Day 33 - 35 Small Town America

The last few days have been filled with living life in small town America and living life on a small farm.  We've eaten out at places like the Hot Rod Cafe (a small 1950's diner), watching fireworks after eating and listening to an Elvis  impersonator sing 'Love Me Tender' and other Elvis songs. My cell phone was dead so I was unable to take pictures :(

One day this past week Sondra and I went to beautiful downtown Monroe (the town they live in).  It was an ecletric little downtown area, a couple blocks on one street.  Mixed in with small boutique type stores was the Monroe Police Department, the city newspaper and other businesses.  We ate lunch at The Cotton Cafe...they had delish salads (as well as other items). We found this cute little place, styled more like a coffee shop with assorted places to relax and enjoy your meal while chit-chatting with friends at tables or relaxing on a sofa while studying or using your wi-fi.  Sondra had a Greek Salad, while I had this delicious Spinach Salad

At The Cotton Cafe in Monroe GA (Spinach Salad)

Another day we went to the Mall of Georgia - according to one article I read on the internet this mall is second only to the Mall of America in Minneapolis MN for profitability.  It was sad to see one of my favorite stores, Coldwater Creek, going out of business...I was told by the salesperson the entire company is folding up.  After doing some serious shopping we went by our friends son's home and saw him for the first time in 25 years (when he was about 9) and met his wife and children.  After this we stopped at Sam's Club and then met friends of our friends for our night out explained in the first paragraph.

Sunday we went to church (YEA, 2 Sundays in a row). It was a small church of about 25 very friendly people but then you have to remember there is a small church on every corner in the south!.  The sermon was great and the music was awesome (a mix of old and new). We spent a quiet afternoon at home, took naps, listened to the thunder and rain outside and enjoyed pizza for dinner.

Day 31 - 32 Monroe, GA

We arrived at our friends in Georgia just before noon on Wednesday.   It is so good to see them after almost 25 years.  They have a beautiful home on 18 acres, with horses and a dozen chickens.  We awoke this morning also to a mama deer and her baby roaming the yard.

Life is very relaxed here, we spent the last couple of days just kicking back and chitchatting.  Their daughter and her boyfriend came over for dinner last night....Sondra made this for us for dessert - YUMMY. 

Strawberry-Blueberry Tart

Today we drove around and saw some sights.....we visited a peanut store which had all kinds of local nuts in many shapes and forms.  We also stopped in a couple local hardware stores which held many fun decorative items as well as the usual hardware.....fun stores to peruse.  We then stopped for dinner at 'Hot Rod Diner', a 50s style diner....it was in the town of Social Circle....we also passed through the town of  Between.....fun places, very small towns!!

Day 29 - 30 Family and Friends

We ended up going into Anderson yesterday where we had lunch/dinner at a local to the South restaurant - Fatz Cafe.  We enjoyed dining somewhere different and getting a taste of southern cooking.  Hubs had fish/chips and I had Shrimp Gumbo and a baked potato loaded. Food was awesome and the service even better.  We give them a 5+ star rating.  After lunch hubs went to the movies and I ran some errands (can't get away from those pesky errands even on vacation).

Tuesday we made another trip back to Anderson for gas and ice for the ice chest + to get some subs for lunch. Then we just came back to the KOA for some R&R before we hit the road again tomorrow. We've had a restful and peaceful stay here and except getting eaten up my mosquitos and the humidity it was a great time.

Some pictures of friends we've stayed with over the past month....most of our friends live out of state.  Most are California transplants to another part of this great country...some are people hubs worked with, some are friends from church, some family.

Friends in Colorado

Family in Minnessota (this day we were at Mount Rushmore)

Niece in Pittsburgh

Friends in Mechanicsburg PA
(sorryr Kathy I can't find the pic with you in it)

More of the friend in Mechanicsburg 

Friends in Virginia

Family in Wisconsin

Day 27 - 28 - One Full Month

7:30am on June 23 sun rising over our cabin

It's hard to believe it's been FOUR full weeks since we left on this dream trip. From our original plans several things have changed.  Our original plans had us meeting up in Minnesota, with a cousin and a special friend of ours from Las Vegas,  alas neither of these get togethers took place - how does the saying go?  "The best made plans of mice and men."  Although we put church at tht top of our list every Sunday, 3x in June it did not work out - hubby was sick this weekend and the other 2 Sundays we missed just didn't work. Another glitch has been one not so great place to stay, that coupled with thunderstorms and mosquitoes made for a not so lovely night.  On the whole the trip has been awesome.....family, friends, and even new family/friends make the trip the blessing it is.....Some of the new family are Hazel, Aiden (never before seen great-niece and great-nephew); Seth and Izzy (grandkids of our very good friends in VA).  Plus their mother (Grace) wife of our friend's son.

The one time we did get to church was with our friends in VA....this was a wonderful, historic church which wa originally started in the 1700s. Read about it at their website www.massaponaxchurch.com/embracing-our-past/

We are currently spending a few days in a KOA near Anderson, South Carolina....we drove into Anderson one day and will do so again today....upon our first trip to 'town' we discovered a movie theatre and hubs will be checking out the inside of it today. While he is doing that I will look for a place to get my hair cut it's been over a month!!

Tree/Bush growing near our cabin

Days 25-26 North and South Carolina

After a busy and fun several days with our friends in Virginia we left early Friday morning driving south through North Carolina.  Although beautiful country we were not real impressed...we loved the greenery but found nothing else to impress us...well, except for a nice outlet mall where we spent some time and I managed not to spend any money...it was tempting though!!

North Carolina border

We found a small RV camp off the freeway in South Carolina where we spent the night amongst mosquitoes, thunder and pouring rain.  Up early morning to more rain and thunder, we were on the road by 6am.  Miles and hours of driving the 'scenic route' led us to our spot for the night - a wonderful KOA on the South Carolina/Georgia border....this spot has to be the most beautiful spot in both the Carolina states.  Driving the scenic route took us into small town America - old beat up trailer homes sitting on a lot next to beautiful small mansions and next to them would be ranches with many horses.  Most of the many 'towns' we went through had a gas station and nothing more.  A few towns were big enough to have a grocery store and maybe a small eating establishment.  Church after church every 5 miles or so...more churches than homes!

Iva, South Carolina

The Savannah River ran from the beginning to end of this road and we drove parallel to it (maybe 75-100 miles), enjoying the view when it would come into our sight....the last few miles was a recreational area with many jet skiers, boaters and people fishing.  Finally finding a KOA was the icing on our day!  Tired and exhausted we were happy to get the last cabin available....we were also happy to hear that about 5 miles from us is a BIG town...with 2 grocery stores, a Walmart and even a Sam's Club!  Hoping the town is big enough for Howard to find a movie theater with something good to watch tomorrow.

Day 23-24 - Chillin' Out

Sometimes in life you just have to take a day and do almost nothing....yesterday was one of those days.  Howard and Ron made a trip to town to get the oil changed in the van (we have driven 4000 miles since leaving on our trip)....and to do some shopping. I'm playing catch up on photos, blogging and facebooking this morning.  In the afternoon, after eating we took off for the mall in Spotsyvaina. We did some minor damage at the mall. After the mall we went to the younger Bradley's for some grandkid introductions, visiit with our friends's son (whom we had not seen for about 20 years) and his wife.  She made us a wonderul dinner of authenic Philipipino dinner.

Today we are doing more of the same....we are waiting for some Shaklee diet suplements to arrive in the mail before we can move on...hopefully that happens before the end of the week so we can move on.  Hoping to go to North and South Carolina before heading on to friends in Georgia, and then to more friends.

June 2014 - Juli (niece). Howard, Mary

Day 22 - Washington DC

We arose bright and early for a quick breakfast and then onto the freeway for a trip with Monday morning traffic to the Metro Station....where we purchased tickets for the 2nd half of the trip to D.C.  We arrived at Union Station in DC mid-morning.  Knowing we'd pay big bucks for lunch in the D.C. area we opted to eat a little early and had lunch at at staion and then paid for our tours and hopped the trolley for the trip around town.

Lincoln Memorial (taken from Arlington National Cementary)

Capitol Building (from trolley)

The trolley took us to many site and the narration that wen with the tour told us much about these spots. We could come and go as we pleased and just hop back on the trolley for more relaxing and listening.  Our final and best stop was Arlington National Cemetery.  What an awesome place!  We were so humbled to see the grave sites of so many who gave their lives for our country.  We went to the tomb of the unknown soldier and watched the changing of the guard ....how these men guard this tomb for so many hours on end in is beyond me.

View of D.C. from Arlington

We were very humbled by our day in D.C. - we may or may not like what is going on there with regards to our country today but we could really see the hard work and love that so many since even before 1776 put into this country.

Arlingon Cementary from trolley

Capitol Building in background

Arlington House

Day 21 - Partlow, VA

Strasburg,  PA

We've settled in Partlow VA for the next several days...Partlow is about 50 miles south of the DC area, which we will be visiting Monay.  We plan to take the trolley around DC and then get off at the areas of interest....at the top of the list is Arlington, the Smithsonian and Union Station to name a few, as well as other places.

Today we went to church, out for a great lunch and then back to the house where most of us caught up on much needed sleep.  We had a wonderful dinner on the back patio this evening.  Life is good.

Posted below are some pictures taken at different places on our trip.  This has really been a great experience and we've seen many places that we've never had a place to see (plus several places we've been to and wanted to come back for more).  It's been great seeing old friends who we've kept in touch with over the years....we are 3 weeks into our trip and look forward to the next 2 months and 1 week.  If I'm not too tired I will try and write more Monday evening telling and showing some of the sites in DC.

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA countryside:

Horse and Buggy

Horse and Buggy driven by Amish

Farm and land

Countryside

I

More Countryside

Day 20 - Pittsburgh to Virginia

We visited good friends in Mechanicsburg, PA and visited more while eating dinner with them at the Brownstone Cafe, near the state capital building. The restaurant used be a bank buildingand is over 100 years old.  Upstairs and downstairs dining - interestingly no elevators so the poor waitresses were running up and down to do the order taking and serving.

Our friends had a family reunion to go to and had to leave early in the morning ...we sat up chitchatting until almost midnight making us a little tired Saturday - but we 'trucked ON'.  We left at 7:30am and headed for Lancaster County in PA, aka Amish country.  We had a lot of fun wandering through the stores, spending $$$$ and driving the countryside.   What beautiful countryside!  Landcaster is where my 5x great grandfather, Casper Schrock, settled when coming to America a couple hundred years ago (date unknown). He came from Switzerland and married after arriving here.

We then drove on to Virginia to visit good friends whom we have known for over 50 years (pre-marriage).  We will be spending the next week here visiting many more historical sites and catching up on old times.

Day 19 - A Day of Remembrance

Up early this morning and on the road but this time for shorter trips around the Pittsburgh area.  Juli's (hub's niece) husband Steve and Juli's son Robert took us on a tour of a couple of great sites outside Pittsburgh - first we were off to the Quecreek (Somerset County) mine disaster which occured on July 24, 2002 (to 27th). Nine men were trapped for 77 hours, fortunately all of them made it safely  out.

Then we made a trip to the site where on September 11, 2001 a flight was hi-jacked and crashed in Pennsylvania.  Most of you know that this occured on the same day that the World Trade Center was attacked as well as Washington DC. What a humbling experience it was to pass through these grounds.  Even today almost 12 and 13 years later I get chills just thinking about how many people were affected by these tragic events.

After spending the morning visiting these sites we came back to Juli's picked up our stuff and then the 4 of us and Steve's son, Matthew who joined us for lunch at Bob Evans....oh how I would love to have these restaurants in Arizona.

Back on the road again by 1:30pm we again forked up toll-road fees (so thankful there are none of these fees in Arizona) and hoped to head to Gettysburg...but alas we ran into much rain, some very heavy, and did not have the time to get there.  We pulled into Carlsyle for the night and hope to make it to Harrisburg by early afternoon tomorrow.  We're tired, grumpy and wet and hoping that a good nights sleep will cure these woes.

Friday we visit old work friends of Howard's from California.  And then onto Lancaster County PA on Saturday morning.....and then hoping to make it to our friends in VA later Saturday.

Day 18 - Pittsburgh PA

We arrived in Pittsburgh a little after 1pm today.  Pennsylvania has to be one of the prettiest states we've driven through. Green everywhere,  not a lot of billboards on the toll road and very few houses or businesses.  Just lush, full trees....we look forward to driving through the rest of the state and seeing more of the same.

We are visiting Howard's niece and family while here.  We had dinner at the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto and sat at a table with an AWESOME view of Pittsburgh, a view of where 3 River Stadium used to be and where the Alleghany, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers meet....tomorrow we plan to visit the memorial to those who died in the 9/11 plane crash.

 

 

Day 16-17 - Streetsboro, Ohio

After doing my genealogy research yesterday we found the I-80 and started East. We drove 200 miles before we found a KOA in Streetsboro, Ohio. Priced a little higher than we wanted to pay but we forked up for 2 nights, we were forunate to get a 2 room cabin for the price of one, giving us lots of room for our stuff.  We even have a TV so hubby is a happy camper and if he's a happy camper so am I.

We will be just chilling and relaxing and then leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow (we ended up staying an extra day because I had stomach issues over night). Our toll fees have been an unexpected expense...in Chicago we thought paying $8.00+ to get to Indiana was a lot but from Indiana to Pennsylvania it has already cost us $16.50 and we are not there yet. Wondering what the PA turnpike will set us back??

On Tuesday we rested all morning and then drove into town for lunch at Roche's (a restaurant only found in Ohio).  Food was delish and it was nice eating somewhere different.  We then did some food shopping at Target and then drove around town.  It was sad to see a town that looks to have been thriving at one time with so many closed stores ....stores like Joann's Fabrics,  a TGIF, Honey Baked Hams, what looked to be a major grocery store and others.  After checking out town we came back to the KOA and took a nap, did laundry and had supper.

My yummy pasta-chicken salad from Roche's

Tomorrow we head for hub's nieces...she lives near Pittsburgh.....we will stay there overnight and then drive further east to Lancaster County and check out some more Amish country.

Day 15 - Leaving Goshen

After another hearty breakfast provided by our B&B we packed up and went our separate ways...us to do some research on Goshen and some of my ancestors; Gerry and  Martha headed back to Minnesota (grandkids calling).  We are taking a couple days to regroup and then onto PA by Wednesday.  We are only 2 weeks into our trip...hard to believe - seems more like a month....looking forward to the rest of our trip.

I had some success on my  genealogy search but not as much as I would have liked.....my first stop was the Elkhart County Courthouse but they sent me a couple blocks over to the County Assessors office who sent me to the County Recorders office next door.  There I had some good help from a couple of gals who let me know that real estate records are only computerized back to 1960 (I was looking for my grandparents home in the late 1930s. I had an address of ony S. 10th Street and needed the # so I could drive by). One of the girls showed me how to search the record books....I spent about an hour looking through them and then there they were Troyer, Elmer D and Mary....took the info back to the girl helping me, she found some additional info using the info I provided and then proceeded to tell me to take the info back next door to the county assessor's office....they then did some additional searching and came back with a printed page with the info I needed...my grandparents address in 1935 to 1938. YAY!!!!!  We then drove by the house and took pics.  Then off to Goshen High where my mom had gone to school and graduated.

Next stop Goshen News where my mother was the Society Editor in the 1930's and maybe before.  I spoke to the editor of the paper who promised to do some research for me and get back to me. He also said that the building they are in is the original building and dates back to early 1800...it was a cool thought to think that my mom worked in this same building I was walking in today!

The newspaper editor suggested we go by the library but I was getting tired and we needed to get on the road again.....so about noon we headed out and are now spending the next couple days at a KOA in Streetsboro in Ohio....it's really nice here with a lake, pool, game room, green grass and fresh air....overall through we are not impressed with the toll roads, it has cost us $16.50 just in toll fees  today...there will be more before we get out of here on Wednesday.

Day 14 - More Goshen

We started the day with a large breakfast provided by our host, Jerry Lapp, owner of The Red Bridge Bed and Breakfast. We then decided to take a little walk and work off our breakfast.  This stream ran along the side of the house...it was a lovely walk in about 65 degree weather.

                       

After our walk we headed for South Bend to see the University of Notre Dame campus.  After getting majorally lost we finally did get there ....very large campus.  Our "tour" of South Bend was very interesting also.

Next was a trip to Shipshewana, an Amish community near Goshen ....saw many horse and buggies along the road but because it was Sunday all the businesses were closed.  What a disappointment! Even the many eating establishments were closed...we finally found an open Subway and grabbed a sandwich there.

We went into downtown Goshen and took some pictures....everything was closed there also.   Gave up and went back to our B&B and caught up on our reading.  It's after 9pm now and is still light out!

Wanderings of the Warrens

Day 13 Wisconsin/Indiana

We spent last night with Jack and his youngest Jason in Hortonville,  Wisconsin.  Jordan (#3 son) had to work and then spent the night with his mom. We had a wonderful time having dinner with just the 6 of us (Martha/Gerry, Jack/Jason and us) at the The Machine Shed in Appleton, Wisconsin.  AWESOME food we'd highly recommend.  This morning we got up early and the 6 of us met up with Jack's #2 son, Matthew and his beautiful wife Amanda, at IHOP for breakfast..... such a wonderful time, just way too short.

Gerry, Martha, Howard, and I left IHOP about 10am for the 300 mile drive to Goshen, Indiana.   Going through Chicago was a little tiresome as we hit 4 toll booths, all of which wanted $$$$.....when we stopped later Gerry told us that we actually 'ran one toll boothes' and we never even realized it....will a ticket be in our mailbox when we get home?  We will see in a couple  months!!

We arrived in Goshen about 4pm, checked into our B&B , rested up a little, and then headed into town to check things out.  We saw the building where mom use to work and found the court house (both of which I will be visiting on Monday).  We had dinner at a local pizza place (I was good and just had cottage cheese and fruit).  One of the waitresses was a Goshen native and answered many of our questions....where Goshen High School is, where N. 10th St was, is the Goshen News building the original one (yes it is, so it is the actual building my mom worked in) and gave us other info.  I am ready to hit the streets on Monday and follow through on all of this.

More tomorrow after wandering around Goshen and other close towns. As we prepare to end this long day we lay in bed listening to the tooting of trains in the background.

                                                  Jason,  Jack and Howard

Day 11 and 12 Catch Up Time

I haven't been able to post for a couple days because of laptop doing a crash, it's semi-fixed so I am working off my tablet right now. Please forgive any errors.

Thursday we were in most of the day working on the computer.   Then Janet, my niece, came over with salad, dessert and family, at Martha's, for pizza and fun.  We talked and laughed all evening.

Friday we were up early and on the road at 9:00am, with Gerry and Martha following - 250 miles to Jack's house, near Appleton WI.  Fun seeing Jack an his youngest Jason.  Meeting Jack's second eldest and his wife for breakfast at IHOP before they have to go to work and we have to head onto Goshen IN (where my mom grew up).  Gerry and Martha and us will be staying in a B and B there until Monday when we head east and they go home.

I have to say Wisconsin and Minnesota are 2 VERY beautiful states, with wide open spaces, lots of green and lots of water. Unlike Arizona, California and Nevada where there is only a couple feet between houses.

  

Quick stop at McD's