Spring Fever Monday: Revisiting Vacation

When a sign like this greets you as you are hiking with an energetic 4 year old . . .
. . . you hike with them in something like this.

But you lose that part of your brain that says, "Hey! Didn't I read a sign about no swimming or wading?" when it is 95 degrees out and you and your kid are hot? Oops. Sorry!

(In September, we vacationed in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio.)

Day 3- Love is not selfish. Be devoted one to another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. -- Romans 12:10

Today's Dare: Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today."

A de-throwned Dairy Queen

While vacationing in September, we had been dipped head first into the Appalachia region of Ohio. This brought up different discussions regarding poverty and whatnot. This also brought up the discussion of not having many things available, that is outside of Walmart. So, on one fine 92 degree day, we were trotting along in the vehicle with air on high. Hubs makes a promise to get the child unit ice cream. I think to myself, "Now why would he promise her something that he is not certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that we can deliver, particularly where we are?"

Then it was like a vision. It was a Dairy Queen. We were all excited. We had gone the day before and enjoyed ice cream and M- could get a slush (now called an Arctic Rush and I dated myself by calling it a Mr. Misty.) I decide that we've been on the road for a while and we should use the bathroom first. We walk in and down an aisle the only way I can figure a bathroom is. We walk past what were freezers for cakes. There are no cakes in the freezers. The freezers are not on. They have some Halloween decorations in them, but they were filthy otherwise. Hmmm. So, we find what appears to be a bathroom, but is there a door? Oh my goodness, is there a door? Yes. I found it. There is a door. We go in and I plunk K- down and start looking around. This one toilet bathroom is a might weird. She gets off the toilet. "Mommy! The toilet moves back and forth! Look!" Oh my heavens me. The building is built on a slab and the toilet is rocking back and forth like it is withstanding Hurricane 5 winds. So I do my best to do the squat without actually sitting. "Mommy! Why aren't you sitting on the potty?" Mommy's afraid that she'll break it. As I'm concentrating on my stance, K- says, "Look Mommy! The wall waves! Look!" It was like a sheet of paper. I was freaked out, looking for holes that possible cameras could hide. There was no toilet paper. We had to use paper towels. Purell was my friend.

So, I shuttle young child out and M- is standing waiting to order. I told him that we were going to go outside and get whatever he wanted. "But I thought you were going to get ice cream." We'll see you outside. I need to talk to K- a moment. "Uh, mom? Weren't we going to get ice cream?" K-, I have to talk to you. I got her outside and explained that the restaurant was very, very, very dirty and that if we ordered something, I was afraid that we would get sick. Out trots M-, inquiring on my leaving. I said the same thing to him. If their bathroom was so disgusting and so were the freezers that they used to use, God only knows what it seems like in the back and I won't eat anything that comes out of there. "So you were going to let ME get something?" Yes, and I was going to throw it away. "Mommy, there were people eating things in there. Are they going to get sick?" Ah, baby. She was so concerned.

We didn't score ice cream that day, but she wasn't mad. I explained that I didn't want to make us sick and that was good enough for her. Thank goodness!

Any disgusting/concerning restaurant stories that you'd like to share? Keep the stories nice, please!

Vacation Revelations

We were out camping for a week in September. We pitched a tent on my parents riverfront property in Marietta Saturday through Thursday morning. We were able to spend a lot of nice time with them, boating, swimming and hanging out. While out and about, we found some really neat folk art wall pieces in the window of a furnace installing place. They had prices of 10.00 each on them. We couldn't believe it, but we called the guy and it was true! They are great pieces made from lath from old homes and from the wood of crates that furnaces are shipped out on.

We pitched a tent at Lake Hope State Park from Tuesday night through Friday morning. We had listened to the weather, heard about the possibility of rain, so we opted to hotel it for one night. Here were some funny things that I learned/had happen on our trip.

1. My child is a nudist at heart. After I heated "bath water" up on the fire (yes, I had my pioneer woman hat on), K- stripped down and ran around with nothing but sandals singing "It's BATH TIME! It's BATH TIME!" Now, in all fairness, there was no one else around. We chose a remote end of the camp on a long stretch of a site under a lot of trees. No one saw or heard a thing.

2. K- is fascinated with harvestmen. She can tell you the difference between them and a daddy long legs and why they aren't the same. (Thanks Kinderealm Spider Day before we left.)

3. My husband has now learned to trust me more than the National Weather Service. His wife IS right about rain. I can hear thunder and I was right that it was coming. Thankfully, he believed me regardless to what the computer guy's voice was saying. Just as we were finishing packing up, it started to rain.

4. K- needs to perfect her on-the-fly peeing. Poor kid peed on me and on her clothes twice.

5. When it is 95 degrees out and you are doing the bulk of your hiking for the week, the new Dove Energizing deodorant stands up to the challenge.

6. There is a horned grasshopper and we saw him.

7. There is a pencil sharpener museum run by a retired minister and we went.

8. There is a stretch of road from Hocking Hills to Nelsonville that involves a lot of bellyflopper hills. I almost made Hubs ill. I made K- laugh every time, though.

9. Premade packs of campfire wood from the park never burn like they should.

10. I listened to Screech Owls have a territorial dispute for about 45 minutes in the middle of the night one night.

11. Go Paint from Elmers is a great idea, but even better if you can actually get into the package. I've written to them. Interestingly enough, they never responded. No acknowledgement, either.

12. If you let a child wash camp dishes, they will be entertained for a very long stretch of time.

13. Light up bracelets (those glowy ones that you buy in a tube) will glow so bright that they are like a night light in your tent. We had to wait until K- fell asleep so that we could hide hers. It was too bright!

14. When you have unplugged for a week and re-entry is the form of a hotel, you get questions like:

A. Mommy, will they have a flushing toilet?

B. Will they have a nice clean bathtub?

C. Will they have a nice shower for Daddy?

Upon entering said room, you hear (as child walks past the microwave, TV and refrigerator) "Mommy! Look! They have drawers! You can put your clothes in these!" (In her defense, we had our clothes in a laundry basket and her clothes in a box, open in the car.)

D. [Mommy's body shut down upon entering said room and much TV was watched. After probably the 12th episode of Dog Whisperer . . . ] "Mommy, if you watch too much TV, you'll burn up your brain."

Oh, baby. Mommy's brain needed rest. And her body. Mommy was just getting ready to re-enter and do all that laundry that we amassed from a week of camping. Tent camping. With lots of dirt.