Taking a trip down memory lane...a.k.a. The Ohio Turnpike

On Tuesday morning we hit the road, continuing east towards our old stomping grounds...O-hi-o. Before we could leave Indiana, we of course had to see one more cornfield! There should never be a shortage of corn in the U.S.!


A few miles down the road we came to a complete stand still. Up ahead I could see a long line of trucks and a big cloud of smoke. We turned off the car and sat on the highway for about 30 minutes. It turned out to be a truck that had caught on fire! Believe it or not, it took about 5,000 miles before we actually got stuck in traffic. Not too bad!


Once we got moving again it did not take long to cross into Ohio.

Typical of Ohio, we never found the Welcome Center so the best I can do is this fuzzy picture of the sign at the state border.

As we drove across the state of Ohio, I listened to mom tell stories of her childhood and my childhood. Mom grew up in Ohio, my dad grew up in Ohio, my sister and brothers were born in Ohio. We lived here until I was about 12. Obviously we have a little bit of history with the "Buckeye State."

Our destination was Youngstown, Ohio, almost to the border of Pennsylvania. Youngstown is where my mom was born and grew up. Her sister still lives there, as well as her daughter, my cousin. Here's a picture of mom sharing some laughs with my Aunt Patty.


It was great to relax at my aunt's house and hear my mom and her sister tell all kinds of crazy stories from their childhood. I even got to drive by and see the house that my mom grew up in! Plus, we had fun visiting with my cousin Angela and her two kids, Jimmy and Gina. Here I am playing after our pizza party!





Wait a minute! Who is the photographer now?!

Somehow I couldn't get a picture with Jimmy's tongue in his mouth!



It was so good to wind down our trip with a visit with family. Jimmy if you read this ...tell mommy that you want to come to Boston!


On Wednesday night, mom, Aunt Patty and I went to see the movie "Mamma Mia." Mom was just a little bit excited since it is one of her favorite shows. She and I have both seen it performed several times. It was very entertaining, and we were singing Abba songs all the way home. Then we stayed up late watching home videos from my mom's childhood. It was great seeing my mom at about the age of 7 doing a dance recital for the camera. She informed me that she was so excited because it was the first time she was allowed to wear makeup. The funniest thing about the video was that it was like watching me as a child because my mom and I looked exactly alike at that age!

It's hard to believe that our trip is almost over! I still can't believe everything we have seen and done. Hopefully you are all enjoying reading about our adventures!