Memorial Day Weekend...Visiting grandkids

We hadn't made any reservations to go camping on Memorial Day weekend since knew it would be crazy busy so it was a great opportunity to visit the grandkids. The older grandkids were with their Dad(daughter is divorced) however the younger granddaughter, Ryleigh(different father) was still at home. Our younger daughter lives in Osceola, IN near South Bend. So when I got off work on Friday we headed out with just about every other person on the planet. We took I-55 to Dwight, IL and then took the detour on Route 47 to avoid a road construction up to Morris, IL and onto I-80 East. Once we got past Gary, IN and took the IN toll road the traffic was much more tolerable. Sommer and Todd had ordered pizza for dinner in anticipation of our arrival. Todd and Sommer had to work on Saturday so we didn't stay up too late. On Saturday we had our breakfast, set out some patio furniture for them and after lunch we took Ryleigh to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend.

The zoo has a pretty good assortment of animals and we had a great time.

 

The lion looked like he was sizing everyone up for a meal.

 

 

After the zoo we headed back our daughters for some dinner. We grilled out some steaks, chicken and brats. We like to make potato packets to grill out when we are camping so we made some to go with our meal. The food was delicious but we saved some room for dessert. Last summer we brought our 22 foot Jayco over and stayed at Potato Creek State Park south of Mishawaka, IN. While we were there our daughter had seen a show on the Food Network about an ice cream place in Nappanee, IN where they make the ice cream individually by using liquid nitrogen. Here is my post about our time there, Potato Creek Park Camping.  So after the dishes were put in the dishwasher and everything was cleaned up we headed to Nappanee. We made it just in time before they closed. We all enjoyed our favorite flavors.

Ryleigh

 

 

We had a nice drive through the country and saw a lot of farmers in the fields. Once we got home we relaxed with full bellies and watched some TV. We got to sleep in a little on Sunday morning but once we got around we packed up to travel over to Streamwood, IL to see our youngest grandson, Aiden. We got on the road about noon EDT for a 2 and a half hour drive to Streamwood, IL.

 

It was a typical Chicago type drive with cars buzzing by and really having to watch out for the other guy. We stopped and had some lunch on the way over to Paul and Heathers home and Aiden was just getting up from a nap. We took a walk around the townhouse complex with their two dogs, Zeus and Izzy and had Aiden in the stroller. It was day to be outside. After the walk Heather and Glenda went to the local Target store and got some food to grill out. We had a great evening watching Aiden play and catching up on what is going on. Heather and Paul are also trying to sell their townhouse and buy a home where Aiden and the dogs will have some room to play. We are hoping they are able to sell soon. Aiden got pretty tired around 8pm so off to bed he went and we enjoyed more catching up.

 

 Aiden having some breakfast

 

 Aiden and Grandma

 

Aiden and Grandma on the swing



 

Monday morning Paul and Heather went to the gym to work out and we stayed with Aiden. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to keep up with a 1 year old. After a couple of hours they were back with some Starbucks Coffee and we got our reinforcements to help occupy Aiden. We took one more walk around the complex and stopped at the park in the middle of the complex so Aiden could swing with Grandma and then we had to head home. Of course we stopped at Portillo's Italian Eatery for some lunch and then onto the Interstate.  On the way home we decided to detour and headed west on I-80 toward Utica, IL. We haven't been to Hickory Hollow Campground the last two years and we wanted to ride our bikes on the I&M Canal Towpath so we stopped at the campground and made a reservation for this weekend. Looks like the weather will be good and we got a nice pull through site with some shade in the afternoon. It was a great weekend even though we didn't get to see all the grandkids. It was fun to spend some time with the youngest ones.

 

P.S.....We had our home inspection today and passed with flying colors. Now if the Radon test goes well and the appraisal comes back good we should be home free. We also made a reservation at a local campground in Carlock, IL called Kamp Komfort for July and August. The plan is to have everything out of the house around July 1 and move into the Bighorn. The house closing isn't until mid-July but this may save us some money by moving into the 5'er and get organized. Three more months and it's retirement and the full time life. Really looking forward to it and it won't be long.