Confession..

(The pictures interspersed through my "waxing philosophical" post are from our first ever vacation with Hayden, who was a true adventuring rock-star throught the whole thing! We went to Jim Thorpe, PA for a couple of days then on to Jennie's house for the 4th weekend)



My confession is that I am a vacation girl. But not a princessy, high-maintenance kind of vacation girl. I just NEED an adventure, just a little something on the horizon. These last 6 months have been vacationless. No break in the monotony. Nothing to look forward to as a change in scenery. No adventure to look back over fondly with John. And to some people that may not be that big of a deal. I know some people who love to be all cozy in their homes and enjoy the things that they already know they love and not have to wonder what the day will hold. And sometimes I am that way too. But, not always, and not for long.



I've been reading this book, "Tales of a female nomad" and she is this 47 yr old woman who gets divorced and then begins traveling around the world. She ends up living with an organgutan expert in Borneo, living with a prince and his family for several years in Bali. But, that's really too extreme for me, besides I like my husband and I like traveling with him :) And now I'm reading the 2nd book by J. Maarten Troost called, "Getting stoned with the savages" (If you remember I LOVED his book, "The sex lives of cannibals" - hilarious!) and so far he has just ended up in Fiji with his family.



I love seeing things for the first time. That sense of discovery is something that I adore seeing on Hayden's face. I love looking out the window on road trips and talking for hours with my road-trip compadre about adventure stories and "what would you do if you had a month and $10,000?", etc...



So, I was thrilled when John was able to work enough overtime that he could take an extra day off so we could have a (gasp!) 5 day weekend! Yippee! After writing a million check-lists of items to bring, we finally loaded up the car and off we went! I sat in the backseat keeping Hayden entertained (who wants to stare at a backseat for hours and hours while being strapped down by like 4 seat-belts?!) while John drove us through some beautiful scenic views with Amish buggies sprinkled in.



We stayed at Jim Thorpe, PA which was advertised as the "Switzerland of Pennsylvania". One thing that we have learned is that there is a *bit* of exaggeration involved in describing things (like great restaurants) around PA. Jim Thorpe (which is a town named after an Olympian in the 1800's who never visited this town) is an odd collection of restored victorian houses and knick-knack shops. Throw in a haunted jail cell with a handprint that won't wash off and the "most beautiful gorge in NE USA" (remember I said that there's a SLIGHT bit of exaggeration) and that is Jim Thorpe, PA. Here are some of the pictures...









This is the creepy haunted Bed and Breakfast we were supposed to stay at,



but after we saw the rickety steep stairs, and iron bed railing we whimpered to the inn owner and managed to change our room to here... (which I found out after we got home is also rumored to be haunted)



After we rode the train and saw the butterflies, and wandered the knick-knack shops we headed to Jennie's house where Hayden got to play with her cousins! :)



Jennie and Marcus set up this HUGE screen in the backyard for some serious Mario Kart playing!



Rachel loves to check her blood sugars with me and even pricks her own finger. She has informed me that she would be a "great diabetic"... my darling, sweet Rachel. :)



So, all in all, my wanderlust was satisfied. But, not for long! I can't wait until we're done with school and John actually has TIME to play again. And I am just thrilled that I have given birth to a fabulous traveler. I was so stressed before we left because I wondered if she would be able to sleep in a place that she didn't know, I worried that all the new sights, sounds and people would overwhelm her. But, she did wonderfully! She slept, played, smiled and relaxed and enjoyed having both of us with her. It made me realize that we really are a family, a group of 3, all we really need is each other. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together. :)