CJ was all done with school and the party was all complete. It was time to think about getting ready for our trip across the country. I had to work all that first week in June. The second week CJ had doctor's appointments that we could not miss. Wednesday I meet with Rabbi to start working on getting ready for my Bar Mitzvah in February. On the last day of school, we went to an Escape room. I was so happy with the team that we had. We had so much fun and worked together so well.
Monday, CJ had her wisdom teeth out. The doctor said that she did really well but all week she was hurting. She did not like having to just eat soft foods.
Friday we spend the day packing the car and cleaning because we were going to try and leave the house Saturday morning by 7:00. Saturday morning we got up and packed the car. I told my mom to just leave her bags upstairs and I will get them. She decided to bring her bags down and was not watching her steps because her hands were full. She said that she did not see the bottom step of the stairs and fell off the stair. She said that her arm hurt so bad. We took her to the ER. We thought that we would leave from the ER if she was ok. We had a hotel room that was reserved in Rome. It was none refundable. At the ER it was found that Mom had a fracture in her upper humerus bone. There was not much that they could do but put it in a sling and they told us she needs to see her doctor when she gets home.
We decided to cut out some of the Stranger Things sites and just go straight to Rome. We thought that we could get there before the Museum closed. We also let Mom's friend know that we could not make it to her house. So we started off towards Atlanta. I noticed that we were going to be driving right past the StarGate Mall from Stranger Things it was the first stop of our trip. I told CJ that we did not have to miss this because it was right off the highway and not out of our way. So we stopped. We could not go it the Mall and all of the doors and windows were locked and covered. It was great to finely start or trip with something fun.
We left the Mall and started to drive through Atlanta. All of a sudden Mom get sick and started to throw up all over the front of the car. CJ was driving and pulled over to the side of the road. We had nothing to clean up the car or Mom with. CJ had a couple of make-up wipes and some napkins. The car smelled and we had to do something more. CJ did not what to drive anymore so I drove and got us off at the next exit where we found a grocery store and got Clorox wipes. We got the car and mom cleaned up better and headed back on the road to Rome, GA. We made it with plenty of time to see the museum and even get to the cemetery. After the museum, Mom was very tired and wanted to find the hotel and get some rest. So we decided to go to the cemetery in the morning.
In the morning the hotel did not really have any protein for breakfast so we decided to just go to IHOP for breakfast. We had a nice breakfast and then went to the cemetery to see Great Grandma Pauline's grave. Mom was trying to tell me about where the grave was according to her friend. I reminded her that she has been there before but she did not remember. I had to show her the pictures to prove that she was there during the time she came for CJ's Bar Mitzvah. She was then able to remember other parts of the trip that we had taken to Rome. Mom was surprised at how fast I was able to just lead us right to the grave so I reminded her that I had been there many times before. It was raining but stopped almost as soon as we arrived at Great Grandma's grave.
We then started our journey to Greenville, Mississippi. It was going to be a 6-hour drive, so we talk to Jay about places we could stop on the way. We decided to stop in Birmingham, Alabama, and see the Freedom Walk and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where during the civil rights movement there was a bombing that had killed 4 children and is referenced in the book Witkins Go to Birmingham which I have taught before. The Freedom Walk was an emotional experience but was in a neighborhood that was not good so it was taken away from it because I was worried about my surrounding and all the houses and could not focus on how much this park really meant. Mom, I think had a different experience because she was making comments about the dogs not being neutered on the statues and was just walking up to the homeless and talking to them which made me more nervous. I was glad that we went and got to see it.
We then went on to Greenville. We got there at dinner time so we decided that because it was not too late we would try to find the cemetery and find where my Great Grandmother was buried. We found the cemetery with no problem but were not sure where to even start looking. So we drove about a little looking for the Jewish part of the cemetery we then found that it was at a separate part. We then got out and split up to look. CJ then called and said that she found it. We found more than Restory's grave we found many members of the family. We found our Great Great Grandparents' site right next to Restory's. I told Mom that today she spent time with both her grandmothers.
I took a picture of the train depot that David Cohn writes about in his book. We also drove down Washington Street which is also mentioned in his book of where his house was growing up. The next day we got up and I went to the lobby while mom and CJ got ready. While I was sitting there I saw a mouse run behind the food that was set out for breakfast. I decided then that we were not having breakfast there and were going out again. I found a Chick-Fil-A and we had breakfast there. We then went to the Synagogue to try and see the museum but they were closed and no one was answering so we went over the the Main Museum and it was locked up to. We rang the doorbell but no one answered. We then called the number on the door, but the person on the other line could not help us. We were able to walk away but then someone came to the door and let us in. When we came in at the front door was a picture of Uncle David the man that help raise my grandfather. The museum direct stated that he was a relative of his too. It turned out that he was a distant cousin of ours. His great Grandfather was my great-great-grandfather's brother. We got to learn the name of the store that my Great Great Grandfather owned and Uncle David and my grandfather worked in and see pictures of it. Found out that the store stayed open until 1986 before it was closed.
The director of the museum called over to the Synagogue and had them open the museum there for us. There was more family history there and even a plak in the back of the Synagogue with a dedication to my great-great-grandparents. CJ got on the bima and said a prayer. To think that she stood on the same bima and said prayers as her ancestors did was so chilling and gave me goosebumps. The Synagogue only has 50 families and no children anymore. The secretary at the temple gave CJ some Jewish crafts to take back to our temple as a donation. I thought that was so sweet. We had a nice time talking with her.
By noon we left Greenville and started to head to Texas. We decided that we would try to make it to Dallas Texas. On the way, we found that we were passing by Shreveport Louisiana which is where Jay has had to go work a couple of times. It was getting close to dinner so we decided to stop at one of Jay's favorite places for dinner. I get to try Etouffee and Mom got to try crawfish. My dish was really good but Mom and CJ thought that their dishes were a little spicy.
We then drove on to Dallas. This was the best hotel that we had stayed in and in the morning we were able to eat breakfast at the hotel without something crazy happening. We were going to get up and go to the park where JFK was shot. So we drove to downtown Dallas and it was raining so hard that we decided not to try and find a parking spot and just had on to San Antonio where the Alamo was. We even took my mom to Buc-cees for the first time. She could not believe how many gas pumps there were.
It was a long day in the car and I was very frustrated by the time we got to the hotel. The GPS took me to the wrong hotel. Same name but not the one Jay had booked for us. I was getting very frustrated at the check-in desk because no one would give me directions to the other hotel. The check-in lady was telling me that she could just change my reservation to that hotel but was just telling me I was 5 minutes from the other hotel and could just go there, but no one was telling me how to get to the other hotel so I became so overwhelmed and started to cry. I told Jay that was fine I would go to the other hotel but still did not have directions to get there. The lady at the desk said no and that she was going to call the other hotel and get the reservation switched and would give me the same price and comp my parking. We ended up staying at that hotel and Jay just had to call Expedia for a refund. After that, we decided to go over to Alamo and check it out. It was hot but inside the Mission was cool. I did not know a lot of the history of the Alamo just the statement "Remember the Alamo." I guess there was a big battle a the Alamo. It was really neat and had lots of very interesting history. We were so hot and tired that we decided not to do the Riverwalk that everyone told us was great. I think that we all enjoyed The Alamo. I even tried to play with Mom a little bit by splashing water at her when we were by the fountain. We came back to the hotel and just had left over and sandwiches.
In the morning we decided to drive all day to get to Arizona. It was going to be an 11 and 1/2 hour drive to the hotel near Tombstone. It was a long day of driving and not much to see so it was just driving. So much driving that I ended up getting a speeding ticket. It was my first one in 30 years and I do not know how it happened. I saw the speed limit sign for a construction zone and started to slow down but it was not soon enough so he got me because I was not going the speed limit when I hit the sign.
We made it to Arizona and rested at the hotel. The next morning we got up and had breakfast at the restaurant near the hotel. We then rode the rest of the 2 hours to Tombstone. We went to the Tombstone cemetery first and then for a bus tour of the town. We had so much fun just walking around. I had to get CJ a corset when we were there. There was a BBQ restaurant in town that was for sale I told Jay I found our retirement plan. Jay texted me back that would be the best souvenir from Tombstone.
By noon we got in the car and headed for the last bit of our trip to Yuma. It was only 4 hours then we would stay in Yuma for a couple of days seeing Wendy and helping my mom out with a couple of things. The first thing that we did was take CJ to Ronnie's pizza for dinner.
We stayed at Brian's place across the street from Mom's house. I could not let CJ into Mom's house because of the smell. It was so bad that I could not be in the house for long because it was giving me a migraine headache. I just do not know how they live like that. I just can not handle the smell of marijuana. I tried to help her clean up some by folding clothes but could not stay in the house long. I also looked at all of her storage books but it was too hot to go through and my mom was making comments like all I was looking for the books worth money. No, I was looking for books to keep because they meant something to the family and which books she just needs to get rid of whether she should sell them to try and get money or just get rid of them. So I just walked away. CJ spent a lot of time with Wendy in the hospital because we really thought that we were going to lose her. I was able to take CJ in the morning to Arizona Donunt one of my favorite breakfast places for a breakfast burrito, for lunch I took her to DaBoyz, and in the evening we went to Dairy Queen on Fortuna Rd for ice cream with Roxanna.
Saturday morning we packeted up and got ready to head to Cathy's. I took mom to the store and we went to see Wendy again. Then we drove to California and made it in time for dinner with Craig and Sue, Cathy's parents. We had a very nice dinner and it was good to see everyone. One of Sue's neighbors come and he was a doctor that was about to retire. He talked a lot to CJ about the medical field and Micheal Cathy's brother just graduated as a nurse practitioner so he talk a lot to CJ as well. This made CJ feel part of the group and not a kid.
Sunday we all went up to Oak Glen. CJ wanted to go to Oak Glen because she said that she had lots of great memories of going there as a kid. The petting zoo was not there but we had fun getting treats a the bakery and walking around. We went to some of the shops.
Monday we left and drive to Phoenix. It was only a 4-hour drive so we were able to make it there by lunchtime. Montse took us out to lunch to celebrate CJ's graduation. We had a nice visit with Montse and Ellie. It was so nice to see them.
We decided not to stay in Phoenix but try to drive closer to the grand canyon. Montse suggested a little town up north. It was only 2 hours away. We stayed in the cutest hotel and the town was really cute as well. We went and got ice cream and then came back and went to sleep.
We got up in the morning and went to Star Bucks for breakfast. Then we drive the 2 hours to the Grand Canyon. As we got there we gave the man our pass and he was so nice worrying about want CJ needed to be able to have a good time at the Canyon. We drove around the Canyon. We had a great day together. I was surprised that CJ was able to not get freaked out too much by the height of the Canyon.
When we left there we when to the 4 corners, which is where 4 states come together. We had fun being silly and walking the circle saying we are in Arizona, we are not in Utah, now we are in New Mexico, and finely we are in Colorado. We then found the hotel that Jay got us. It was a nice place and there was a Fazzoli close so we went for fast food Italian.
The next day we got up and drove through Colorado. We called Donna and Steve because we know that they had moved to Colorado. It was so good to see them Donna and Steve are so sweet and I miss seeing the at Temple. We had a nice lunch with them before heading closer to Mount Rushmore.
The next morning we got up and went to Mount Rushmore. We went through the museum and saw the mountain. We then went into town and walked around. We had such a nice time. The town was so cute. We went to this saloon for lunch. Then headed on to DeSmet, South Dakota the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
On the way we stopped at Wall Drug and get our free ice water. Wall Drug is so hard to explain to CJ but she thought that it was really neat. We were going to also stop at 1880 Town but was did not have a lot of time and it was like $15 a person just to go in.
We made it to the hotel a little late but not too bad. It was raining hard when we got there so trying to get the stuff out of the car was a little wet. In the morning we got up and had breakfast then went to the cemetery where the Ingells were buried. The only family members that were not buried there were Laura, Almanzo, and Rose Wilder. We then parked downtown got some tea and walked to the museum. As we walked we read the signs on the buildings. We then went to the museum and the tour. In the middle of the tour, it started to downpour rain. The last part of the tour was the Ingall house which was downtown where the car was. CJ and I had to walk the 4 blocks in the rain to the car downtown. The house was really neat but CJ and I were very wet.
We then drove to Walnut Grove Minnesota. We did not museum there. That museum was mostly about the TV show "Little House on the Prairie." I realized CJ has not seen the TV show we had only read the books together. At the museum, they did have a replica of the old dug out which was cool. I guess the original dugout had collapsed. You could go see where it was but we decided not to go out to the field where it was.
We then took the 4-hour drive to Chippewa Falls to RJ's house. We got there at dinner time and decided to have dinner at the Fill-In-Station. The only restaurant that I remember from when I lived there. The girls just loved CJ they would not leave her alone. CJ loved all the attention and the girls loved having a big girl to look up to. We then went to Olson's for ice cream after.
RJ let us stay in his new camper. The next day we got up and RJ took us to the farm where he worked when he was younger. CJ said that he wanted to pet a cow. That she liked cows and on our trip, she was talking about wanting to have a small hobby farm in the country when she gets older, maybe in the mountains. She had the wrong shoes for being at the farm. She wear white shoes that were not so white when we got done. She enjoyed seeing the farm and petting and feeding the cows but I think that she did not realize how dirty there were. CJ does not do well with dirty. We then went to RJ's mother in laws house to get some rhubarb and CJ get to pet a horse there. The RJ did such an older cousin thing by breaking off a piece of rhubarb and giving it to CJ to eat without any sugar. CJ had never had rhubarb before so she did not know that it was so sour.
After the farm McKinley came over and we took the kids to the park to play and see the animals at the zoo. It was so great to see McKinley and Ivan. I so wish she lived closer and I can be a mom to her again and a grandmother to Ivan. Being with McKinley is so great but so sad. I hate that I had to leave her when she was so young. She said that she understood and that she know I had to leave or I would have never had the life I had now. She told me that her dad had not changed and that she was not really talking to him. CJ loves having a big sister to share with. I wish that I had more time with McKinley but she had to go.
That night we had a nice dinner and Lucy wanted to stay in the camper with us like having a slumber party with CJ. The next morning we got up and said goodbye to everyone. I had such a nice time with RJ and his family. CJ said that spending time with RJ's family was one of her favorite parts of the trip.
All day on Sunday we drove. We did not get as far as we wanted to because traffic all the way through Wisconsin and Illinois was really bad. So Jay got a hotel for us in Fort Wayne. We then got up the drove the rest of the way to Aunt Lonarae's. It was nice to see Aunt Lanarae and Uncle Dent. We had a nice dinner at their house and talked so much.
The next morning we had and nice lunch out and then said goodbye to Uncle Dent. He had to go to a conference in Virginia. After he left we went to Hershey World. CJ wanted to make a 1-pound Reese's cup. She had a good time riding the train and then making Reese's cup. We were not there long and did not do much but we had fun just goofing around at Hershey World.
The next morning we got up and headed to see Ms. Margy. We only spent one day with her which she was very sad about. But we really wanted to go to DC see the sites and get home. It had been a long trip and I think that we both were ready to get home.
When we got to DC it was not too late so we took the train into Georgetown to get Springle's cupcakes.
The next day we got up and rode the train into DC. We decided that night we would not pay for a bus tour but just walk to the sites that we walked to see. We were glad that we did not get a tour. We walked so much and were very tired but we got to see everything that we wanted and spend as long as we wanted at each site. We spent some time at the Viet Nam memorial. We found the name of the hero that changed our Friend Roger's life and gave him his tallet which later Roger would pass down to CJ at her bar Mitzah. It was a very memorable moment. That night we were so tired we just got room service and went to sleep in the morning we would drive the rest of the way home.
On the way home we stopped to have ice cream with Ron. We got home by dinner time and it was nice to be home. It was a long but wonderful month. I will always remember this wonderful time with my daughter. We got along great and had lots of memories. I can not believe that this will be our last summer together before college and her being all grown up. Even Aunt Lonarae said that she will miss CJ coming to see her in the summers.
