AUGUST 15 - 17 HEADING HOME TO RESCUE JACOB AND ISAIAH FROM DAYCARE

 Friday  August 15th - It was a beautiful sunny day but our moods were not so sunny. Jennifer had been telling us the boys were not doing well at the Day Care. They were just getting worse rather than adjusting and settling into the new routine so we made the difficult decision to cut our trip short and go home. We had been missing them so much and nothing was more important than the well-being of our family. We drove 486 miles to a rest stop in Allegany, New York before stopping for the night. We were road-weary as we played “Rest Stop” by Matchbox Twenty pulling into our parking spot ready to Boondock. Good ole Yogi; our B&B on wheels.

Saturday  August 16th - We awoke to the sounds of semi-truck engines around us. We stepped out into a parking lot instead of a pretty campsite but the weather was beautiful. We Facetimed with Jennifer and the boys and were greeted with a very excited Jacob saying “Are you home???” Jennifer explained we were on our way. We planned an excursion to Jamestown, NY for part of the day; the hometown of Dana’s favorite comedian, Lucille Ball. The stop proved to be VERY enjoyable. We first stopped by the cemetery where Lucy was buried in the family plot along with many other members of the Hunt side of her family. She was raised in the home of her maternal grandfather/grandmother Hunt after her father’s passing when Lucy was 4 years old and she remained close with them, her mother and brother throughout their lives. Next we stopped at the local park where they had 2 commemorative statues of Lucy; one an excellent likeness and another that was replaced due to the poor likeness but still loved by the community due to depicting the famous Vitameatavegamin episode. We then drove by the home where Lucy grew up and the current owners had embraced it’s heritage by painting the garage navy with white polka dots like one of Lucy’s dresses. When then went to the Lucy Desi Museum where we saw fabulous exhibits that included costumes, interesting facts, recorded stories from writers, memorabilia, reconstructed sets, production facts, old scripts, personal home movies from Lucy and Desi, and so many other great interactive exhibits. Dana reenacted Vitameatavegamin and Michael and Dana went into the set of the I Love Lucy show. It was so much fun!!! We then walked down the sidewalks of Jamestown looking for all the murals the town has on display in honor of their favorite red head. When we were finished in Jamestown we continued our journey home driving 177 miles to Kirtland Hills, OH where we Boondocked at another rest-stop for the night.









ORIGINAL REJECTED MEMORIAL STATUE - LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HER
















































































Sunday  August 17th - We awoke early for our last day on the road. It was another hot, sunny day. We drove a total of 326 miles to get home just at night fall in Pendleton but on our way we stopped for one last hurrah at Cuyahog Valley National Park in Ohio. Ironically, with all our adventures this vacation, this stop was our second planned stop at an actual National Park. We really enjoyed the beauty of this park at the individual stops but we didn’t prefer how the sites were scattered several miles from each other requiring a drive through urban and suburban communities to access. We first stopped at the Visitor’s Center for orientation then drove to our first hike to the beautiful Brandywine Falls and Brandywine Gorge. We next hiked the Ledges Area Trail which we discovered was not well marked resulting in a few detours on our part until we found our way back! Our last hike was at the Beaver Marsh which was a fascinating wetland that emerged from a transformed salvage yard when nature was allowed to take it’s course after beaver damed the nearby lake. We saw and heard SO MANY BIRDS during our walk through the wetlands. So fun. We were so grateful for this time we had together on our vacation, for the opportunity, and the health to travel. We feel very blessed to have had our adventure and to be home once again. 


































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