Boston or Bust - NOT!

It was approaching Labor Day Weekend and our long weekend trip to Boston!  Neither of us had ever been and we were excited to see a new city with new sites.  Won a bid on Priceline for the Intercontinental Hotel right on the water!  Had the city mapped out, coupons printed and places to do and things to see planned.  When what to my wondering eyes should appear?  Why, it's Hurricane Earl...not a dear!  Bummer!  Hurricane Earl was busy churning up the coast and the eastern seaboard.  The day before we were to fly out, Boston appeared on the official potential "target" list as a possible "hit!"  I had to make a decision and fast...so I sprang into action....  I kept my fingers crossed as I called Priceline hoping against hope that they would at least give me a credit for the pre-paid hotel.  I thought I was in trouble when I explained we needed to cancel because of the hurricane and the reply I got was "What hurricane?"  Uh oh!  Turned out he was on the southwest side of Mexico and they tracked all the hurricanes, so he was really serious and meant "which hurricane?"  I was in total shock when he offered a TOTAL refund back to my card!!!  I was really suprised, but immediately said Yes, thank you!  Then I called Airtran, who had already repeatedly said "don't call them...they're busy!"  Got through in about 5 minutes (which is unbelievable at any time, let alone a hurricane time)  They offered me a 100% credit to be used in the next year!  No penalties, no cancellation fees due to the hurricane.  YAY!  YAY!  YAY!  I couldn't believe my ears.  So no harm, no foul!  Now that we decided to stay in good 'ole hurricane free Indiana for the long weekend...what to do? 
Well...........we started with a good 'ole fashioned fish fry on Friday:

Then moved on to White River Gardens, Ribfest and downtown Indy on Saturday:  

Can you tell which butterfly is from our garden and which is a "professional" butterfly from the White River Gardens?

Ribfest....MMMMmmmmm Yummy!

Adding my opinion to the IUPUI discussion boards.

Look!  A downtown Boston trolley!  Maybe we really are in Boston!?  Maybe this is "Lost?"  Ahh, the city keeps moving!  (must be a Lost fan to follow that diatribe!)

Shopping in Little Nashville on Sunday.

Riding 20 miles on Cardinal Greenway in Muncie on Monday, Labor Day.  (and labor we did!)  If we had made it to the end of the path (34 mile round trip) we would have been rewarded with a quaint restaurant at the end of the trail.  Sigh!  Too bad...didn't make it.  (Note to self...get in shape...goal for next time!)  :-)  Did you know that there are over 100 miles of bike trail running N/S on the eastern side of the state.  Goes all the way to Fort Wayne and down to some little Indiana burg on the south.



Tuesday went to the Badlands in Attica:

On the way back, stopped for ice cream cones and found a cool corn maze:

 Check out my awesome shots from laying on the ground and looking upwards.  Figured I could win a big photography contest with these:

Thankfully, we had the most picture perfect weather all weekend!  Good thing we stayed here!

Boston or Bust?  Naaahhh!!  Indiana is Incredible!

2 States in 2 Days!

Creation Museum and Newport Aquarium here we come!  We were blessed with beautiful weather (hot but luckily the humdity had dropped) for our trip.  First stop was the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.

Gigantum Lillies in the pond at the Creation Museum

Flowers on the Grounds at the Creation Museum

We opted to go to the petting zoo first and feed the animals.  Plus we wanted to see the new addition of the zorse and the zonkey since we had last been there.

Hungry, hungry!

Hello!

Vince and the Zonkey

After a fine lunch at the Noah's Cafe several of us opted for camel rides on Gomer.  He was getting tired and had not had HIS lunch yet and was getting a little cantakerous.

  

We finally made it inside the Creation Museum to enjoy Snakes Alive.  A special presentation about snakes...did you know they are a created kind too?  Who knew?  :-)

Yep, that's us, Ty, Ann, Debbie and Vince holding a Python!

The day ended with a wonderfully inexpensive dinner at Cheddar's...our new favorite restaurant.  Too bad there aren't any around Indy anymore.

The next morning we set out for Newport Aquarium and to ride the ducks...no, not the kind that quack.

The kind you ride on land

and on water too!

Really enjoyed the Newport Aquarium.  Lots of fish and turtles to see.  If you've never been, check it out.  It's just over the river from Cincinnati.  It's a great aquarium!

Well, the day is almost done, so we drove around Cincinnati a little to see the sites and then headed back to Indy.  Another awesome weekend!

Indiana Ocean and Beluga Encounter

It was a dark and stormy night.....no not really...it was a humid and very hot afternoon!  We took off around 11:30 a.m. to start the day with lunch at Trader's Point Creamery.  YUM!

After our bellies were full with a $50+ lunch of very good sandwiches including a $6.50 milkshake, we were ready for the long, rugged road ahead of us.  (and miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep.)

As we headed up 65 through the cornfields of Indiana...(I think cornfields are beautiful...I don't care what the city folk say.)  The most interesting site was the addition of the windmills.  I couldn't decide if Indiana now resembles California or something off of the old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Total Recall.  You decide!  Either way it was kind of weird!

So, after long strenuous hours of driving we made it to northern Indiana and the famed Indiana Ocean...the Indiana Dunes!  We walked along the water's (cold, cold) edge and stuck our feet in the clear water.  Ahhhh!  Ocean!  :-)   I was quite shocked to see the pilfering that was going on along the beach...things have really degraded here!  Someone had left their beach blanket and belongings unattended to and thieves were there to pick off what they could. (See open bag of chips...tasty!) 

The beach looked like I remembered...close your eyes...open them again and you are transported to Florida or better yet California's water edge!  Sigh!

Onward ever! The next morning we took the Southshore train in to Chicago for our Beluga Encounter at Shedd Aquarium. It was awesome! We fed Bella and Peruji and interacted with them for 45 minutes+! Really cool experience.  (Especially being that the water was 55 degrees!)  That's me...head bumping with Bella!

Sunday morning we found a really neat place in Valparaiso, called Tall Tree Arboretum. We spent some time hiking it and checking out the wildlife. They have over 350 acres and lots of trails that wind between lakes, woods, and wildflowers.  If you are ever in the area, I recommend stopping to check it out.

And of course no trip would be complete without...Chocolate!  Pièce de résistance!

YAY!  Happy 19th Anniversary to us!

Memorial Day Weekend

A hot and humid Memorial Day weekend could not deter the expert campers!  Mom, Dad, Vince and I set out for the beautiful cabins at Crane Naval Base and the relaxing hum of the pontoon motor across Lake Greenwood.  This year we decided to only take necessary items to cut down the load on the shocks of the van...

Yes, all of this was very necessary!  Dad is the driver, Vince is in the passenger seat, Mom in the back and I am strapped to the roof as we are now officially out of space.  And so the trip begins....

We only got a few miles down the road...and in what was to be one of many successful wildlife rescues.... Dad stopped the van (in the middle of the highway) and Vince got out and guided a box turtle helplessly stranded in the road (certain death was imminent!) to the safety of the woods.  Whoohoo!  Wildlife Rescue I - SUCCESS!

On to Crane, the cabins and the lake looked exactly as we remembered....we busied ourselves putting away our few meager supplies for the weekend.  (We like to rough it, ya know!)

As I was working away, I heard a commotion on the cabin's front porch...sure that it was an intruder, I took my new karate defensive position...when what to my wandering eyes should appear?  Why it's Rocky Raccon, what a dear!

Isn't she the cutest ever?

She was attempting to pull items off the front porch...to decorate her own place I suspect. The liquid bleach to clean the showers sadly met with its untimely demise.

(See Rocky's teeth marks in the bottom of the bottle.)  Rocky soon became our campsite pet...more on that later!

Onward ever...first night was a campfire with delicious campfire pizzas:

 The next day dawned bright and sunny and we were out to catch a boatload of fish:

And catch we did!  Look at the whopper Mom hauled in!  :-)  (Ah, well, there is always the Amish Restaurant up the street...I think they serve fish!)

One evening Vince and I set off for a hike and once again saved endangered wildlife:

We came upon this ancient burial shrine....think "Lost" at it's best....the little frog knew that the smog monster would be there to get him soon and was trembling with fear.  Vince valiantly plucked the frog from his perch and placed him in an area of safety where neither Jacob nor the Man in Black could do harm.  Wildlife Rescue II - SUCCESS!

I am the Captain of My Fate!  (well, seaman first class of the pontoon, at least!)

Rocky the Raccon became a regular under our cabin.  She would be nowhere to be found until the food came out and then she mysteriously would appear.  She loved potato chips, frosted mini-wheats, hot dogs and peanuts.  Heeeeeerrrrrreeee's Rocky!

Well, sadly, all good things must end....well, actually they don't have to....but anyway.  Once again we are on our way ....this time headed home, but not before one final wildlife rescue....meet Boxy the Box Turtle.  Wildlife Rescue III - SUCCESS!

Camping at Crane on Memorial Day Weekend?  SUCCESS!