ROAD TRIP BACK HOME

These are the last of our Ohio trip photos, and they are some of my favorite because they remind me of how much I enjoyed the trip there and back. I was excited about the drive because of how the four of us would be together and I had found a couple of places for us to stop along the way. Also, Ken is not a road trip enthusiast but I was hoping that this one would push him towards the direction of converting him. I'm happy to report Ken enjoyed this one; I think the easy drive, no traffic, beautiful weather and scenery all helped. 

These photos are from the drive back home, which turned out to be beautiful sunny day.  For lunch we stopped in Charleston, West Virginia at Ellen's Homemade Ice Cream, where they served lunch and ice cream. Walking down this adorable street with shops and restaurants felt like discovering an unexpected treasure. This is one of the things about road trips with my family that I remember as being so memorable. We would stop at random places - whether it be rest stops, a little town, or even a fast food place - places that we would never have gone to except for the fact that we were traveling through, and the novelty of that place and the experience was made so much more fun because we were doing it together. 

Across the street from the lunch and ice cream shop was a bookstore! They had both new and old books, and Sloane and I went into explore while Lola stayed outside with Ken to work on her ice cream cone. 

Sloane insisted on wearing the crown from her flower girl outfit all day. It looked so sweet on her!

Lola had ice cream three times this week! It was because it was her birthday week and we were on vacation. She rarely actually finishes her ice cream though because it melts all over her while she is taking her sweet time beholding it and taking little licks.

I got Sloane the "Little House in the Big Woods" book at the bookstore (we were listening to it on audiobook in the car) and she immediately wanted to leaf through to look at all the pictures. 

This reminded me so much of myself when I was a kid. I used to walk to school like this, reading a book.

On the way we back, when we had about two hours to go, we stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and stretch our legs. We happened to have bubbles from the wedding the day before, so we spent some time blowing bubbles, which felt like a welcome break from the car.

It was such a good trip, and I'm glad that we got to enjoy even our travels there and back. I'm already itching for another trip!