Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
VACATION TIME! Ron's vacation week, anyway. We didn't really have anything planned, but then we got to thinking - why not go away for an overnight trip? - and we started thinking of where is close enough to drive to one day and come back the next, but still feel that we went somewhere.
We thought of "Amishville" - mid-Ohio (Berlin, Holmes Co., etc.); Gatlinburg; Brown County (Nashville), Indiana; and then finally settled on Marblehead and Put-in-Bay (Lake Erie), up in Sandusky, Ohio.
Since I have TOPS on Tuesday evenings, we decided to go on Wednesday and come back on Thursday. We asked Bert and Teresa to go with us. Bert agreed, but Teresa said she just couldn't manage it right now.
Bright and early Wednesday morning - 8am - off we go!!
Let me tell you -- do not ever EVER EVER believe Google Maps exclusively -- I mean, I thought they were better than MapQuest, but DAMN! They sent us on TWO "scenic tours" that were totally unnecessary, because we ended up back on the same road (once 75N) that we were already on! Now, true, there may have been some road construction going on in those spots at some time, but in that case, they need to update a little more often. I guess I was a little to blame, too, for not reading through the steps and/or not checking other places for directions, but blindly trusting them.
We FINALLY get up there a couple hours after we expected to, and went straight to Marblehead Lighthouse, walked around and enjoyed the place, then we went back to Sandusky and our motel. They remembered us! That was a great feeling - we hadn't been there for oh, seven, eight years and they remembered us. They are the nicest people. It was a shame that they had to fill in their pool, but they made a very nice terrace/patio with a grill and all for their patrons, but...
We had an early evening, because traveling is tiring and we've got to get up early tomorrow!
We'd decided to do the Kelley's Island and Put-in-Bay loop on the Goodtime I boat. It leaves the dock at 9:30am and returns at 6:30pm. But it gives you plenty of time on each island, and I'm pretty sure my back will stand up to the putt-putt (relatively) speed of being on the lake, as opposed to the rush of Jet Express. We've done this boat tour before, and it works for us. This will put us a little later than we thought getting on the way home, but we'll live.
We set every alarm we could and we dragged our lazy asses up and left in plenty of time. We got big hugs from the lady at the motel as we all said goodbye, and she thanked us so many times for remembering them. We drove to the pier, parked, got our tickets and boarded the boat, watching the cloudy skies the whole time. Ron was crying about his sweatshirt, but finally braved it without even a jacket. It was warm, just cloudy and most probably was going to rain. We rode on the open top deck of the boat, and it was quite enjoyable. Bert stood up at the front rail so she could get her eyes full the whole way.
As we were on Kelley's Island, it did start raining, but it was just a drizzle.
We only went to Inscription Rock and then back to the Glacial Grooves, and it was as we were coming back from the Grooves that it started raining. I took a couple pictures at a park as Ron went into a store (he wanted chips), then we went back to the boat. I stayed in the bottom (the enclosed lower deck) of the boat, while Ron and Bert went back up top. But it was rainy, even though there was a canopy-type top, and the floor was getting wet, so they soon came back down.
We got over to Put-in-Bay. We got ourselves some lunch, did some shopping and checked out the merry-go-round, then we went over to Perry's Monument. Bert and I went up in the Monument, walking the 37 steps before taking the elevator to the top. It was pouring down the rain by this time, and we were the only two up there, which was nice. The Rangers were super nice to us, even if they thought we were crazy, and answered all of Bert's questions (I've been there before, remember) and just talked to us. Once again, though, I didn't get to see Canada. You can only see Canada on clear days. Phooey!
When we came back down, we headed back to the boat. We were a little early, but at this point, we didn't care. We'd seen and done all we wanted to!
We got back to Sandusky and headed for home.
We stopped for supper new North Baltimore at a restaurant called the Iron Skillet, but I don't think it's like any Iron Skillet around here. It was in a truck stop-type plaza, and man did they have some cool stuff in that plaza! Too bad I didn't have more time and money - I could have done some serious Christmas shopping! - but, we just ate supper on our little skillet shaped plates, and then we hit the road again.
Not long after that, a terrible, terrible thunderstorm started. It was AWFUL!! Driving down 75S, we were doing around 30mph. Semis were passing us, but only semis. Other cars were not going very fast at all, and occasionally, I had to pass another car going even slower. Every single car, and some semis, had their 4-way flashers on. After 10 miles or so, Bert started saying that she wanted to stop for the night somewhere. Ron and I thought that we'd drive out of the storm, but we drove mile after mile and it didn't ease up. So, we started watching for the blue Lodging signs and we passed two exits that had Gas and Food, but no Lodging. Wonderful. Finally, we started spotting signs that said Lodging ahead, and we were all relieved. We drove out of the storm getting off of that exit, but it started raining again as we were getting to the hotel. We unloaded the car under the overhang by the front door, and only I got wet as I drove to the door closest to our room and ran in. So, we spent another night on the road just above Dayton.
This morning, we took advantage of the breakfast available to us and took our time getting ready to hit the road again. We didn't get going again until close to 10:00, so we didn't get on "home turf" until after noon. Chelle and Corgan were at Josh's work with him, and the three of them met us at Bob Evans for some lunch, and that was a very satisfying end to our little vacation.
We dropped Bert off, then got home, got everything carried in, and Ron left to go pick up his paycheck. I took a nap.
When I woke up, Ron was here. Corgan was here. And our Friday night had begun.
The guys went fishing across the road, even though it was starting to rain, and came back when it started to lightning. We each found our own supper, and the TV is on now. Mythbusters tonight. Whee!
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