A Mental Junk Drawer

     Almost every home has one - a junk drawer. You know, that spot where you'll find all sorts of random items like batteries, rubber bands, and extension cords. Sometimes my brain feels much like a junk drawer. It just feels like I have so many random jumbled thoughts in my head. Drew pointed out that it's been awhile since I've blogged so this one is all his fault. 🤣

     Since my last post, we've been to Saint Joseph five times, Middlebury once and now Michigan City. We've spent time with grandchildren, winterized the outside of our house and spent lots of quiet evenings at home together. We've seen Halloween come and go (we don't really do anything so I can't say we "celebrated") and celebrated Thanksgiving with family. We've taken lots of pictures, shared countless laughs, made many memories and even shed a few tears. Most importantly, we've weathered life's storms together.

     One thing I noticed about us is that we work together so much better than we used to. There was a time in our marriage that we couldn't do a project together. We would end up yelling at each other out of frustration. But last Sunday, we worked together to prepare our yard and the exterior of the house for winter. We worked so well together that we got it all done in record time and treated ourselves to a trip to Saint Joseph. Of course, last Sunday we were met with lots of drizzling rain when we got to the lake. But we still had a lot of fun, laughed together and made more memories. Today we worked together to bag up 10 bags of leaves in my parents' back yard. It was hard work but we got it done in record time.

     My depression and anxiety has been on a roller coaster lately. It always is when we get to that time of year that it's dark at 5:00. There have been days I've wished we could move hundreds of miles away from anyone we know. But then I'm reminded of the fact that God has us here for a reason. My parents aren't able to take care of many things on their own right now. As much as I wish we only had ourselves to worry about, we realize that we're here to help them. It's easy to get caught up in the "I'm tired" and "I'll do it later" excuses. But we're always going to be tired and later may never come. So we push forward and do what needs to be done. I'm thankful that we were both raised with a good work ethic (ok, we're stubborn and determined) so we don't give in until the job is done.

      Drew's work continues to be filled with long days that tend to be pretty stressful. But he tries to put his best foot forward. He's working hard to walk more without his cane, despite the pain he deals with. He doesn't let the pain get him down and he never lets it stop him. He walks to the end of his limits and then walks a bit more. He perseveres no matter how he feels. Sickness and weariness doesn't stop him.

     I continue to love my job and look forward to going in every day. Yes, I look forward to breaks from school but am always very ready to get back. All students are working on computer coding and will be participating in Hour of Code this week as we wrap up the last 10 days of school before Christmas break. I get lots of computer repairs in and love seeing students get excited about learning new things on the computer. I'm blessed to work with such a great group of educators and teach the greatest group of students ever.

     As we near Christmas, I wish you an incredible measure of blessings and wonderful times of celebration with friends and family. May we take time to reflect on the real Reason for the season.

New Adventures

     Some say that, as you age, you should stop trying new things. We say we don't have time for that kind of negativity in our lives. Typically on Tuesday evenings we have our grandsons for the evening. However, things got changed this week so we decided to make the best of the evening. It looked like it would be a simple evening but it turned into an adventure I'm anxious to go on again.

     After school, I picked Drew up and we headed out for a quick dinner date. When we left home, we figured we'd eat dinner, stop for iced tea and come home. I was ok with that. After all, I knew Drew was in pain, we were both tired, it was cold and slightly drizzly. So, we headed to Chick-fil-A for a leisurely dinner together.

     After dinner, it was still a tad drizzly but not too bad. We checked the radar and saw no rain in sight, so we decided to go to Notre Dame since we were so close. I'm convinced there is no time of year that the campus isn't beautiful. But I think Fall is my favorite there. With so many trees, you can see beautiful changing colors everywhere you look. We took some photos of the Dome surrounded by beautiful Fall colors and drove over by the lake to get some photos of the Dome across the lake in a couple places. Even though the sky was gray and cloudy, the views were beautiful. Unbeknownst to me, while Drew was waiting in the car while I got some photos across the lake, he was looking at a new app he had gotten that I didn't know about. He had a bit of a surprise in store for me.

     Geocaching is like a modern-day treasure hunt. You use your GPS to find treasures hidden all over. Once you find the hidden treasure, you sign the log or register it on an app and put it back where it was for the next treasure hunter to find. My sweet husband didn't know that I was even interested in geocaching until last week. When he found out, he secretly went to work at finding an app that would point us to geocaches hidden around us. While I was taking photos, he was finding out there was a geocache hidden not too far from where we were. So, off we went.

     The app said the geocache was near an old footbridge on the north side of South Bend, IN. We drove to the Darden Road Bridge and found a spot to park. Before I continue, let me tell you that my husband struggles to walk on a good day. A little over a year ago, he spent almost two weeks in the hospital and we didn't know if he'd leave there with both legs or not. So, we don't often do things that involve a lot of walking unless there are plenty of benches around for him to take breaks at. The parking lot was quite a distance away from the end of the bridge. But he wanted to go. So we headed off. We searched from one end of the bridge to the other and found nothing. We looked in a couple wooded areas just off the bridge and still found nothing. We were about ready to give up. But then Drew started looking at the app and realized it was showing where he was with a blue dot and where the geocache was with a green dot. We realized we were near it but it wasn't as close to the bridge as indicated.

     It was getting dark and cold. But we weren't ready to give up. So, we ventured into the woods. While there were definite trails carved out between the trees, they certainly weren't clear easy trails. But I never said my husband is one to give up or take the easy way out. He plowed right up those little hills, pushing branches and brush out of the way, clearing a trail for me to follow. We almost gave up as it got darker. But he saw we were almost right on top of it. We plugged away and kept going, using the flashlights on our phones to light the way. Next thing I knew, Drew said, "We're looking for something right around here...kind of like THIS!" as he held up a large plastic jar wrapped in camouflage. We had officially persevered and found our first ever geocache! It was thrilling and absolutely exhilarating. By this time, it was pretty dark so we didn't open it to see what was inside. But we found the jar. We felt so accomplished. We logged our find and headed towards home.

      While I was very excited to find our first geocache, I think I was more proud of how hard my husband worked to find it. To see him plow through those trails was so inspiring. I'm thankful for this new adventure we've discovered and looking forward to our next hunt...with a little more light!

   

Finding Adventure

     I'm ashamed to admit that it's been over a month since I've written a blog post. It's not because we haven't been doing anything. It's more a matter of not thinking anything we've done is interesting to anyone but us. Then I remind myself I didn't start writing this blog for any other reason than to document our life so we can always remember.
        Some days we feel like all we do is work and sleep. Most of the time that really is the reality of our life this time of year. Some days I get home first and get things done so we're ready to relax together. Other days Drew takes care of things at home in preparation for my return home. Either way we spend most evenings relaxing on the couch and watching "our shows" that we enjoy. Just for the record, I like the fact our shows aren't on during the summer because it makes it easier to go on adventures and get some movies in. But it makes it hard to watch what we like to watch and still get to bed at a decent time. First world problems...
     Anyway, Drew continues to be busy at work as he prepares for inventory in a couple weeks. He deals with constant pain but puts a smile on his face and pushes forward through every day. He continues to give 110% even when he feels like giving 0%. He continually encourages me to put my best foot forward no matter how I'm feeling. He continues to play bass in our worship team and loves playing with our grandchildren when they come over. Most people will never realize how he's feeling on the inside. In fact, sometimes I don't even realize it because he hides it so well. He pushes himself to the brink of exhaustion to brighten my days and make me happy. I sure am blessed to call him mine.
     I've started teaching computer coding to everyone in my school. Between that, regular computer projects, and computer repairs my days are pretty busy. I hit the ground running early in the morning and don't always get to stop until close to time for our shows. But I love what I do and am enjoying being so busy at school. Outside of school, I keep up with laundry and things at home, help my parents as much as possible, spend time with our grandchildren and visit our neighbor weekly.
     We celebrated my birthday last month by going to Lake Michigan to watch the sunset. We've gone out to dinner a couple times and even started talking about next summer. Yesterday we had the chance to go on a bit of an extended adventure.
     I was able to get things ready for the new work week on Saturday afternoon which meant nothing needed to be done on Sunday except for going to church in the morning and then family lunch at my parents' house. So, soon after lunch, we headed out. Drew found a Fall Festival at Doud's Orchard in the tiny town of Denver, IN (we didn't even know this town existed!) It took almost 1 1/2 hours to get there because of a detour. This little orchard is literally in the middle of nowhere! It was a cute little orchard but the festival wasn't much of anything. I think the vendors had all packed up by the time we got there. But we were able to get my dad some apple butter and bring home a bag of mutsu apples and some fresh apple cider.
     Drew was determined to take me to find a lake before we headed home. While looking at the map, he found Lukens Lake so we decided to head that direction. Please understand, I'm a self-proclaimed beach bum. I'll go to the beach in February and stick my toes in Lake Michigan. My favorite feeling is soft beach sand between my toes. So, when we pulled in to this little "resort" and saw a sign that said "Beach" I was pretty excited. However, when we got out of the car, the lake, dock and beach that we saw could only be described in one word - "Sketchy." I wouldn't have stuck my toes in that sand and water if it was 110° and that was my only chance to cool off. Apparently, that area of Indiana has a different idea for a resort than I've ever seen. We spent all of two minutes there before getting back in the car and leaving.
     We attempted to find another lake but it was a private one down a long driveway. We figured that wasn't one we should try so we headed back down the road. We noticed a round barn along the way so decided we'd drive past and get a couple photos. But when we got up there, we noticed there was a small parking lot. It seemed to be telling us we should be pulling in to get close to the barn. So, we pulled in and spent some time taking photos. All we knew was that it was a bicentennial barn (built in 1816 and added to the bicentennial list in 2016) but there was no other information. After some research, I found out it's called the Hileman Round Barn, which had been a wedding venue. It doesn't seem to be used for anything anymore, but it sure is eye-catching and intriguing. We weren't sorry we stopped for photos. But now it was time to find dinner.
     We weren't too far from Warsaw so decided that would be the perfect spot for dinner before heading home. We settled on Mad Anthony's Lake City Tap House and we sure weren't sorry! First of all, Drew was able to enjoy a lager from Mad Anthony Brewing in Fort Wayne, I was able to try wine made at Two-EE's Winery in Huntington and also had a hamburger made with ground beef from Didier Meats, which is down the street from our first apartment. So, it was a dinner that made us feel at home. The food was delicious and our server, Jeff, did a super job! The kitchen was a bit slow as they had a couple people call off. So Jeff made sure we had an appetizer on the house to hold us until dinner arrived. Dinner was well worth the wait!
     After dinner, we stopped for drinks and made our way home, only missing the first bit of our Sunday night shows. It was a fun adventure and a beautiful day for a drive in the country! You just never know where we'll end up!

   

Busy Day, Quiet Nights

     It's hard to believe that I started the 2019-2020 school year three weeks ago tomorrow. Wow! It's been a busy school year so far, but things are going well. We're still finding random times to go on adventures...not always as often as I'd like but it's what this time of the year brings. I hold tightly to the memories made over the summer and think about the adventures we'll have next summer.
     First, let's talk about some adventures we've had since school started. Three weeks ago tonight, the night before students walked into their first day of school, we made a trip to Saint Joseph to watch the sunset over Lake Michigan. It was a lovely sunset and an evening filled with some sweet memories to officially cap off our summer adventures. Last Wednesday, we went to Notre Dame because we saw they had a lake on campus with a small beach. We were able to find it (it's not at all easy to get to) but couldn't access it. It's only open to students, faculty and alumni. That's ok - the beach looked quite dirty anyway. But we did get a nice view of the Golden Dome and Sacred Heart Basilica over the lake. We ended up at Brothers Bar & Grill for dinner. It was a little more expensive than we would normally spend for a meal but it was fun anyway.
     We've also had some adventures with our grandchildren. We've had lots of play time with our grandsons and I've started picking our oldest grandchild up from school on Tuesdays. It's so much fun to have our 20 minute drive across town together and talk about our day. He's always so excited to share his school day with me. Both granddaughters have celebrated birthdays since school started. Clara turned two on August 23 and Lucille celebrated her first birthday on September 2. Where does time go? We've taken Clara to the train station to watch trains and introduced her to the airport. We weren't able to see any planes as they had all departed for the day and no more were scheduled to arrive for several more hours. But we took her to dinner at Nick's Patio and really enjoyed our meal! We're thankful for every moment we get to spend with these four precious ones God has blessed us with.
   Drew continues to deal with lots of leg and joint pain but plugs away through each day. He's back to cooking on Wednesdays so we're free to spend time together when I get home from school. I appreciate his help but feel bad because he should be resting on his day off. Work tends to be exhausting and stressful for him but he tries to put a smile on his face and make the best of it.
  I teach around 150 kiddos each day. Most of them have started to dive into computer assignments and are working on creative writing projects. My third graders who haven't logged into computers until they came to our building are working hard at learning how to log in. I've also kept busy with repairing older Chromebooks as well as setting up and dispersing 100 new Chromebooks in the building. Four classrooms get to use the latest edition and help compare them to the "older" edition from last year. So far they seem to like them...and I've had fewer repair requests. I love my job though I'm pretty tired at the end of the day.
     Overall, we're keeping very busy but also taking time to relax and enjoy life together in the evenings. I hope your days are good and your nights are relaxing...and you're making time in your life for adventure. Talk to you soon!

Looking Back and Ending Summer

     Before I jump into this week's #wackywednesdaywanderings, I need to step back a couple days because I forgot to blog about a little adventure we had Sunday afternoon. Clara has an extreme love for trains. She gets excited when she sees any type of train but she especially like steam engines. We found that out when Drew was showing her videos online. With this incredible love for steam engines, we only had one choice - to take her to Hesston Steam Museum to ride a train pulled by a steam engine. There are three trains you can ride - a full size locomotive, a medium size train like you might find at the zoo or an amusement park and a small 1/8 scale hobby train. There are old train cars and steam-powered steamrollers along with other old steam-powered equipment to look at. There's also an old-fashioned soda fountain. Admission to the grounds was free and there was no charge for Clara to ride the train. So for the cost of $10, all three of us had a nice little train ride and made the day of an almost-2-year-old...her Bapa was pretty excited, too! Check their website to plan your own trip. It's worth the drive!

     This brings us to our final #wackywednesdaywanderings of Summer 2019. New Buffalo, Michigan was the last place in the bowl. However, we talked about it and decided that New Buffalo didn't really have a whole lot to offer other than a beach and the lake. There aren't many seating areas and, when I was there Saturday, the beach and lake area seemed dirtier than normal. So we decided it was fitting to go back to where we started this summer. Of course, we had to put a little twist on it so it was a little different than before.

     We tried to start our day at Union Pier Beach but it's not easy to get to. You park along a gravel road and walk from there to the beach. Not knowing how far of a walk it is to the beach, it wasn't something we could try because I didn't know if Drew could make it there or back. So we left there and headed to Weko Beach. We've heard good things about it so were optimistic. We're not swimmers or sunbathers. So the $10 entrance fee was a bit much. We go to the beach so I can take photos, walk along the shore, stick my feet in the water and get some sand between my toes. Drew likes to watch people and take photos. I will say there are a lot of nice seating areas. Drew had his choice of benches where he still had a great view. I climbed the steps to the top of both dunes along the lake and got some beautiful views. However, walking the shore was tough because it was more small rocks than soft sand like other Lake Michigan beaches. They have nice bathrooms with a changing table. All in all, I would say there are nice things about Weko Beach, but not enough for me to find the $10 fee worthwhile. 

     We headed north toward Saint Joseph and decided to find lunch first. We pretty much always eat at the same place, which we love. But we decided to find something different this time. On Niles Ave, just before you get into the quaint little part of Saint Joseph along the lake shore is a restaurant in a small strip mall. Dino's may not look like anything special from the outside. But when you walk in, you're greeted by a nice little place with friendly staff (the hostess didn't seem thrilled to be at work but you'll have that). It's owned by a Greek man, which means you get plenty of food to eat! The meals come with soup or salad and potato. We ate a delicious meal which would fuel us for the rest of the day. (In fact, when we got home quite a few hours later, we still weren't hungry). 

     We headed into Saint Joseph for two reasons - 1. the beach and 2. my annual tradition of a new coffee mug for school that I purchase at the end of the summer. Our first stop was I Love St. Joe. This is my favorite shop in town and I get sad every October when I go in to say goodbye to these people who have become my friends (they winter in Florida). We went in so I could purchase my new mug for this school year and Drew left with a new hat to protect his sensitive head. Next stop was the beach. Perhaps it's because this was the very first #wackywednesdaywanderings ever but this remains one of my favorite places to spend time. The beach is always well combed which means it's easy to walk as you don't have to keep watching for rocks, glass, trash, etc. Even when the beach is crowded, it's easy to navigate and find a spot of land to call you own if you want to sit or lay in the sand. However, I typically only set up shop when I have Clara with me. This trip was all about photos and a relaxing walk. Drew found his favorite spot to sit and take photos while I walked and took photos. I walked the length of the beach and then down the pier. It was relaxing as usual and I got a lot of great photos. I met up with Drew at the top of the bluff and we got some more photos while visiting with a family there from Chicago. We always seem to meet someone new every time we go. Now it was time to head off to our next stop. 

     We needed something to drink so we stopped at Shell Gas. It was a small convenience store but the bathrooms were clean and the employees were friendly. I grabbed our drinks and we headed towards the Interstate. Before we got to our next destination, we made a quick stop at Meijer because, when gas is over $2.70 a gallon at home and you find it for $2.39, you stop and fill up! OK, now we're finally going to get to our next stop, which is literally right around the corner. South Haven is a cute little town with a very nice beach. The parking lot isn't super big so if you find a spot, take it! There's a minimum $10 parking fee, but with plenty of seating areas, the pier to walk and the channel to see boats come in and out makes it worthwhile. I love the fact that they have nice tables right along the edge of the beach so Drew had a great place to sit. I walked the pier and took photos of the lighthouse then spent some time at the edge of the lake, enjoying time with my feet in the water and walked through the sand to add a little more to the sand between my toes. I sat at the table with Drew for awhile before we decided to head out. When we pulled in, there was something that looked like a pirate ship coming down the channel. I was busy trying to get our parking ticket so Drew got some photos of it. But we really wanted to get a better look at it. We knew it had to be in the marina somewhere. So we drove around until we found where it was at, found a parking spot and got some great photos. We realized there is so much more to see in South Haven so we'll need to make another trip in the future. While looking for the pirate ship, we discovered the way to North Beach as well. The bad thing is, the parking fee for South Beach does not cover North Beach as well. So I suggest choosing a beach and sticking with it. I wouldn't recommend one over the other as they're both very nice beaches, but South Beach has more seating areas and a bigger playground for the kiddos, plus the pier is at South Beach. 

     We made a quick stop at Biggby before we headed out of town for one more stop. Drew loves their avocado banana berry freeze and I love their cold brew coffee. I might even like it a little better than Starbucks. I love when my husband types in "ice cream" near whatever particular town he chooses and being a good stopping point because it gets us to someplace like Frosty Boy. Very cute little place with a walk-up window, drive-thru and indoor seating that serves delicious ice cream. The ingredients are clearly listed, which is great if you have someone with food allergies. We sat and enjoyed our ice cream cones before heading back towards home. 

     We went across the street to Casey's to get iced tea but left without any as it wasn't any good. The employee working seemed more interested in talking to her friend than doing her job, the restrooms were a mess and we gave up. We followed GPS which took us on a beautiful country drive towards home. It's hard to believe that our #wackywednesdaywanderings have come to an end for another summer. Without our second income this summer, we weren't sure these adventures would be possible. But God saw fit to bless us with enough to pay our bills, buy groceries, go on our adventures, and still be able to help family at various times. It's been an amazing summer! I'm anxious to go back to school but will look forward to more adventures. I'm confident we won't wait until summer 2020 to do more adventuring. Stay tuned to see what things we do when we're both working full time and trying to keep up with family along the way. We look forward to sharing memories we make through the next 9 months (no - not THAT kind of 9 months!), what's happening in my classroom and on our corner of the world. Just because I go back to work next week doesn't mean this blog takes a vacation. After all, our nest remains empty and our hearts remain full. 

Celebrations, Sightseeing and Silliness

     Summertime is quickly dwindling. It's hard to believe we went on our next to last trip this week. This week, our travels took us to the city where Drew was born and raised. The perfect part was the fact that our #wackywednesdaywanderings would put us in town to celebrate his Mom's 75th birthday. Of course, our day would be filled with so much more!
     We arrived at my mother-in-law's house to take her out for lunch. We visited for a bit before heading off to the restaurant of her choice. Drew was thrilled to know she had picked the place he loves to go...Nick's Kitchen. He says they have the best pork tenderloins! After a delicious lunch, we went across the street to a used book store that also has many record albums for sale. Drew could have easily gotten lost in Turn the Page Books and Music but only spent a short time looking around, picked an album he wanted and we headed back to my mother-in-law's to visit for awhile. One of his Aunts came to spend some time visiting as well, which was very nice since we don't get to see his side of the family often.
     After saying our goodbyes for the day, we headed out for our adventure. We had a couple places on our list that we wanted to visit while we were in town. Our first stop was Lake Clare. It's a lovely little spot where you can sit by the peaceful lake or even go to the fitness park on the edge of the lake and get a good workout. The best part is...IT'S FREE! Gotta love that kind of admission fee. On our way to our next stop, we took some photos of the old Erie Railroad bridge over the Little Wabash river. It's a part of the Erie Rail Trail and a beautifully redone piece of history. There is a nice little park there where  your kiddos can run and play.
     At this point of the day, I was ready for a good cup of coffee. My sweet husband knows I like to try new coffee shops when we travel so he looked to find a good one. He succeeded admirably in finding an outstanding one! Cafe of Hope is a beautiful little place inside Life Church. They have protein shakes, non-coffee drinks, many different hot and iced coffee drinks as well as some sandwiches. There is plenty of seating area and they offer complimentary WiFi. In the corner of the Cafe is a nice display of hand-crafted work created by people with disabilities. It's their way of earning an income and helps teach them independence. I talked my sweet husband in to buying me a "Lake Bum" wooden sign and a new water glass for school that says "Peace, love and sandy feet" on it. Hey, it helps people be successful!
     As if seeing one lake wasn't fantastic, Drew took me to see a second lake. Roush Lake is a 900-acre lake with multiple access points providing plenty of opportunity for fishing, boating, swimming and relaxing. We stopped at several of the points around to lake to get views from different spots. Kil-So-Quah State Recreation Area was one of the places we stopped. It has a large camping area, area for hunting and hiking trails. There is also a very nice play area for children. I even found a tiny beach area there near the boat launch!
     One of our favorite spots in town is Sunken Gardens. (Information about this beautiful park can be found here). We're typically able to walk through the winding paths and look at many beautiful flowers. However, due to large amounts of rain earlier in the summer, the ponds throughout the park have flooded and created one large pond in the middle. The flowers are all under water as are the stone paths. I was still able to walk around one section to get to the other side which opens to a set of old stone steps to get to the upper level at Memorial Park. If you get a chance, go check out Sunken Gardens at Christmastime! It's outstanding! Drew had me hooked on this place the first time he ever took me to see his family. Huntington really has a lot of parks to enjoy. If you dig in, you'll find lots of beautiful hidden gems.
     We made a stop at Casey's to get iced tea before going in search of ice cream. There are some places I went to with friends when I was going to college in Fort Wayne. Powers, Coney Island and Zesto's. There's now a Zesto's in Huntington. (Check out their Facebook page here). Our hearts and tummies full, we headed towards home. But Drew had one more  surprise stop to make that he knew I'd enjoy.
     He got his GPS set and I heard it say "Getting directions to Hanging Rock Road." Well, that sounded intriguing to me! I asked him if where we were headed was as cool as the name of the road it was on. He explained that this site contains a large exposed section of coral reef dating back 400 million years to when Indiana was covered by a shallow sea. Legend is that an Indian maiden plunged off the top of Hanging Rock when the Indian brave she loved fell to his death. I mean, a love story literally to death, 400 million year old rock, so much history in one little three-acre spot...what's not to love? Of course, I was wearing flip flops so couldn't get too close to the rock and get a better view. That'll have to wait for another trip. New mission: buy a pair of tennis shoes or hiking boots to keep in the car.
     On our way home from Hanging Rock, we stopped at Arby's in Wabash to get something to eat on the way home. First off, let me tell you that it felt like a sauna when we walked in. The thermostat showed it was 85° inside the restaurant. Yikes! We ordered our food and Drew went outside where it was cooler. I waited inside for close to ten minutes for our food. Considering the fact we were the only customers who had ordered, that was too long for fast food. Once I got our food, we made our way to the car and started down the road. Within seconds of pulling out of the parking lot, we had the opportunity to meet a very nice gentleman with pretty lights on top of his car. Yes, I got pulled over because, in my frustration at the heat and long wait at Arby's, I had forgotten to turn my lights on so he pulled me over due to not having tail lights on. Thankfully, he only gave me a warning and sent us on our way. It certainly wasn't how we planned to end our day. But at least the rest of the drive home was uneventful. One more #wackywednesdaywanderings to go for Summer 2019. There will still be plenty of adventure in store for us but it'll be a little different...until next summer!
   

If It's Good Enough for Guy...

     I know we haven't had our weekly #wackywednesdaywanderings yet. But we had a fun #sillysaturdaysoiree so we need to tell you about it. We typically have our oldest granddaughter with us on Saturday evenings so these don't happen often. While we missed having our sweet girl, we had a fun evening planned.
     Our adventure was to take place at 9:00, which left us time to grab a bite to eat on our way. Drew had a place in mind but didn't tell me. He put the location in his GPS and we headed off. We ended up in Goshen, Indiana at a place we had originally seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We have driven past many times and kept saying we wanted to check it out sometime.
     It doesn't look like much from the outside. The building is small and there is not a parking lot. But South Side Soda Shop is so worth the stop! You can either park along the street or across the street in the school parking lot when school isn't in session. When we walked in, we were greeted with an old-style diner, complete with the little Formica tables with the stainless steel trim and red vinyl seats. You would think you'd open a tiny menu and see a few different burgers listed along with maybe a salad or two and a chicken tender basket. Let me just tell you that, when our server came to the table and asked if we'd like to know the specials, she rattled off a list of 5 special salads, 4 or 5 special sandwiches, a couple special soups and several special entrees that sounded like plates you would expect to find in a large fancy restaurant. We both took awhile to choose our meal because there were so many choices. We settled on a burger that came on English muffin bread. Oh my goodness! I've got to tell you that was the most amazing bread I think I've ever eaten! The burger was delicious, the fries were great and the onion rings we shared as an appetizer were fantastic! You can see the kitchen from where we sat and it's not much bigger than a little galley-style kitchen on a small houseboat. But the incredible plates of food that come out of it could put many restaurants with large kitchens to shame. We certainly weren't disappointed we stopped in...and even took pie home for dessert, which was very delicious when we got home late that night.

     Now it was on to our big adventure for the night! Having gone to Ride the Dixie a couple times this season, we knew that they offered a more romantic twilight ride on Saturday nights at 9:00. Rather than playing the usual recording of historical information about the lake and surrounding area, they play romantic music and you go around the lake while watching the sunset. Being a couple that enjoys watching sunsets together, we knew this was something we wanted to do. When the line formed to board the boat, we were surprised to see that several families had brought children on this "romantic" boat ride. Our personal suggestion would be that you should leave your children with a sitter anytime you're doing something labeled as "romantic." But to each his own. We've always sat on the upper level of the boat which provides a great view. However, the line was quite long when we got ready to join our fellow passengers and everyone seemed to make a beeline for the stairs. So we settled for a seat on the lower level and were not at all disappointed. There are a couple small tables with chairs as well as long benches along the windows of the boat. We had a great view of the lake and the beautiful sunset. An added benefit was being about five feet away from the small concession stand with popcorn that seemed to call out to us. (They also have candy bars and cans of soda available.) Captain Grant and his First-mate Ben took us on a very nice five-mile cruise around the lake while Jody made some delicious popcorn for the masses. It made for a very late night as the boat ride ended a little after 10:30, we arrived home about midnight and went to bed after 1:00 Sunday morning. But it was worth it! Yes, I regretted the short night on Sunday as I was tired and cranky. But the memories we made will be ones I'll carry for the rest of my life. May we never grown weary of adventuring together.