Greta's Post

This is day twenty-five and I am at the beach having a great time and enjoying my trip.  I can't wait to get back home and see my puppies.  By the way, I might be getting another pet, like a guinea pig or a mouse or maybe even a little dog.  See ya'.

Day Twenty-Five: In Frewsburg, NY with Mel

Mel is our second to last couchsurfing host.  He cooked us a lovely dinner, including silver queen corn-on-the-cob.

Abram liked the fountain and pool where he, and the others, found a frog.

Day Twenty-Five: On the Road, Lake Chautauqua

Day Twenty-Five: The Natural History Museum of Cleveland

After the waterpark, we headed down to the Art Musuem.  The parking garage attendant said that the minivan would not fit into the parking garage -- clearance 7'2" -- and to park at the Natural History Museum.  Once the children saw the dinosaur outside, they decided to bag the art.

While we were there, we took a walk through an outside enclosed area where the "live animals" were kept.

Toward the end of the trail, Salem said, "A bird just fell out of a tree."  He picked up a starling who had obviously been just injured. 

Salem scooped up the bird.

Rob went to look for a staff member of the museum to see if they could care for the bird.

The staff never came.  Salem held the bird and spoke gently to it as it dies in his hands.  Then, he placed it in the woods and covered it with a few leaves.

When we left the museum, Salem said, "I named the bird 'die-ey' because he died."

Day Twenty-Five: Cleveland's Waterpark

Day Twenty-Five: Frequent Sighting

We have seen this sight nearly every morning on the trip.  It had to be included.

Day Twenty-Four: Couchsurfing in Cleveland

We stayed with an interesting couple in Cleveland.  Even more interesting was their house.  Here is the stained glass in the stairwell and front bedroom.

Day Twenty-Four: Bound for Purdue

Rob and Todd were out of the house early and off to the mechanic.  Jenna and the children were left at the breakfast bar with Mojo (top) and Toby (bottom).

Thankfully, the transmission was diagnosed as having a burned-out overdrive.  We were given the green light from a mechanic in Crawfordsville to hit the road, but to leave the overdrive off.  So, we traveled back to Purdue so that Jenna could visit her alma mater.

The children had heard a great deal about the bowling alley in the basement of Purdue's Memorial Union -- not because Jenna ever bowled that much, but more because there's something sort of cool about a 10-pin bowling alley in the basement of a university's union.

Sadly, the children did not get a chance to bowl a string.  Jenna underestimated the popularity of bowling on a Monday morning and the alley -- all eight lanes -- was booked until 3:30.  As we had to get to Cleveland -- 6 and 1/2 hours away from West Lafayette -- we couldn't wait.

They watched some action though . . .

Day Twenty-Three: On the road

We spent the afternoon on the road and have encountered our very first mechanical problem:  There is something wrong (seriously?) with the transmission.

Thankfully, we are couchsurfing with a great guy in in Crawfordsville, Todd, who knows a good mechanic and will introduce us -- and the minivan -- to him in the morning.

This is Todd:

Day Twenty-Three: On the Mississippi

Day Twenty-Three: Corn Meal Pancakes

A delicious breakfast of corn meal pancakes and scrambled eggs was enjoyed prior to heading to the Mississippi.

Day Twenty-Two: And they still like each other . . .

Day Twenty-Two: Couchsurfing in Eldridge, Iowa

We arrived for a terrific dinner with Bev and Ken in Eldridge, Iowa.  The children played outside on the neighbors' swing set, Greta made $1.25 for picking up 110 apples off the lawn, (The deal had been .01 per apple, but Ken gave her a tip.) and the men took the children to the playground for a bit while Jenna and Bev talked in the kitchen.

Bev gave Greta a fancy hair-do before bed.

Ken and Rob chatting about the agri-business of corn farming.  "King Corn" came up as a recommended documentary about this industry.

Tomorrow, Bev and Ken have invited our family to enjoy their pontoon boat on the Mississippi.  Then, it's off to Purdue for bowling in the Memorial Union and couchsurfing in Crawfordsville, IN.  Sunday's shaping up to be another great day of family travel.

Day Twenty-Two: The Field of Dreams

Day Twenty-Two: Goodbye & Football in Minnesota

We said "good-bye" to Journey before heading to Cory's and Alex's football scrimmage.  Notice the guinea pig in Salem's lap.

The freshmen team.

Goodbye to the Hepler crew.

Day Twenty-One: Ausitn, MN, Couchsurfing

We couchsurfed with Dahn and her five children in Austin.  Because we were having such a great time with them, we only managed to take a few photos.

 Here is Abram with 12-year-old Christina's guinea pig.

Here is Greta and Christina with Christina's bunnies. 

In this couchsurfing home, there is Dahn, two boys, Cory and Alex (15 y.o. and 14 y.o) and three girls Journey, Christina, and Tory (13 y.o., 12 y.o., and 12 y.o.).  Dahn and her former spouse, Todd, adopted the sibling trio of Destiny (19 y.o. and no longer living at home), Journey, and Christina ten years ago.  Then, they adopted Cory seven years ago.  Todd lives in Austin and is Dahn's best friend, though no longer her husband.

Dahn taught us to play cribbage and we stayed up way too late talking about children and motocycles (She is an avid rider of her Buell.) and traveling.  Every year for the last decade and a half, Dahn has taken a vacation -- by herself -- to some interesting part of the world.  She has been on all but one, i.e., Antarctica, of the continents.  Recently, she has included one of the children on her annual travel.  The child gets to pick the place and help to plan it.

Coincidentally, Rob and Jenna have been telling the children for years that when they each turn sixteen, they may choose anywhere on the planet to travel.  At most recent inquiry, Asher picked Madagascar; Greta chose Paris; and Salem selected New Hampshire.  Good old exotic NH.      

Day Twenty-One: On the road to Austin, MN

Giant bunny rides . . .

Making salad sandwiches . . .

Wishing we were there . . .

Day Twenty-One: The Corn Palace

We were told by some that the Mitchell Corn Palace is a "must see."  Some others said to skip it.

Seeing as though the Corn Palace Festival was happening at the very time we were in Mitchell, we figured that the nay-sayers had to be wrong about the cultural importance of the Palace.  The night before we arrived, Kenny Rogers had played the Palace.  An icon, a legend, at the Palace.

Apologies to Mr. Rogers in advance -- as he is a likely follower of the blog -- but, even country singers feel the effect of the economic downturn.  You've got to really need the money to play there.

The Corn Palace was little more than a mini Worcester Centrum; it was a shrinked down version of this larger venue.  The "special" aspect of it was its facade:  decorated with various shades of husked and dried corn cobs.

Every year, the Corn Palace facade is stripped off and a new facade is affixed.  In the phot above, we are admiring nine different years of nine different facades.

Our vote is split on the Corn Palace:  One says "Skip it;"  five say "must see."  (The one who voted for skipping it however is the most reasonable of the bunch and therefore, her vote should count fivefold.)  In the end, a tie.