautiful sights from the ferry, and got to see some really big and really expensive yachts! There was one that was for sale, one of the smaller ones and they were asking over $600,000 for it! We also were able to see the House on the Rocks. Yes, a privately-owned Jamestown house is atop a rock in Narragansett Bay, it was very neat to see. Once we were back to Jamestown we went into a little diner and got some lunch and then headed out for Boston.

The Rose Island Lighthouse



Fort Adams State Park




Tea Time, yep this baby is for sale, only $600,000



We arrived to Boston at what we are assuming was rush hour, although I am sure that anytime you're in Boston it would feel like rush hour to us. We learned that Boston along with any other large city is not our thing. We couldn't ever live in a bigger city! I have always heard that Boston is a walking city, and there were lots of people walking around but there were even more people driving! We got a little mixed up thanks to Jack and it took a little while for us to find the "Ducks" that we were planning on taking to tour the area. We found them and parked in a parking garage. We rushed over to the ducks since they were loading, we found out where to get tickets and rushed to get tickets and then rushed back to the ducks. We loaded and were greeted by Ace Bandage our tour guide. He was quite the character, and had lots of funny, and informative facts to give us about the town. My favorite thing that he says was that Boston drivers were some of the friendliest drivers. They are always honking, waving, and telling everyone that they are number one! Was this ever so true! And yes we were honked at a time or two while we were driving around too! We were on an 80 minute cruise, we saw all the major points of Boston and then we drove into the Charles River and got to see Boston from there. It was a neat ride and we had a great time, but just wasn't good for photo opts. I got a few photos but nothing great! After we got off the duck we decided to head out of town and go to our hotel.

We arrived at the hotel and noticed a restaurant next door and decided to try it out. Boy, was that not a good idea. We walked in and were seated, all eyes were on us. We then noticed that we were VERY under dressed! As we looked over the menu we were shocked by the cost of things. We decided to have the $26 chicken and just split it between the two of us and if we were still hungry we would have some snacks at the hotel. When the chicken came out we were surprised at how much food it was! It was enough for the 2 of us and it was delicious. We enjoyed it, and used the best and most formal manners that we had (thank god I took a class in college that taught me how to eat properly! lol), and paid our check and got the hell out of there! We definitely chalked that up for another experience!


Day 6: Maine and New Hampshire

We headed out for Portland, Maine where we were planning on taking a cruise to see the lighthouses in the area. We arrived in another crazy busy town, and saw that they cruises were due to leave in 10 minutes and we couldn't fine any parking. So we decided to not do them and instead we went down the street to the visitor center to find out what other things there were to do. We found a map of the area and it had some attractions on it, and we found a lighthouse that we could drive to! So we got in the car and drove the 10 minutes to it. We arrived at the Portland Head Lighthouse, and walked up to it and it was breathtaking! The ocean was gorgeous and the lighthouse was so wonderful! I think I could have spent the entire day there just looking at the ocean and listening to the waves, but I knew that we had to go on to get to the next state and on to our next adventure! So we checked out the gift shop and then headed out to New Hampshire.

Sorry I can't get any other photos from here to upload!

We travelled through the mountainous regions to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. We arrived just in time to get tickets and board the Cog. The railway was going to take us to the top of Mt. Washington, the elevation was over 6,000 feet. The trip to the top took 40 minutes and it was amazing. There were some great views along the way. Although the train didn't make it easy to get good photos, and with the constant change in weather at that elevation once we got to the top it was very cold and foggy and we couldn't get any good pictures. :( So we waited in the building for the next train and take us back down. We got to the bottom and headed out for our hotel. We arrived at the hotel and found a little restaurant and went to get a bite to eat. After we ate I started to work on the plans for the next day and realized that I had made a major error in planning and that in order to get to Ohio were our next hotel was we were going to be driving for quite some time. So went went to bed in hopes of when we put in the address the next day that we would be closer then I had thought.



When we made it to the top, it was 44 degrees, windy and very foggy!



But on the way down the views were beautiful!



Day 7: Vermont, New York, Ohio

So we woke and got packed and loaded and put the address in Jack and realized that indeed we were going to be on the road for 15 plus hours. So we jetted out across the states. Vermont was a pretty state with lots of countryside to see. Although that was all we got to see in Vermont was countryside and creeks, rivers, lakes, and much beauty! Once we made it across Vermont we headed into New York. What a long, boring, and seemingly never ending state! We drove lots of highways until we made it to the New York Thruway. It was the longest car ride of my lifetime! There was nothing but trees, trees, and more trees! It was never so exciting to get out out New York and into Pennsylvania. Although we were only in PA for a few miles before we finally hit the Ohio state line. We drove for 17 hours before we made it to Dayton, Ohio at 3:00 a.m. We got to our hotel and checked in and climbed into bed! What a day of driving it was. Even though we didn't get to do what we had planed in each state, we were just glad to be closer to home.

Day 8: Ohio and Indiana

We slept in a little and then headed out in search of the Wright Brothers Memorial. It took a little time to find but once we did it was worth it. We saw the memorial and went in to the museum. It had a lot of information on the Wright Brothers and their adventures with the aircraft.

We then started to head for home. We found an outlet mall along the way and had to stop. After all what is a vacation without a little bit of shopping involved! We went to the Nike store first and I found the pair of shoes that I had been looking for and they were on sale! I was so excited, we looked around a little more and then got in the ever so long line. The store manager walked up and told us that we would be through the check out line in 6 minutes. I didn't think there was anyway possible. But sure enough we got to the checkout in 6 minutes but didn't get checked out for 7 minutes. So he gave us a 10% discount! I wasn't expecting that at all, but was willing to take it! We walked around a little more and then hit the road to head back home. We stopped to get something to eat and made it back home around 8:30. We unpacked the car and started the laundry.

All in all it was a great vacation. We saw a lot of interesting sights, did a lot of fun things, and knocked out 14 more states!!

****I tried to upload more photos but for some reason, I haven't been able to! Bet you can check them out on my facebook page!*****