Saying good-bye and back on the road again for round 2!

This week we made the final arrangements for Tom’s “retirement” and I got everything in order to continue working, for the next 10 months at least!  We had a nice couple of months in Michigan, catching up with family and friends, and we’ll be back again towards the end of the summer!

We accomplished a lot in 2 months – everybody has clean teeth, Nicolas is without his wisdom teeth, and Bryce is without braces . . . Tom has a clean colon . . . Bryce has his Level 1 Driver’s License . . . the car, truck and RV are all in perfect running condition, our finances are in order, and even Casey has a new look!

Before . . .

and After!

On Wednesday, the boys and I went to lunch with my Mom and 3 of my sisters to say good-bye (I took a picture, but somehow it’s missing from my camera!)   Tom joined us for dinner at my Mom’s later, and so did my sister, Deby, and my niece, Katy.  Bryce just had to have his Jaxon fix before we hit the road!

 

 

Jaxon just loves playing with the boys!

Bryce got quite a workout, too!

Soon it was time to say good-bye to Grandma . . . we’re sad to leave her behind, but we’ll be back in 10 months, and who knows . . . maybe we’ll see her sometime this winter, even!

On Thursday I celebrated my 25th Anniversary at Ford with a lunch with my co-workers and Tom (He’s celebrating 25 years, also, but since he was on leave on his anniversary date, his award is delayed . . . so he won’t get a lunch, but he got to attend mine!)

Last night we had a nice evening with Tom’s family – dinner and visiting for one last time before we take off again!

[Year 2 Starting Mileage: car – 82730     truck – 38790]

This morning we woke up to a cold & blustery day, and were glad that we did most of the packing up yesterday!  We got all hitched up, and were on the road by 10am.  We took I-75 south to Toledo, where we picked up I-475 over to US-23.  We exited on US20, which we took all the way to Shipshewana.

By the time we got to Shipshewana, the weather had improved considerably, although it was still windy!  We got the RV parked behind the Amish Visitor Center and took Casey for a walk, before heading over to the 5&20 Restaurant for the lunch buffet.  YUM!  We were hoping that having full tummies would give us some restraint when we went to E&S, the Yoder Popcorn Store, and the Yoder Meat & Cheese Store . . . not so much!   With our shopping complete, we continued on to Nappanee, where we are spending the night at Newmar in one of their free full-hookup sites.  Saturday is a good night to stay at Newmar . . . most of the people here for service last week have moved on, and the majority of incoming rigs show up on Sunday.  We’ll be out of here after mass tomorrow, making our way to the southwest for the winter.

Nicolas has always wanted to travel Route 66 across the country, so that’s what we’re going to do . . . kindof!

We’ll keep the RV on the interstates for the most part, but at each stop we’ll spend a few days travelling the “Mother Road” in the car, and exploring the attractions along the historic route . . . we’re all looking forward to it! 

Follow along with us as we “Get our kicks on Route 66!”