Following our trip to Indio we drove home but then 2 days later flew to Indiana making our triumphant return after a 2+ year absence. We had a great visit trying to make up for lost time with family and friends.
One benefit of Covid is that working remote has become much more doable. This allowed us to spend 2.5 weeks in Indiana. Darcy and I worked during the week (Tues - Thurs) and took Monday and Friday off to make for long weekends. We stayed in hotels so that we would have a quiet working environment and the kids stayed with family (a HUGE shout out to Amy and David, Mom and Dad for taking our kiddos while we worked and slept).
We had an ambitious itinerary but pulled it off. We spent the first few days in Brownsburg IN, then a weekend in Bloomington IN, then up to Lafayette IN, then down to Cincinnati OH, and finally back to Brownsburg.
For the first part of the trip Jeff / Jody / Anne / Owen were out as well so we had the entire gang together for the first time in 2.5 years, which was awesome!
Masked-up and ready to takeoff!
Cousin Camp was a big hit - complete with our own family olympics!
Lots of cooking to keep everyone fed!
Emily on firewood duty.
From Brownsburg we headed to Bloomington / Indiana University for the weekend. I think the girls enjoyed seeing campus (they had never been) and envisioning Darcy and I on campus as youngsters......and who knows maybe seeing campus inspired them a little.
The girls in front of Delta Gamma - where Darcy lived for several years. We knocked on the front door but nobody answered.
Read Residence Hall - Where Darcy and I met the first week in college. We tried to get into the building but it was locked.
While in Bloomington we met up with some friends - Morgan and Lori + fam. Was great to see them and catch-up.
After Bloomington we headed to Lafayette but not before catching an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. We attended the game with the Indianapolis Chapter of the St. Xavier HS Alumni group which my Dad is involved in.
It was a warm day so Ice cream did just the trick.
The kids testing their arm strength on the speed gun.
After the game we drove up to spend several days in Lafayette with Mom and Dad. I guess Em was tired!
At the Igloo Freeze for some evening milkshakes with Dad. The girls were very squirrely but posed long enough for this nice picture with Dad.
The next night we took a drive down to the world famous Lindy Freeze in Lindon IN for some ice cream!
Visiting my childhood property - wow has it become overgrown! And looks like the city is doing road work, once again.
Hard to believe a house used to sit where my parents are standing.
In summers in high school, I worked for the county parks department at Ross Hills and Ross Camp. It has been many years since I was out there but we swung by to check it out and my old boss Brian was still there overseeing the property. It was fun to catch-up with him for a few minutes and relive my glory days at the park.
After Lafayette, we drove down to Cincinnati, caught up with friends and visited some old stomping grounds including in Mt. Adams and Mount Lookout where Darcy lived right out of college.
Eden Park lookout
Meeting up with some friends and afterwards hitting up Skyline chili, a Cincy staple!
While in Cincy, we stayed with Darcy's really good friends Carolyn and Denny, and their 2 kids. On Saturday morning we visited their hunting / camping / fishing / farm just outside of New Richmond, OH along the banks of Big Indian Creek. The girls got to shoot crossbows, ride in an ATV, and swim in the creek.
On Sunday, on our way back to Indiana we drove by my Dad's childhood home just north of downtown. On the porch was an elderly lady who now lives there. We had a nice chat with her for a few minutes and she let me take a picture of the house. We also stopped by St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery where my grandparents and great grandparents are resting in peace.
After Cincy, we drove back to Brownsburg, IN and spent the last few days chilling. Amy was a trooper and took the kids to the Indy Zoo and to the Oinking Acres Farm Rescue and Sanctuary.
Also during our trip we celebrated and recognized several late July / early August birthdays (Emerson, Cora, Darcy, David).
Darcy and Emerson got the classic 80s board game Fire Ball Island.
We got Cora this giant teddy bear which was a big hit!
And for Uncle David we got a bottle of New Riff Whiskey which is the distillary where Denny, our friend in Cincy, works.
Well that is a wrap. Over the last 30 days we spent 28 days on the road. A great mount making-up for lost time but happy to be back home, sleeping in our own bed, and getting back into the routine. As I type this - school starts in 9 days.... gulp!!! Where did the summer go!
