Our Maiden Voyage

     Our maiden voyage has went smoother than I expected so far.  As I type this we are wrapping up our first extended stay.   We have been in Streetsboro Ohio, just outside Cleveland, for the last week.    Our trip to Cleveland took two days with a very quick drop in at a campground in the mountains of Fancy Gap, VA.   Our only major adventure was that our bike rack broke about 1 mile from our campground.   We will be putting the bikes in the trailer for the rest of the trip.  

The entire route of trip began with the idea of seeing some of the All-Star activities in Cleveland.   We were able to see the celebrity softball game, the futures game, and the red carpet parade.   In addition, we were able to spend a few hours at the All Star experience.   Overall, I am just so happy that all the kids practiced patience and found portions of the baseball activities they enjoyed.   Charlee and Cooper don’t quite care about the actual games like MJ but were very well behaved and seemed to enjoy the family time.   The ironic part of the whole thing is we were really looking forward to the fireworks at the Futures Game.  Keli and I both thought they were amazing but the little kids thought they were too loud and both shed some tears.   The show was nearly 30 minutes long and set to some of the most famous rock songs of all time as the rock and roll hall of fame is also in Cleveland.  

As for the sightseeing portion of this leg we really saw a lot.   There is a national park, Cuyahoga, just minutes from our campground.   It has an old style train that runs the roughly 25 mile length of the park multiple times a day.    It was one of the outings I was most looking forward to.  It was fun, but I think the last minute addition of a small hike to Brandywine Falls was a bigger hit.    As we started posting pictures of our trip several friends who were from this area originally recommended some spots like Brandywine and Shagrin Falls.   Both were such great stops and the kids enjoyed them.  I was a little too excited to see the house where “A Christmas Story” was filmed.   I liked the movie as a kid but Jeff, Steve, and I have quite the family tradition of watching it each Christmas season and quoting all our favorite parts.     It did not disappoint.   The gift shop and museum added all kinds of unexpected surprises.  

Tomorrow, we head out to Amherstburg Ontario.  The family time has been wonderful.   Is it perfect, of course note, but the kids are doing well.   Due to all the late nights they have all been told they are not allowed out of bed until 8 each morning and they have been good about following that rule.   So, week 1, we are moving on happy and fairly well rested.   Lets hope week 2 is just as good!