Final Post

Well, we finally made it to Little Rock, AR.  Oh my was it the longest day.  We left that morning at 5:00am EST which was 4:00am CST.  We had to stop 2 times for me to sleep for 30 or so minutes.  We stopped to eat lunch at a rest stop and let the girls run.  It was raining, but I just let them run in the rain.  Actually, it rained off and on all day causing us to go SLOW.   Just when we thought we could not make it any longer we got stuck for an hour in traffic.  By the time we slid into the Little Rock KOA, we were cross-eyed with barnacles on our butts.  We had promised the girls that we would let them pick where we went to eat dinner, however that was earlier that day.  Once we unfolded ourselves there was no way we could even contemplate getting back into that black hole of claustrophobia.  PAPA JOHN'S to the rescue!!! 

We checked in at the KOA and were escorted to our cabin which was at the end of a line of 3 cabins and surrounded by trees.  I don't even know if I could describe what I felt when I saw what was sitting outside of the cabin next to ours.  I want to be delicate but there just is no other way to say this and anyhow, I am not politically correct.  There were 3 young men (30is) sitting out on the porch of their cabin.  One of the men looked as if he was wresteling with the decision to save his money to purchase a new set of teeth or a new roll of duct tape to fix the various items falling off of his El Camino...and the car won.  The other two looked as if they had just delivered their last batch of moonshine to the kin folk on the other side of the hollar.  Considering the way they looked, and considering the fact that we were in Arkansas, I really expected to hear banjos playing.  I looked at Terri and said, "You sure do talk perty".  We both laughed, but secretly I know we were looking around to see if Ned Beatty was near by. 

We pulled out of that KOA at 5:00am and were Amarillo bound.  We shot down the road with the goal to be home by 4:00pm and we acomplished that goal.  We were so proud to pull into our driveway. 

I want to take this time to say thanks to all of those who read our blog and lived vicariously through my writing and Terri's videos.  We had a great time doing this.  It has become a dream of mine to find someone to sponser us so that we could do something like this every summer. 

I also want to thank God for putting angels around our car and giving us a very safe trip.  No injuries or no illness came to us and the wagon stayed upright the entire time. 

Terri, you were so much fun.  I appreciate you taking time out of your summer to join the girls and I.  You were such an awesome sport and you did a great job as co-pilot.  (It was the most important job there good buddy).

Molly and Madison, you two were a blast.  Thanks for making us laugh the entire time.

Thanks to my in-laws for helping fund the Wagon Queens venture.

Thanks to Matt's family in PA and in NH.  As always you made me feel like a part of the family and Terri felt the same. 

For the last time...

Over and Out,
The Wagon Queens.

Shake it like my sister Molly

Days 9-10...I think!

Day 17

In the interest of time and... well... interest, I am going to sum up the last 2 days:  We did laundry and packed.  That summed it up.

Now on to today.  We pulled out of Wagontown, PA this morning at 6:00 am EST.  We drove for what seemed to be an eternity.  We arrived at the Bristol, TN KOA at 5:30pm.

After checking in, we went to eat at the Cracker Barrel (or Crackel Barrow as my girls call it.)  As usual the front porch of the restaurant was lined with two rows of rocking chairs facing each other.  The elderly frequent this establishment and today was no different.  It seemed that every chair was filled with a happily stuffed senior citizen as we braved the Old Spice gauntlet.  Dinner was fine.  Obviously we were back in the south as displayed by the giant bowl of grits my daughters were scarfing down, and the glasses of sweet tea Terri and I drank.

Okay, now I have to do some venting.  Have you ever noticed that the things that seem so cool at the beginning of a road trip somehow start to loose their charm when you are making the mad dash back home.

Case in point, all of the KOA's we stayed at during our trip TO PA seemed quaint and it was fun to "rough it".  Tonight it was all just so irritating.  My towel was scratchy.  The water temperature vacillated between scalding hot and 1 degree above freezing.  While drying off with my piece of sandpaper, I realized that my efforts to bend into a trapezoid to shave my legs were all in vain as I managed to miss every other inch.  Oh well, it would have to do.

Tomorrow, we have what might be the true test of sanity as we will drive the long leg of the trip yet.  We will go from Bristol, TN to Little Rock AK.  It will probably take 10-12 hours without stops.  We will either come out of it stronger or ready to strangle each other.  You will have to read tomorrow' s post to find out.

Over and out,
The Wagon Queens.

Day 14

I feel like I am home when I am in Lancaster County PA.  It is the heart of PA Amish country (or Armish as my sweet mom-in-law calls it.)  It is rolling hills dotted with farms as far as the eyes can see.  It harkens back to a time when things just ran at a slower, easier pace.  The homes are so beautiful and the true Amish are charming in their own way.  We stopped along the way to shop in quaint shops filled with antiques and knick knacks of all sorts.  I just cannot stop myself from wanting to stay here.  Anne treated us to a traditional Amish lunch.  It was so cool.  We went to a restaurant called Good and Plenty.  You are seated at a long table with others that you do not know and they bring out large amounts of fried chicken, butter noodles, mashed potatoes, cooked pickled beets, homemade bread roast beef and home made sausage.  This is served with lemonade or tea and fresh churned butter and apple butter.  You cannot imagine how awesome it is.  You eat as much as you want and they just keep bringing it out.  Dessert includes cherry cheesecake, homemade ice cream, shoo fly pie, cherry pie and something called cracker pudding.  All were amazing but I loved the shoo fly pie.  It is kind of like a pecan pie without the pecans, and baked with molasses.

We then went to Abe's carriage rides and went on a 2 mile ride in a traditional Amish horse and buggy. It was so nice.  Our driver was named Paul and he was what they called "T Mennonite".  They are close to Amish, but are allowed to have air conditioning and a phone in their homes, but still do not drive cars.  Mennonites can drive cars.

For a community so cloistered, it seems funny that their towns have names like Intercourse, Virginville, and Blue Ball...

On our way home we stopped to buy some home made root beer.  Terri and I were very thirsty and really looking forward to this treat.  As we opened our jars of this concoction, we ask the young Amish boy who and how this was made.  He said his mother made it with root beer extract, sugar and yeast.  She then let sit for a few days.  As we tasted it we realized that it indeed was a form of beer.  Not truly alcohol, but fermented non the less.  It was really nasty.  We did like the jars it came in.

We did enjoy our day in Amish country.  I always look forward to coming here when ever I am in PA. It holds such a special place in my heart.  On our way home as we passed farms belonging to the Yoders, the Zucks, the Stoltzfuss' and the Zimmermans, we noticed a couple riding bikes.  The lady was wearing an 80's style romper dress.  Terri said, "Oh look at that Amish couple."  I quickly corrected her, "Terri, that is not Amish, that is just tacky."

Over and Out,
The Wagon Queens.

Day 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Okay so there are a lot of days to cover in this post, but some were spent driving to and from New Hampshire to see Matt's extended family. On Friday we all piled into Buck's car. (Buck aka Tom, Opa, Matt's dad) We caravanned to New Ipswitch, New Hampshire for Anne's family reunion. This was the home of Dave and Michelle Lacroix (Dave is my mother-in-law's brother.) The 85 degree weather was such a welcome relief from the humidity and we also were going to be missing a major heat wave in PA that weekend. Some of Anne's family arrived early and we all got a chance to catch up with some dear people. That night we slept in tents in Dave's back yard. Thank heavens for the thick line of trees that our tents backed up against. They provided much needed cover for Terri and I who had to get up and pee behind our tents at least 4 times that night. Saturday we got to see all but one of Anne's siblings. Anne's mother was even there. Seeing Pauline was bittersweet. She shows signs of early Alzheimer's.  I realized that this could be the last time to see her.

After a great meal, we all piled back into the car and headed for Aurnt Suzy's house.  (In Matt's family, the word Aunt is pronounced like the word aren't.  I don't know why, it just is.)  The kids got to swim in her pool and we had dinner with Suzy's priest.  This for me was a first.

Tom was so gracious and got hotel rooms for Terri the girls and I and Stephanie and her two kids.  We stayed at the Super 8 in Vermont which was just up the road.  I never thought I would utter the words "Thank Heavens for Super 8".  The rooms were okay but we were worried about bed bugs among other things, but everything turned out to be okay.  We were next door to a McDonalds and a Duncan Donuts.

Sunday was the day to see Tom's side of the family.  This too was a bittersweet day.  The family agreed to get together to celebrate the birthday of Tom's brother Eric who had been killed by a drunk driver 40 years ago.  We all gathered at Greek owned Italian restaurant for brunch.  Several brought letters and scrap books honoring Eric and shared memories as we ate.  It was a sweet time. All of Tom's siblings were there.

Monday was a mad dash back to PA.  The 6 hour drive really took its toll.  By the time we reached home, Madison was crying and crying because she missed her daddy.  I had her call Matt and she said that I was being mean to her and she wanted to come home.

We slept well that night.

Day 8

Happy Birthday America!!! Today is the 4th of July and as promised I took Terri via the train into Philadelphia for the day. We started our day at the Paoli train station. I'd like to accurately describe the bathrooms, but modern technology has not yet made it possible to convey smell across the internet. We arrived in Philly just in time to see some of the 4th of July parade. We got to see the Sister Sledge on a float singing their best known song "We Are Family". That was neat. I had told Terri that I wanted us to eat at the City Tavern. It is a historic restraint that was built in 1772-73. It was the unofficial meeting place of the Continental Congress. We began walking along side the parade and keeping pace with the Sister Sledge float. Ten blocks of hearing the course to We Are Family is enough to make you want to stab out your eyes with a dull object. We arrived at the City Tavern just in time to keep us from dying form heat stroke. It was so hot and so humid that I am not ashamed to say that Terri and I all but laid atop the air conditioning vent that was placed below our table. If you are ever in Philadelphia, I highly recommend eating at the City Tavern. The staff dress in Early American attire, the decor is period and the food is amazing. We dined on bacon wrapped shrimp, corn chowder, traditional turkey pot pie and 4 different kinds of homemade bread. We washed it down with a drink called Shrub. It was fruit preserve water combined with champagne and chilled to create a very refreshing drink It was an amazing meal. Terri and I could not put it off any longer. We knew that we had to brave the heat again. We staggered out into the thick HOT air. We continued on to a museum called Ben Franklins Court. This is supposed one of Philadelphia's best kept secrets. Terri was so pumped to see it but of course it was closed for renovations. We went to the Betsy Ross house, but since we had both been there, we did not want to wait in line to see it. We went to the oldest residential street called Elfreth's Alley but the museum was closed due to the heat. On our way back to the train station we did manage to find a geocache (see the video). All in all our day was fun. We laughed a lot even though we were so miserable from the heat, and we did manage to run into some occupy Philadelphia protesters. Again, the ability to translate smell would have done wonder. I am glad we did this. Terri wanted to be able to say she was in Philly 4th of July and now she can cross it off her bucket list.

4th of July

Day 5, 6 and 7

Day 7

It is hard to believe that a week of our vacation is over.  We have had so much fun.

This day started off in a very interesting way.  My mother-in-law woke up to water dripping from the upstairs bathroom to the dining room table downstairs.  (Nice, right?)  I told her it looked as if there was  a lot of water in the ceiling as it appeared to be bulging.  To our surprise, the ceiling came crashing down on top of the dining room table.  Good thing they were planning on taking that part of the ceiling down to do some remodeling.  Maybe Terri and I are a bit much for this house.  It was built in the late 1700's and withstood 2 world world wars, and has been standing for 200 years, but it is no match for the Taylor girls.  We come and the toilet breaks and the ceiling collapses.  Geeze, they just did not have good craftsmanship back in the colonial days.

Today I think that everybody decided that for the sake of our sanity we would go to our separate corners and recharge.  My sister-in-law took her kids home to as she calls it "decompress".  My father-in-law went to work, my mother-in-law had some grocery shopping to do, so Terri and I took Molly and Madison to a local nail salon and we got pedicures.  Wow was that awesome!  Afterwards, we went for lunch at the local favorite called the Beaver Creek Tavern.  Terri and I had Philly Cheese Stakes.  YUMMY!!!  The movie Brave completed our day out and then back to Oma and Opa's for dinner and bed time.  There was not too much excitement to report on for this day so I will say good night.  Terri and I are off to Philadelphia's Independence Mall for the 4th of July so we need our sleep.

Over and Out,
The Wagon Queens.

Day 6

Monday was a wild and crazy day.  If you ever have a day free and want to wonder what a day in hell would be like, just gather up you kids (borrow some if you live a kid free life) and head on down the road to the Crayola Factory.  It is cheap enough, $12.00 per person, and you do get to do some crafts and walk out with 4 free freshly made crayons including the mac and cheese color.  Oh but trust me, you need to come prepared to have your kids chained to your hip.  Weld their hands to yours, use super glue, staples or duct tape.   Hey come to think of it, duct tape would be VERY helpful because of its many uses.  First it is easily worn around the wrist as a high fashion bracelet, second, you can fashion a long rope with which you can effectively handcuff each kid to and form a straight line, third you can tape your ears shut, and yes best of all you could run around and tape all of the children's mouths shut.  Trust me their parents will thank you for it.  Just imagine 300-500 children running around screaming and tugging at their parents all wanting the opportunity to touch a crayon, something that we all have no less than 300 sitting in a plastic tub in our homes all in various stages of life.  Somehow when seen at the Crayon factory, that crayon now seems to look like a unicorn flying around a magical land as if to hold some kind of special powers.  Needless to say, it was a mad house.  While it was kind of neat, it was so insane.  

At one point Madison disappeared.  While we looked frantically my mother-in-law notified a factory worker and he enacted their code Adam procedure.  She was quickly located in a play area behind a wall.  I was in tears and feeling both relief and rage.  I was not sure if I should paddle her butt or hug her tight, so I did both and in that order. 

Once we were done there we began to head home.  For some reason, we decided to take the spiral route home.  We got lost 3 times, had to pull over to look for directions.  Once we pulled over just past an exit ramp off of the highway and I was told to back up, yea you heard it, back up and take that exit.  I don't think I was ever so happy to get home and out of the car. 

Funny thing said:  Madison grabbed my chap stick and when I tried to take it away she exclaimed, "No, I need to chap my lips".

It was an exciting day and we are ready to go to bed.

Over and out,

The Wagon Queens

Day Five

We're back.  Sorry it has been two days.

Sunday was pretty uneventful.  We went to church with the family had a family photo session afterwards with a professional photographer.  The kids were in matching outfits and look so cute in their "bib and tucker".  That was followed by much needed LONG nap.

That night we had a bonfire complete with "smarshmallows" (as Madison calls them.)

Funny thing said today:  My brother in law Jeff walks into the house and says to my sister Terri:  "Is there any coffee left?"  Terri says to Jeff:  "Yes there is."  Jeff to Terri:  "Yes, but is it organic?"  Many of you may be wondering where the humor is in this, but for those of you who know Jeff, you know why this is funny.  All others, there will be more funny "Jeff-isms" later...like now.  That night at dinner Jeff asked for a beer.  My father-in-law offered him a Miller Lite...Jeff turned it down explaining, "That beer doesn't go well with my pallet."


Got to love the family.

Over and Out,
The Wagon Queens

day 4 video

Day 4

Saturday has come and gone.  The kids swam in a kiddie pool all morning.  We took a trek down to the west branch of the Brandywine creek that feeds into the Brandywine River.  It is a beautiful area that is well shaded and the water is cool.  What a great place to sit and soak your feet...provided that you can stay out of the poison sumac.     Soon we found ourselves sitting at the Coatsville Country Club for their 4th of July celebration complete with Professor Hitt...an award winning magician.  He really needed to put his career out of its misery because while his magic was decent, his jokes were as old as his assistant.  I don't mean to be tacky, but Terri and I got really tickled because his assistant forgot to put her teeth in her mouth and you could hang a cape on her hump.  (Maybe that is a little drastic, but there was a little, no a LOT missing in the presentation of his show.  Terri and I realized that our thin veneer of class was beginning to crack and our "redneck" heritage was starting to show through.  I am not sure that the posh population of the CCC was not sure what to think of us.

After the swim party it was back home to get ready for the fireworks show.  A good time was had be all.

Funny things said today:
Maddie to Oma:  Mom said I needed to put on "sun scream".

Maddie was eating a Sponge Bob Popcicle and said "Yum, this popsicle is very popcically."


Well we are off to bed so we can get up early for church tomorrow.

Over and Out
The Wagon Queens.

Day 3 video