July 27-30: OHIO

The last two days in Cincinnati were the perfect combination of spending time with family and also exploring the city. Cincinnati is a very interesting city, with lots of different neighborhoods to explore. We continued the quest to find the best Chili and headed to Blue Ash (recommended by Guy Fieri on DDD and also Roadfood.com). It was good, but Kendall and I decided that Price Hill had them beat, at least for the chili itself. We also had dinner at Dewey's, a local favorite for pizza. We even made it to Jazzercize 3 days in a row, which is some sort of miracle. We went to Findlay market and bought Amish chickens and made dinner at home the last night for Paige and Len and Jennifer, Chris and Avery. Avery, 3, is adorable and Kendall and I took her and Jake to the Children's Museum that afternoon. The next morning was a sad goodbye, but it had been a nice visit, not so quick like many have been on the trip so far.

Jake, Clover and I headed out towards Fostoria, OH with a quick stop to buy some Skyline Chile, so Scott could experience it too. My cousin Gwynne has a huge, beautiful property surrounded by lovely farms and they live in a log home that they built themselves. Their place makes the best campground too! Jake got to meet lots of cousins plus my Uncle Ron and Aunt Jeanne. The last time I had seen Gwynne's kids they were babies and preschoolers and boy have they grown up! Sure makes you feel old!! They were very sweet to Jake and he had a blast! Scott arrived later in the day from his adventures in Rock Falls and Oshkosh. Uncle Ron and Aunt Jeanne brought a lovely dinner of Greek Food from a well-known place in Bowling Green and we drank wine and had a great time. Casey had spent all morning making fancy cupcakes for dessert. Russ made a fire and the girls played the Guitar and Ukelele and gave us a lovely show. Jake chimed in on a song or two as well. We had intended to move on and camp at Cedar Point the next night, but it turned out that we would be able to see my cousin Holly too if we stayed Friday night. So, we had to do that! Cousin #4 of the trip for me....pretty cool! It's always fun to get together and talk about when we were kids in Indiana. My grandparents had a Shasta parked back at their pond and we used to play cards and have the best time. So, it seemed fitting to have the Shasta here. We did go to Cedar Point, an incredible amusement park right on Lake Erie. But, we didn't make it too long because I got completely nauseous from the second roller coaster! Jake was raring to go, and he did go on all the scary ones he was tall enough for. Man, I'm really feeling old!! I hated to be the party pooper, that is not my style! So, it was really nice to get back to Gwynne's and then Uncle Ron came back out with Holly and her son Caden. We got a few hours of catching up and it was really nice to see everybody on the Stoner side of the family!!!

Jake and Avery at the Cincinnati Children's Museum

Dinner at Paige and Lens with Kendall, Jennifer, Chris and Avery

Fostoria is home to my cousin Gwynne, Russ and their 3 kids, Tyler, Miranda and Casey

The property is a kids paradise, complete with swimming (and fishing) pond!

Casey made beautiful cupcakes for everybody!

Rope Swing too!

A rare photo to have this much family together!

Jake, Tyler and Casey at the pond.

Russ built a great fire at "our campsite"

Miranda and Casey played for us and Jake even sang along.

Holly's son, Caden, Casey and Jake playing in the huge yard

Cousins Bobbi (formerly know as "Barb"), Gwynne and Holly

Uncle Ron!!

Trailerless Travels: WI, OH, KY: July 22-26

The logistics of leaving the truck and trailer in Oshkosh, WI, and dropping off Scott in Rock Falls, IL and us heading out to Cincinnati were a little tricky, but all went well. We drove a rental car on to Rock Falls from Oshkosh, stopping in Madison, WI and a "cheese stand" to sample the curds, aka "squeaky cheese". We will have to have a separate entry of Scott's adventures at the Fly-In in Rock Falls and the Air Show in Oshkosh after we are back together later this week. We had an easy 7 hour drive into Cincinnati on Saturday to my cousin Paige's house. It was great to see Paige and her husband Len and also my Aunt Kendall, visiting from Panama. Paige puts me to shame when it comes to being a hostess. She has a gift for making things nice and Jake, Clover and I are basking in comfort and style, right down to the scented towels wrapped in bows! We made it in time to go to a fantastic party in the country in Kentucky. We had been on the road 13 days and had 13 states under our belts at this point, although some a brief drive through. The party was in honor of Paige and Len's daughter-in-law Jennifer's one year survival and birthday. The setting was beautiful and the food was plentiful! We played cornhole and Jake had a blast playing with the kids. Clover had fun too! On Sunday, we were given a grand tour of Big Bone Lick State Park and Rabbit Hash Kentucky. The mayor of Rabbit Hash is a Border Collie named Lucy Lu. (http://www.rabbithashusa.com/)

In Rabbit Hash, you stand in Kentucky, overlooking the Ohio River to the town of Rising Sun, Indiana. Paige made incredible "B&B" style breakfasts Sunday and Monday morning, and we even made it to Jazzercize to help burn it off. But, this being a "road food" focussed trip, I wanted to try the famous Cincinnati chili. We headed to Price Hill Chili (http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1166/price-hill-chili) and I must say, it was delicious. Another famous Cincy icon is Graeter's for ice cream, so of course, we checked that out too.

We are in Cornhole Country! Loved the Bengals board. Photo of Bobbi with Jennifer Fossett below and also of Jake with the Kentucky kids! Also, see Jake's new cruiser bike in front of Paige's house.

Yep, you read it right. BIG BONE LICK....had some fun with that one. Too bad Scott missed it. And Rabbit Hash was classic! We went to a Kentucky Wine Tasting Room there. Hmmm, I think I'm spoiled in CA!

July 20 & 21: SD, MN & on to Oshkosh, WI

We felt like we spent a long time in South Dakota, or maybe it's just a really long state. But, we are big fans, at least of the summertime. It is beautiful, clean, and had great weather during our visit. After our night in Sturgis, we headed east via a beautiful county road that took us through Deadwood and so many neat roadside spots. We would like to come back to the Black Hills and Deadwood for a longer visit. What a cool area! Then the decision was to head east through the Badlands National Park, or forgo that for the Interstate 90 so Jake could experience and I could relive a stop at Wall Drug. It's really not the stop at Wall Drug that is the experience, it's the anticipation. Jake earned a quarter for every Wall Drug sign we passed that he could read. He made $12.75 to spend there! It was very exciting!

One of hundreds of Wall Drug Signs. Scott spotted the first one in Wyoming.


We had another stop across South Dakota at the Pioneer Auto Museum, the one and only attraction in Murdo. An enormous collection of autos and vintage memorabilia, right up the boys alley! Even boat motors...note Scott's matching shirt. Jake participated in the treasure hunt throughout the dozens of buildings and won a frisbee.
Our last official South Dakota stop was at Bob's Cafe in Sioux Falls. We found it on Roadfood.com. http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/671/bobs OMG!!! The best chicken ever, by far, we have ever eaten. The photo does not do it justice. And the place is a crack up. We ate at the counter and enjoyed watching the "action". The sign is bigger than the diner. They call it "broasted", but it is some kind of pressure cooker frying that made it just YUMMY. More good healthy eating. This however, was totally worth it! It was cheap too!


We finally crossed the border into Minnesota. We stayed at a fantastic family style campground in Waseca, called Keisler's Campground, on Clear Lake. We had our first real campfire so far on the trip. And Jake saw lightning bugs for the first time. We laid awake listening to it pour rain all night! As we drove east Thursday morning, things looked wetter and wetter. We passed by lots of corn and porn....it's funny how many adult stores you see in these parts! Apparently, there has been a lot of flooding going on and we were headed into it. We crossed over the Mississippi River and continued a nice farmland drive into OshKosh, WI. We are getting ready to drop off the truck and trailer at the airport for the Oshkosh Air Show that Scott is flying in the C-47 with Sherman and a big group. We are hoping things dry up a bit. Thousands of people are heading into Oshkosh to camp during the festivities, and it is just too wet right now. Thankfully, Scott and Sherman have passes to park the trailer out on the tarmac under the wing of the airplane. Jake, Clover and I will be heading to Cincinnati on Saturday to visit my cousin Paige (and Aunt Kendall will be there too) while the boys camp out at the air show.