HNY!! And quick visit in Lima, OH

On the way to New Jersey, we drove along US-30 since there was a huge pile-up on I-80.  I didn't realize that we were driving right near Lima, OH.  We had a golf tournament here once (on the Future's Tour) and I believe it's where I shot my best career round of 67!  For most tournaments, I would stay with a housing host, so it was no different here. We did however, stay in touch after all these years and I figured it would be nice to see them again.

Happy New Year by the way!  It's a beautiful sunny day to start out the year!

It was probably a good thing we didn't see any of this at night because once we were going down the hill, I realized that we were surrounded by cemetaries!

And Bobby wanted the boys to start the New Year on the "right" foot.  So here we go. Ha ha!!

On the way to Lima, OH, we stopped by Pittsburg.  We just wanted to grab something to eat and see a couple of things.  First off, Market Square - but looks like everything at the square is closed after Christmas.

We did find a yummy Italian restaurant, where the boys tried their first Coca-Cola.  And obviously, they like it! Who wouldn't with all that sugar and caffeine:

Super cheeeeesy mozzarella stick!!!

Happy family, now that there's food on the table:

There is only one waitress this afternoon in the restaurant, so this is one way we entertain ourselves while we wait for the check :-D

This is a pretty cool building  near the Market Square:

The main tenant of this glass building (left in photo) is PPG Industries. There are a total of 19,750 pieces of matching glass!  The glass reflects heat in the summer away from the building and in the winter, the infrared heat is reflected and contained within the building. Cool looking AND efficient!

Love the colors and façade on this building on the way to our dessert:

We actually wanted bread pudding at the restaurant but the waitress said we needed to try this milk shake place instead.  Graham found a solid piece of milk chocolate in the shape of a hockey puck:

And some other chocolate pieces... AND we all got milkshakes.  The waitress was right! Y U M...!!!

We were going to stop by a fort but looks like we needed to pay for parking and walk a bit more to actually see the site.  And with limited time, we decided against it so we are off to Lima!

Bobby is craving Waffle House, so looks like that's what we are having for dinner.  Another first for the boys and looks like no one is complaining!

The next morning, we are off to see my housing host.  When we were playing golf during the tournament, there was actually a tornado that blew by in the afternoon.  This must be the Taco Bell that some of the golfers were at.  Supposedly they ended up in the cold locker with the employees!

And here we are - at my housing's house.  Looks like he's added a few additions to his stuffed animal collection - the bison and a red stag:

This bison is massive!

Lunch was great and before the end of the day, the boys had added some feathers to their collection and more fish hooks:

And here's the kicker - we have visited them when Graham was a baby:

And here they are now - 11 years later!

I'm so glad we stopped by to say hello.  The boys are so excited to come by and visit them again later this summer - for some hunting and fishing.  Ha!

Okay, home stretch back to IL!

But before heading home, we stop at our favorite chain restaurant for our New Year's dinner.  We sure are eating a lot.  I better be sure I exercise more this year!! :-P

Yes, that was the right decision to stop for a meal.  Happy belly for everyone :-D

When we got home, I realized that I had forgotten to give Grandma and Pop-pop all that soap that I had bought for them.  Ah shucks!

I was drying my yoga towel on the shelf and it was totally blocking all that soap stash!

This Christmas road trip was truly awesome!  I think the boys had a good time too - seeing family and friends and also places that were connected to both Bobby and I. Definitely some great family bonding moments.  

Stay tuned for our next adventure - where ever and whenever that might be.  I'm guessing it will be somewhere with lots of sunshine because I am definitely missing that right now in the middle of this IL winter!!