Vacation Recap Days 4-7

Wednesday morning we awoke to this really weird sound coming from what appeared to be next door to us. It wasn't next door - it actually turned out to be outside. It was hail! FORTUNATLY it only lasted about 20 minutes with a little bit of rain and then gorgeous again by about 10. That was, literally, the only rain we saw all week!

So - we decided to head out around lunchtime from the hotel towards the U.P. It was long drive - but one I didn't mind too much - because the sites were incredible! Saw much of Lake Michigan on the trip to Escanaba. Beautiful weather, easy traffic and country tunes crankin'! :) Doesn't get much better! (Did I mention that the ONLY 3 channels we got for 3 days were country stations. I learned how to appreciate country music all over again!)

We ended up in Escanaba at around 5. Nice little town. Checked into our hotel room and then headed to the lake for some pictures. Got some really cool lighthouse pics and scenery shots (all on Trev's camera of course). Nice, relaxing night.

Went to dinner at a place called Hudson's. Cool little burger joint - kind of like a greasy spoon-type place. After dinner, visited their Wal-Mart (guess this is just a must on vacation) and got some things we needed and then it was back to the hotel for the night.

End - Day 4.

Thursday morning we woke up early and headed toward Mackinaw City. It was a gorgeous day! We stopped a couple different times along the water to stop and look and of course, take pictures. Trevor loves the water and HAS to be as close to it as he can be when he can be. :)

Arrived in Mackinaw City in the mid afternoon of day 5. Weather was PERFECT - about 70 degrees! I'm just gonna say right now that it could never get a degree past 75 and I would be ONE HAPPY person! :)

Ate lunch in Mackinaw City and then did some shopping. Played putt-putt in the early evening. Trevor won. Of course he did! But only by one stroke! It was funny - Chloe had forgotten that the LOWEST score wins and so was happy each time I told her daddy got a 2 and she got a 5. Needless to say, at the end hearing she got a 60 and daddy got a 42 and that daddy one, it did not make her very happy. She did get 2 hole-in-one's, though, so I was very proud of her! :)

Walked through downtown, Mackinaw Crossing, in the evening. Got Ice Cream and then watched a pretty cool laser show before heading back to the hotel for the night.

End - Day 5.

Friday morning, Trevor and Chloe headed to the hotel's continental breakfast while I stayed back and took my shower and got ready. Pretty crazy - while they were gone I set-off the fire alarm with my hair dryer! (Now maybe Trevor will believe me the next time I tell him that I literally SWEAT getting ready in the morning because that darn dryer is so hot!) It did finally go off by itself, but it was a little scary there for a moment!

Took the Ferry to Mackinac Island on Friday. Another BEAUTIFUL day! Literally - not a cloud in the sky! The Ferry Boat to the Island was very fun. Windy - but fun. Here's a picture of Chloe. She didn't much care for all the wind.



Got to the island and did lots of walking. Took a pretty cool Horse Carriage Tour that took us all around the Island - including a stop to Fort Mackniac a stop by the Butterfly Conservatory. Trevor got some AMAZING pictures at the Conservatory! I'm not kidding - some of these pictures need to be in magazines! (Insert: Bragging up my hubby here!)

Ya'll have to ask Trevor about the Haunted House that we toured while we were there, too. Talk about scary! I did learn that my family and I are all whimps! Big barks, with little bites! :)

Learned some really interesting facts about the Island. VERY imformative Tour Guides. Check this out for a a little more touristy stuff about Mackinac.

Got back to the main land about 6. I had a pretty intense migraine so I went back to the hotel to lay down while Trevor and Chloe went to the beach just outside of our hotel. They were able to get KILLER seats for the fireworks, too!

Decided on pizza for dinner. Pizza on the beach was pretty sweet! When I came back down from resting from my headache - this is what I saw...



Sweet set-up. My hubs rocks!

We did get yelled at by some guy who accused us of stealing "his chair" from his room (the one with the cooler on it). It was pretty interesting since all Trev had done was get it from the beach when he first arrived and no one was around. We told him he could have it - but he just said, "N0 - whatever!" Guess he was pretty mad. Oh well. We didn't let it ruin our evening.

Fireworks on Lake Michigan were incredible to say the least. They were literally setting them off just a piers-length away from us. It was pretty increible. They also lasted longer than any I've ever seen.

Here's some pics of Chloe's time splashing around in the lake...

















We even did some sparklers. Everyone loves sparklers, right?



Ended the day about midnight. Got to bed late, but it was good. Well worth it for all the fun we had! :) Great memories!

End - Day 6.

We took our time getting up on Saturday. The last day of vacation is never fun - so we just took it slow. Checked out of hotel and grabbed a bite to eat at a really cool family-style restaurant before getting on the road again.

Filled gas tank - $4.27! WOW!

We decided to stop at West Branch at the Outlet Malls. Now my husband is one heck of a guy. He only stops at these places for me. Isn't he the best? He even did some shopping with me in Bath and Body Works. Now that's love, right ladies?

Ended up texting my friends of ours who were staying in a cottage up in Hale, Michigan, near Tawas. Knew we were pretty close - so called to see if they wanted to come over and shop with us. They ended up inviting us over - so we decided to make a "pit stop" for a little bit to hang with them. Ended up eating dinner and before you knew it - it was late. We still had 4 hours of driving home to do. So... we did what any sane person would do - - we stayed the night - adding ONE MORE night/day to our vacation. It was unexpected - and very fun! We laughed with friends, watched a movie and was able to spend some extra down time relaxing before heading back the next morning at 8 a.m.

Overall - it was a wonderful vacation! Expensive - yes. Longer than we had planned - yes. Well worth it - ABSOLUTELY! I love getting time like that to unplug and connect with my family. They are THE BEST and I am one blessed wife and mother!

Days 4-7 Highlights
~ Singing country tunes in the car with Chloe.
~ Driving across the bridge in Mackinaw (SCARY!)
~ Laying on grass next to Lake Michigan on the Island.
~ Fireworks on the beach.
~ Sharing some unexpected time with great friends!

Vacation Recap Days 2 & 3

Got up early on Monday morning, June 30. Not sure why - - I'm guessing it was the time change (one hour behind us). Whatever the reason - we were up and at 'em by 7 a.m.

We took some time to contemplate whether or not we should stay in Chicago for a little while - but as soon as we got on the road, it was very clear that Chicago traffic is NOT for us! So - we started headed north.

Ended up eating lunch at a really cool little bakery called Corner Bakery. Pretty neat little place! Got a Baby Bundt Cake (chocolate on chocolate of course!). YUM-O!

Then it was off to Wisconsin Dells. Gotta be honest - I fell asleep as soon as we hit the road. Must have been that the chocolate put me in a coma. I honestly don't remember much of the trip. I do remember waking up to the GPS lady's voice saying, "You have reached your destination". Oops.

Got the the Dells and this place is unbelievable! There must be well over 20 water park resorts - not to mention all the other large pool hotels! It was one right after the other! We ended up here. The main reason was because it was the largest water park in the Dells. 125,000 square feet indoor park, not to mention a killer outdoor park complete with over 7 big water slides, a lazy river (gotta just love the name of that when you're on vacation!) and a family raft ride. I'll tell ya what's a blast to watch is the Flowrider Surfing! These kids (sometimes younger than Chloe) are amazing to watch! Definitely something I'll always pass at - but fun to watch none-the-less. :)



After checking in to our hotel, we decided to do have dinner and then go play in the water park. Did I mention Chloe had her swim goggles on practically the whole ride to the Dells from Chicago? She was ready!

Following water park fun, Chloe got some Dippin' Dots and we headed back to the room.

End - Day 1.

Tuesday morning - another GREAT, beautiful day! The weather in the Dells was PERFECT... between 70-75 the whole time we were there!

We decided to take a one of these tours on Tuesday morning. An Army Duck = An Amphibious Truck that can run on land and water. It's a truck and it's a boat! :) It was fun. The 1-hour tour took us through parts of the Wisconsin River and by some pretty cool rock formations along the river. Got some pretty cool pics (Trev's camera, not mine). Had an awesome Tour Guide named Zach. He was funny and gave us some pretty informative information about the Dells... like the city used to be called Kilbourn City until the late 40's when the name was changed to Wisconsin Dells and there are over 3 million visitors to the Dells annually. The Dells certainly is place to plan to get to if you've never been. Especially if you have children who enjoy water parks! :)

Following our Duck Tour and lunch, we headed to the outdoor water park at our hotel for the day. This was probably our favorite afternoon. Just swimming in the pool - getting some sun and sliding down some incredible slides. Great day spent with my 2 favorite people on the planet!



At around 7 we decided to leave the water park and head to the city to look around. Before heading into town, we caught a horse carriage ride from Kalahari that took us for a 20 minute tour around the resort. It was fun. Our horse's name was Jake. Chloe thought the ride was pretty cool!

After getting into town around 8, we decided to eat at a place called Crabby's Seafood. This place was pretty neat! All-you-can-eat seafood buffet including salad bar and dessert bar. They actually bring you plate after plate of crab legs - as many as you can eat. Well worth the money you spend and a little entertainment from the pirate crew while you're eating. It was fun!

Following dinner, we headed into town to see what was "happening". LOTS was happening! The town was bustling! People everywhere. Stores open late, even during the week, to accommodate all the tourists.

We went into a couple stores for some souvenirs. Fun stuff - mostly all the same things in each store. Went into a really neat candy store that had every kind of Pez Dispenser you could ever imagine!

Got back to the hotel late, but had an awesome time! GREAT day! Lots of memories! Definitely will want to return someday to the Dells!















Day 2 and 3 Highlights
~ Seeing Chloe overcome her fears of the water slides!
~ Hanging by the pool with Trevor watching Chloe have the time of her life!
~ Hearing Chloe say "Chula Vista Baby" (inside joke you'll have to ask me about!)

Vacation Recap Day 1

Oh vacation, vacation - where have you gone? :0 Seems like it passes just as quickly as it came. No - let's face it - we wait and we wait for it and then it's gone in a blink of an eye.

This year's summer vacation was a great time! There's something to be said about 3 people trapped inside of a car for over 1,300 miles! I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as we did on this trip!

The first day was the windy city... Chicago! This was actually an "added" stop in our trip around Lake Michigan. And I have to admit - it was an expensive add-on. But none-the-less, time well spent!

We arrived in Chicago on Sunday, June 29, at around 2. Even at 2 p.m. on a Sunday, traffic was pretty heavy. We later discovered that it was partly due to the fact that the Taste of Chicago was going on right on the water. We contemplated going, but decided that it looked way too chaotic. (Yeah - duh! Everything is chaotic in Chicago!)

First we checked into our hotel - The Hard Rock Hotel. It was nice. It was TALL! Chloe loved being on the 23rd floor! I have to tell you - the most impressive thing about our stay was the bell boy service and the concierge! It was amazing! These men were amazing! Talk about customer service! These guys have been well trained - and they get it!

Following our check-in at the hotel, we decided to make the trip to this place. Chloe would say - this visit made it all worth it!



I am not sure who liked this place better - her or me! I'm not kidding! I was like a little girl all over again! "Get this one, Chloe! Get this one!" I kept saying. It was pretty sad when one time she commented back to me, "Mom, if you want one, you should get one!" :) Sad, I know! But these dolls were amazing (oh, and the prices were amazing too! NOT!) Here's Chloe by some dolls that I wanted.. (:))



(oh my - look at the blue tongue!)

And these ones were cool too!



We ended up with Kit. As in Kit Kittridge... the new movie that's out. Haven't seen it - but I suppose that the doll will be in tow when we do! :)

All-in-all, The American Girl Doll Place was a great experience! And I'm pretty sure we will make regular trips back there in years to come!

Next, following our doll place experience, was the Shedd Aquarium. Pretty neat place! If you haven't been - I suggest a trip out there! Well worth the money you pay for tickets! Unfortunately, the 4-D show was down when we were there - but I hear that's pretty cool, too! We spent about 3 hours at the Aquarium. Saw some amazing fish and turtles and sharks and lizards! My favorite, by FAR, were the Sea Otters and the Penguins (those little guys are amazing!)

Some of the most "curious" experiences about our trip to Chicago were the taxi rides. Unique to say the least. Chloe thought they were pretty "weird" as she later admitted following her inability to breathe due to an "unusual odor" in one of the cabbies! These were experiences.

At about 6:30 p.m. it was off to Fogo De Chao. WOW! For those who follow my on Twitter, I promised an entire post dedicated to my experience here. It's coming! All I will say is that I was certain following dinner here that I would never eat again. I've since re-evaluated this comment, but have decided that if I'm ever blessed to go again, I will fast for 2 days first. :)

At the end of the day, we were exhausted! It was raining and we had a nice night of sleep. GREAT first day!

Day 1 Highlights:
~ Getting off at an exit that advertised a store that no longer existed. :)
~ Hearing Trevor give the GPS lady "the business" when she was improperly directing us!
~ Eating lunch at an old-fashioned drive-up restaurant where they serve you your food on the trays that they attach to your car window.
~ Singing along to the radio with Chloe!
~ The Chubby Trout (gonna have to ask Trevor about that one!)
~ Taxi rides in downtown Chicago!
~ Eating at a Brazilian Steakhouse.

Home -- at last!

One week ago today we embarked upon a vacation journey that took us through 5 states, 1,350 miles and today, it's all over. I have to admit - I'm a always a bit sad coming back to reality - but we are all glad to be home. Happy to have had the opportunity to have seen so many different things (and tasted some terrific food!). We are blessed.

I'll be blogging my vacation highlights soon. Pics coming soon too!

Vacation Recap Days 4 and 5

Okay, so I am thoroughly convinced that Pennsylvania is the Pizza Hut capital of the world! It was amazing how many Pizza Hut's we ran across while we were in this glorious state! It was nuts! Now - Trevor keeps telling me that I'm nuts (I already knew that) and that there really weren't that many - but I swear to you that there was one on every corner we drove past! At least it seemed that way to me!

Day 4: June 28, 2007

Boy was I sore when I woke up on this day! Climbing up and down that water park play structure all day on Wednesday completely wore me out! Let's just say that even though I can still ACT like a 7 year old - I still FEEL like a 60 year old after a day like that! Oh well - it was such a good time I wasn't too worried about the pain in my knees and my achy-breaky back!

It has been one of mine and my husband's goals to get to Philadelphia one day to eat at one of the two famous Philly cheese steak joints. We watched a special on the Food Network a year or so ago that highlighted both places - Gino's and Pat's in downtown Philly and we knew at that moment we had to go. We are both big Cheese Steak fans. So - we decided to incorporate a stop to Philly in our family vacation. (Okay - nothing like letting the food be your guide!) :)

Once off the toll road just outside of Philly, we asked the booth attendant where to get the best cheese steaks in town and his reply was, "I'm a Gino's kinda guy myself." So - we took his advice and got directions.

The directions seemed easy enough - - this street to that street until you get downtown and then it's on the corner of 5th and this other street. How hard can that be? WELL - let me just tell you right now that after 2 and a half hours of driving - we saw more of downtown Philly than we ever care to see again. The town consists mostly of one way streets - so to get anywhere will frustrate the pants off you! Let's just say that we were just about to our breaking point when we finally found it!

Gino's and Pat's are rival cheese steak joints just opposite each other in the heart of the city. What amazed me was the people lined up for cheese steaks at nearing 2:30 in the afternoon. My guess is that it's like that most of the time around there.

We decided to stop at Pat's first. They are known as "The King of Steaks." Trevor and I split a steak and a drink. It was good. But what was more amazing is the sign that hung out front that described, in detail, how to order your steak. Now we were specifically told before even going to Philly that you NEVER place your order by saying, "I would like to get a Philly Cheese Steak." Um - DUH! You're in Philly, dude! Here is how you order (in slang), "Whiz Wit" or "Whiz Witout." That's it. Whiz Wit means you want it with Cheese Whiz (no other way but this way since it's the original way) with onions. Whiz Witout means you want it with Cheese Whiz and NO onions. Simple stuff folks. So - we were then able to order with confidence what we wanted and sounded like we knew what we were doing at the same time!

So - we decided to head to Gino's for a comparison. I've got to tell you - hand's down - Gino's was the best! This steak was juicy and buttery and just plain delicious! Notin' like it! Grab some napkins if you go, though, those things are messy, but well worth the greasy arms!

After leaving Philly we decided to head to the coast to see what we could find. This would mean crossing into New Jersey - or Jersey as we've been told to call it. So much slang to remember!

We landed in Long Branch, which is one mighty fine city right on the Atlantic Ocean. What a beautiful city! We literally passed mansion after mansion. It was amazing! We wondered what these people did for a living. It blew my mind!!

We ended up at a Resort right on the water called Ocean Place. This place was awesome WITH a pretty awesome price tag I might add! YIKES! Good thing we were only in for a night! This place was an all-inclusive resort complete with 2 pools, spa, tennis courts, private beach area, restaurant and a shopping center. The only bad thing was that it was overcast most of the time we were there - so that Atlantic wasn't very clear - but it was so nice just to sit on the beach for a bit and relax. There's nothing on this planet like sitting on the shore listening to the sound of waves crashing in! Nothing!

After some swimming and some relaxation and a good dinner, we were ready for bed. Another great day!

Day 5: June 29, 2007

Before leaving Jersey, we visited the beach again, picked us up some sea shells (that's a must) and ate a good lunch practically right on the water.

We knew we wanted to head closer to home and stay for probably one more night somewhere... but we just didn't know where the car was going to land us.

Now without offending anyone who may be reading this who is actually FROM Jersey - I have to just say one thing. 95% of the people we encountered in Jersey were just down right rude. I'm not sure what it is about living in in that particular state that makes them so grouchy - but I can tell you it's something. Even though I enjoyed my stay - I'm not ready to head back there anytime soon.

So - leaving the great state of Jersey, we decided to head back though Pennsylvania.

We landed in the Pocono's! What a pretty place! After a little bit of sight-seeing, it was pretty obvious where we were going to be staying! Chloe can spot a Great Wolf Lodge from a mile away! It was pretty much a no-brainer when we got closer that THAT was going to be the place to stay. We've been to Great Wolf in Traverse and ever since, our family has been hooked. There's just something about a gigantic indoor water park that tops off a week-long vacation! We enjoyed it so much - that we decided to stay for an additional night! I think what we really needed was that one extra day to do nothing. Just lay by the pool! That's it! After all the driving we did - we just needed that!

So - it was home on Sunday evening - and we rolled into town a little after 7 p.m.

It was one memorable vacation and I am blessed to have a wonderful home, family and friends to come back to!

Vacation Recap Day 3

Day 3 of vacation: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
So - of course this day had to be it's own stand-alone day. For one, it was the craziest day on vacation and for two, it was my daughter, Chloe's, 7th birthday!

For her "gift", we decided to spend the day at the new attraction at Hershey Park called, The Boardwalk. This place is the world's largest water play structure in the world... or so they tell us, and we decided to be there on a day that would prove to be the most challenging day on our trip.

The day started out perfect. Slept in a little later than normal... ate a Pay Day (from the night before) for breakfast... nice weather... it was going to be a great day!

At around 10:30 a.m. we arrived at Hershey Park. Did I mention that The Boardwalk is located in the very center of Hershey Park? Trying to wade through thousands of people to find the water in smoldering temperatures well past 95 degrees was and IS NOT my idea of a good time. I'll admit, I'm a baby. I just wanted to BE IN THE WATER for heavens sake. It felt like it was taking days to get there.

FINALLY - we arrived at the water park. Ooh - now I was getting excited. You would have thought it was my birthday or something!

We decided to rent one of those lockers. You know - the tiny ones that used to cost something like $.25 at Cedar Point (at least that's what I remember the cost being not too long ago!) Once we arrived, there were only small ones left. That was fine, I thought. I can shove everything in to fit! BUT THE COST OF THIS TINY BOX WAS $13!!! I was blown away! You've got to be kidding me? Everything in my bag, including the bag itself, wasn't worth $13. I'd have been better off risking someone ripping me off! For goodness sakes! BUT - we got a locker anyway - didn't really have a choice in the matter, I guess.

After putting everything away, we headed for the water park! Let me just tell you. If you EVER get the chance to go out to Hershey - - VISIT THE BOARDWALK! It's worth every penny you pay for the tickets to get in! TRUST me! A little overwhelming at first (there's just so much to see!) but it's a FLAMING good time! I've never laughed so hard in my whole life. And slides! Those slides were something else! I went down 3 different ones. I have to admit, I was a little nervous at first. I mean, could parents really go down slides? Was I too big to get in? Would I look silly? I was on vacation for crying out loud - WHO CARES! I went for it and I'm glad I did. I felt 7 all over again.

Well into the fun, clouds started forming in the sky and you could tell a storm was a brewing. BUMMER! I was one disappointed mama, let me just tell you right now! Because of the storm and the thunder, everyone had to be escorted out of The Boardwalk. They called it a level 2 storm - which, I later learned, is just fancy wording for a storm including thunder and lightning. We were told, by Pennsylvania residents, to wait it out for a half hour and the storm would blow over... evidently, they always did.

So - we waited. Great idea I had - - let's wait underneath this nice little tree. The key word here being "little". Needless to say - it didn't even COME CLOSE to keeping us dry. At one point Chloe decided to forget about trying to stay dry and she proceeded to dance in the rain! It was wonderful - and definitely a highlight of our whole trip. There is just something magical about dancing in the rain. We should all learn by the children and dance in the rain more often!

After waiting it out under the tree for about an hour, the rain finally stopped and people started to emerge from their coverings. It was like time stood still when it rained and everything stopped. Once the rain ended... it was as if a button had been turned back on and everything was up and running as normal. ALL EXCEPT for the water park! The rules for safety at The Boardwalk say that the park will only resume once the storm has passed and has completely ended 30 miles in any direction. We decided to stand back in line to wait for the park to re-open. This was like waiting for paint to dry! Talk about exhausting - - and HOT!! ARRGH! You could actually see people dropping like flies from the line. It was getting too hot for the little ones to sit out in the blazing sun much longer. Chloe managed to make herself a little hut on the cement with 2 damp towels. It was the only way she could stay cool.

After waiting in that terrible line for well over an hour and a half - they FINALLY opened back up the park doors! And WE were one of the first ones in!! YEAH! FINALLY - water!!! So - for the next 45 minutes - we were in pure bliss! Water to cool us off... slides to play on! This was what I called a vacation! THEN - - it happened again! Forty-five short minutes after entering the water park for the second time, a storm came up again and whistles blew calling everyone back out! That was it! We couldn't take anymore. We were out of there! Too much drama for one day! There was just no way we could wait another 2 hours or more to get back in the water. It was getting ridiculous. So - we decided to head for our lockers and get dry. Well - at least we would attempt to get dry!

Once all dried off, we headed to the amusement park side to ride some rides. Chloe was able to get in a few rides and even went on her first "big" ride all by herself - - the Swings! You should have seen her face! It was priceless! She was amazed at how high you went - and even more than that I was amazed I watched the whole thing! I was more scared than she was, I'm sure of it.

And then - the rain came... again. Rides shut down... again.

By this time, we were just purely exhausted. We were tired of fighting the rain. Tired from all the sun and just ready to be in a dry bed with dry clothes! So - we headed for the front of the park... popping in and out of stores every 2 minutes when buckets of rain would attack us.

Looking back on it - it was a great day! What we learned from the day was this: Some of life's greatest moments emerge from unpleasant circumstances. We didn't let the rain ruin our day - - we made our own fun and laughed anyway! It was a great day filled with great family memories that we will share for years to come. I was grateful to be spending a day like that with my two favorite people on this planet! Thank you, God, for life's little treasures like rain dancing on a Wednesday afternoon!

Day 3 Highlights:
Dancing in the rain
Sliding down the water slides with Chloe
Watching Chloe ride on her first big ride
Spending time with family!

Stay tuned for days 4 & 5!

Vacation Recap Days 1 and 2

Oh how I love vacations. Oh how I loathe vacations. Can both of these be true? They are for me! Our family doesn't take vacations very often. It just never happens for us. Trevor's job has put the brakes on them for the most part. Having worked contractual jobs most of our married life, vacations taken - were without pay - so we just didn't do them. But let's face it - we all NEED a break every now and then. A break preferably that includes eating, sleeping in late, eating some more, resting, did I mention eating, swimming and catchin' some nice rays?! The part that, well, pretty much stinks about the whole vacation thing, is coming back. Yes - coming back to reality. Coming back to all the bills shoved in your mailbox. Coming back to piles on your work space in your office. And coming back to the dreaded laundry. Darn things won't clean themselves.

Since this was indeed one of the longest vacations we have taken, I have decided to break it up into 4 parts... Days 1 and 2, Day 3, Days 4 and 5 and Day 6. Yep - 6 nights, 7 days and lots to talk about... so here we go.

My wonderful, creative (oh, and handsome) husband, Trevor, has this theory that he still stands by after this vacation is over... DON'T MAKE PLANS - DON'T MAKE RESERVATIONS - - just GET IN THE CAR AND GO. While I will admit that this is fun most of the time, some of the time it is just down right frustrating. I go along with it, though - - hey, he's the one driving! I can always kick back, fall asleep and wake up to a new state. Nothing about that you shouldn't like. :)

Day 1: Monday, June 25
Our plans were to leave by 8:30 a.m. We know how "plans" work (maybe Trevor's on to something here). However, after getting the dog to the kennel, packing last minute things, making sandwiches for the long drive the first day, taking back movie rentals and picking up the rental car... we just didn't make it out when we thought we should. So, I think we pulled out of Adrian somewhere around 10:30 a.m. Not good... but not too bad.

Now, I have to clarify something. We DID know that we were headed out east and we DID know that "east" included Hershey, Pennsylvania. Chloe's birthday was on Wednesday, so we did know that we wanted to include Hershey Park as a stop on her actual day. So - that's the direction we headed.

First stop - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We rolled in at around 5 p.m. Remember - we had no reservations, so first priority was finding a place to stay. We did just that and then spent some time roaming this cute town. What a place! Loads of history. Now I'm no history buff, but I did enjoy the site-seeing in Gettysburg.
After some sight-seeing, Chloe was anxiously awaiting her time in the hotel's outdoor pool. To be honest, after the 95 degree day - so was I! We hit the pool and then went to bed. Pretty tiring first day, but hey, I could get used to this whole vacation thing! What job?

Day 2: Tuesday, June 26
We signed up for one of the Battlefield Tours on one of those really neat double decker buses. You know, the funny looking ones? The 2-hour tour began at 9 a.m. (glad it wasn't a 3-hour tour.. We might not have made it back :) haha!) By 9 a.m., it was over 90 degrees outside and we decided to sit up top. Nice! Boy was it hot! But I did get some nice sun on my face and arms.
Now how she did this, I will never know, but Chloe actually FELL ASLEEP on the top of that bus! Twice! After each stop I caught her dosing off. It was incredible. Guess that sun just wore her right out, poor thing!
Following the bus tour we went back to the hotel, packed up and checked out. Headed for our next destination.
Now this next destination was my heaven on earth. I know it's going to sound weird, maybe even sick, but this made the entire vacation worth it for me. We visited this place. Okay - I collect them, so I HAD to go! And let me JUST tell you... anyone who collects Boyd Bears HAS to HAS to HAS to visit this place at least once in their lifetime! There is absolutely nothing like it! No kidding. I don't know how long we were there (my guess would be 3 hours) but it was AMAZING. And I STILL didn't see all I wanted to see! $117 later, though, Trevor was convinced that he would carry me out if he had to!
Back on the road....
Next stop: Hershey!
We arrived in Hershey at around 5 p.m. and I am NOT kidding - you can actually SMELL the chocolate when you enter the town! I'm not joking. Trevor kept telling me it was my imagination - but I swear to you, our vents were blowing in the sweet smell of cocoa powder from the first turn into the town.
We decided to check out the hotel that the Hershey Park pamphlet actually recommends called Hotel Hershey. Um.. let me just say this right now... even if they would have HAD rooms available - we wouldn't have stayed there! The room rate was over $450 a night! I don't care WHAT they had available or HOW old and GRAND the hotel was - it was NOT worth taking out a second mortgage on our house! We settled for a Days Inn. MUCH nicer on the wallet!
After arriving to our room and freshening up - we decided to head to Hershey Park to check out Chocolate World. This place is the coolest place! For a chocolate lover - it was my second heaven on earth in ONE DAY!
We bought some chocolate (DUH!), ate some chocolate (DUH!), saw a Chocolate 3D movie and rode the simulated Chocolate ride. Oh and did I mention that we bought even more chocolate after that - because once you are finished with the ride - they dump you into this NEW, HIDDEN chocolate store that has everything in the world chocolate to buy! NICE! Trevor was practically carrying me out of that place, too. VACATIONS are AWESOME when they include Boyd Bears and Chocolate. (don't you poor Trevor me, he enjoyed himself just as much as I did.)
What was the funniest thing about the whole day was that we actually ran into people we knew!!! Now I have been known as the woman who knows everyone everywhere I go - but I didn't know that would still be true over 400 miles away! Yes - it's true. Our Children's Ministry Director, Shari Glass's, kids were visiting their grandparents in Vermont and were there visiting the park on the VERY SAME DAY we were there! How funny was that!? Trevor actually took their picture to prove to Shari that we saw them! I cannot imagine how weird her poor parents must have thought we were!
Following Chocolate World we went to Red Robin to eat and then back to the hotel.
Another great day!

Day 1 and 2 Highlights:
The beautiful ride into Pennsylvania
Gettysburg Tour
Boyd Bear Heaven
Swimming with Chloe and Trevor singing songs and being silly
Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate!

Nothing could have prepared us for Wednesday, though. Stay tuned for more... :)