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Published: November 27th 2011
We left Tim, Hiroko, and family and headed for Ohio and a stay with John's family. It was his mother's 85th birthday and brother Todd's twins, Kelli and Kory, were celebrating their 14th on the same day. The only campground open after the first of November was Punderson State Park. It was about 25 minutes drive to the folks, but was also close to Chesterland and the area John grew up in. He had skied, golfed and sledded there as a high-schooler and so it was like old home week. The campground had a heated bathhouse with hot water for showers,a great view of the lake, and plenty of woods and brush for the cats to explore. We invited John's folks to lunch that first day so they drove up and we spent a pleasant afternoon relaxing and enjoying life in the RV. Dinner that evening was to be with the Todd Kinley's at Guido's, the
BESTpizza spot anywhere. We met Todd, Sandy, Natalie, and Kelli there and Todd had wine to celebrate with. Guido's pizza is Neapolitan and square (I got the center piece!) and always gooey and yummy with lots of cheese and thick, soft crust. It brought back
John
We fixed lunch for the folks in the RV then sat around catching up on news until dinner. First time they got to spend time in our "home away from home".lots of memories from high school days when we used to meet as groups and devour the pizza.
Tuesday we drove to the folks and spent the morning relaxing and catching up on news. Dad is very involved in genealogy and took the time to show me how to research using Ancestry.com, which is available at all Ohio public libraries for free. I spent time looking up Trish's father and learned how to use the tool and research using census and other reports. That evening we were all going to the Boneyard in Mayfield Heights for dinner. Folks had been there before so we looked forward to an enjoyable evening. The Boneyard is an old movie theater converted to video arcade/sports bar/music hall. We figured there would be no games that night, so thought it would be a quiet time. Wrong!! This was the night 4-10 year olds were on stage performing with a live band doing Karaoke. Though the place was only about 1/3 full, the mic was at full volume and the sound deafening. We ordered then had to wait for over an hour for the food to arrive. I finally went, found the head waitress, and
Dinner at Guido
John, Sandy, Natalie, Kelli, Todd, Trish complained about the noise and slow service. They moved us to a back room (which we had requested initially) and finally the food came. We ate hurriedly, left, and drove to Todd's so we could, in calmer surroundings, have cake and ice cream. Todd and Sandy have recently remodeled part of the house with new flooring and it looked great. We had ice cream cake and some wine and sang Happy Birthday to Mom and Kelli. It ended up a lot of fun and a chance to see Kelli a bit more.
Wednesday was a slow morning. We gave the folks (and us) a chance to relax after the hustle of the day before and went over to their place late morning. We sat and talked, showed pictures of the trip and house in Alabama, and that evening, after a great dinner from mom, taught them how to play Mexican Train with dominoes. Later we Skyped with Kim and helped Dad with directions so he could easily Skype with his other grandchildren later.
Next day we got to the folks mid-morn and then headed out to Corky and Lenny's for lunch. This is a place I used to
Appetizer (?) for kids
This was an appetizer--Lucky Charms with milk. OK, appeals to kids. But it must have been close to a full box of sweet stuff. go after dances while in high school. (Actually, it's a new location in Beechwood and not as big as the older spot in University Heights. But the food is still awesome.) We started with a bowl of dill and half sour pickles and then ordered corned beef. I had what I always used to have: corned beef, turkey, and Swiss cheese with lettuce and tomato. Hmmm, sandwiches seem to have gotten bigger. I used to eat that sandwich, chips, drink, and top it off with a big piece of cake. Now I had trouble getting through the sandwich. I learned to my dismay that the cake they always used to have--multi layer of white cake with butter cream icing and whipped cream on top with a Hersey square--was no longer being served. (Would have had to been "to go".) We left purchasing some fresh bagels and a jar of pickles. Then off to the University Hospital, just down the street. No problems, just wanted to see the beautiful Gihooly blown glass that adorned part of the building inside. This new hospital has all kinds of art work around the lobby and in the common areas. Really very nice. Then it
Corky and Lenny
Yep, must be 1/2 pound of corned beef with swiss cheese, turkey, lettuce, tomato, dressing and a pickle on the side. I opted NOT to show the pic of me trying to eat it; not pretty (but yummy!) was back to the folks to relax and do a little shopping (for Trish and me) and dinner. That evening Dad used the directions I had made and we Skyped Josh so the folks could see the kids and Drew. As the evening drew to a close, we said good-by since we would be leaving the next morning early and heading south to our next stop. As always, it was great to see the folks and they doing pretty well considering both are 85+. They have slowed down some (and for Mom, that's saying a lot) though when Trish and Mom went for a walk, it was Trish who was huffing to keep up. The only thing we decided that was really negative was that next time we visit, it will be in warmer weather.
We woke up Friday morning to
snow. (Hence, our determination to visit in warmer weather next time.) We decided to sit a bit and see if it accumulated or started to melt. After watching weather reports on TV and walking outside a bit, we figured we could make a getaway, so headed out. By the time we were5 miles south, it was only a
Gihooly art work
A patron donated money to the hospital so they could have nice artwork for the patients and visitors. Really spectacular to see this up close with different light values. dusting and we soon drove completely out on our way to Columbus. Our next stop was Cindy and Mike Jopling, niece on Trish's side. They live in Upper Arlington, OH and said it would be no problem to park in their drive. Mike is a doctor (anesthesiologist) and Cindy seems to have multiple irons in the fire--scrapbooking, volunteer work with the church, helping Mike, and overseeing remodeling of their home. We got in, set up, and that evening, Cindy added chauffeur to her duties, driving Mike to the airport to fly to a conference before coming home for dinner. However, their daughter Catherine, a lawyer in the area, had prepared a wonderful dinner for us of braised lamb with figs, brocollini, mashed potatoes and turnips and a custard like dessert with cranberries and whipped cream. If Catherine ever wants to give up law, she has a ready made career as a rival to Rachel Ray. (If you are interested in reading more of good recipes, her blog is: http://www.cjopling.blogspot.com/)
Next day Cindy had a big scrapbooking session at home, so we spent the day relaxing, taking a walk in the neighborhood and napping. It was welcome change and gave
us a chance to recharge our batteries. That evening we relaxed and chatted with Cindy around the dinner table. Sunday we spent more time with Cindy, did a little shopping at a local Asian market, saw Catherine's home in German Village, and picked up Mike at the airport. We drove to an Asian Fusion restaurant and had dinner with a huge bowl of Japanese Udon soup. Monday Cindy took us to seem some local landmarks and a bookstore crammed with a wide variety of used and second books. That evening Trish and I made okinomiyaki for them and got to spend a little time chatting with Mike. It was a great visit with a chance to relax, see relatives we don't get to see so often and catch up. Tuesday morning we got up to drive to our last visit, Trish's brother in TN.
The trip to TN was broken into two parts to make it easier. We stopped at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, KY for a look at some wonderful art works by local craftsfolks and then on to Renfro Valley to spend the night. Unfortunately there were no shows that night at this old tymey
Catherine and Cindy
Daughter and mother working together in the kitchen to prepare a great meal. music center, but we did get to finally "bag" Kentucky as an overnight camping experience and add that to our map. Next day we would drive to Tennessee to see brother Richard. However, we had a short detour to Corbin, KY, to see the home of Colonel Sanders and the birthplace and museum of Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's just a bitty spot on the road but they have preserved the original cafe where the Colonel developed his secret recipe and they have a very nice display showing how the franchise developed. We picked up a chicken pot pie to have later for lunch.
The drive to Crossville, TN, was windy, rainy and slow. We finally got in to the campground, set up camp and had lunch. Then it was off to see brother Richard. He had been to the doctor the day before for cataract surgery and this morning had a follow-up. He is doing fine and vision has improved, but he was tired. We chatted, helped Pat with chores, and relaxed. Thursday was more relaxing and we dug out some bushes that were starting to crowd out other plants for Pat. We've got those back in AL and
planted and they will hopefully grow big and beautiful, giving us a good connection to Dick and Pat and their home. Pat, as usual, fixed some great dinners and after a filling meal of cheese and pasta, we called it a night and headed back to camp. Friday we were up early and broke camp. We filled the coach and made one last brief call on Trish's brother before heading south for Crossville, AL.
We finally rolled in to the homestead in the early afternoon, tired and sad to see the end of a great swing, but very glad to be back home. The cats also appreciated that they were now able to roam freely and not be stuck in a bouncing box rumbling down the road. It would take several days to get things back in order, and a routine down, but we had to hustle since Thanksgiving was coming in less than a week and Kim, Kris and dog Sophie were coming on Tuesday. That left us 4 days to empty the RV, clean, buy food, prep and be ready for our next adventure.
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