Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts

Sometimes I think things and sometimes I write those things down. From Travel Diaries to... other things.

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Over the years, I’ve made a habit of posting daily travel diaries while on vacation to share with family and friends back home. Now I’m sharing them here on Baglock Travel Diaries to reminisce—and I hope you’ll enjoy coming along for the ride.

I’m starting with our first big road trip, ~10 years ago: 37 States, 3 Countries, 39 Days, and 10,000 miles of RV fun and tourist traps! If you like road trips, tourist attractions, roadside food, or a bit of dad humor, you'll certainly enjoy this.

Also, for privacy reasons, everyone is Abraham Lincoln in every picture.... Enjoy!

Day 1 drops soon—what’s your favorite road trip memory?🚐 #TravelDiaries

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

@NavyPier We had a really good time during our visit to the funhouse maze 10 years ago on a cross country road trip.
https://t.co/H0swaDPEbU

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Family US Road Trip 2015 memories - Day 9 (of 39): Lightning bugs, the Bean, bocce ball, and as always (for privacy), everyone is Abraham Lincoln....

June 26 - 1:11 AM
Day 9:

We didn't get in as early as we should have, or stay as late as we would have liked to, but we had a very nice time in Chicago. After leaving one of the greenest KOAs we stayed at on the trip (Chicago Northwest KOA), we headed out to the city. The Bean was very impressive, as was the rest of Millennium Park. We ended the day with the pictured deep dish pizza at Giordano's (because you really kinda have to when in Chicago - also, it is DELICIOUS), but earlier, we had a little food and played Bocce at (oddly enough) a Bocce and food place (Pinstripes). It was a lot of fun and they had, hands down, the best veggie burger I've ever had. Ever.

I said put your hands down!

Hmmm. I think perhaps my lack of sleep is getting to me. I'm having a GREAT time, but I've been running on no more than 5 hours of sleep a night. It is a good thing we had already seen fireflies this trip. They are brighter than I remembered and, although it makes sense, it did not occur to me that they would be out and about on the freeway, making our drive through Indiana and Ohio far more like the Millennium Falcon making the jump to light speed than one would expect. If I had not realized the flashing lights on the freeway and the surrounding fields were fireflies, I would have been sure it was sleep deprivation (or I was about to have a seizure I suppose).

We've been pretty fortunate with the weather so far. I'm hoping that can hold up. There were 5 tornadoes in Illinois the day before we got there. In South Dakota there were 90 mph winds on the Interstate when we were in Wyoming (again, the day before we were there). There was a semi lying on its side on the side of the freeway, apparently having been blown over by the wind the night before. The worst we've had to deal with, so far, is some rain.

Passed our last stupid time zone this evening. I'm hoping to leave at 5 AM to get to Niagara early and avoid traffic in Detroit, but now it is apparently 1 AM instead of midnight like I thought.

In case that last sentence was unclear, tomorrow we drive through Canada to Niagara. Should be pretty laid back and, hopefully, not too hot

#TravelDiaries #RoadTrip #DeepDishPizza @PinstripesBBB @GiordanosPizza #Chicago @KOAKampgrounds
Start the trip on Day 1 here: https://t.co/I3xic1pDBy | Yesterday’s adventures (Day 8): https://t.co/MbiXfTdAwU

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Last one from Independence Hall.
@INDEPENDENCENHP

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Family US Road Trip 2015 memories - Day 21 (of 39): Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and philly cheesesteak, and as always (for privacy), everyone is Abraham Lincoln....

July 7 - AM
Day 21:

The drive into Philadelphia was surprisingly mild. Traffic was good. Parking was convenient (thanks to the advice of the nice lady at the campground). The only issue was that we were running a little late so the "walk" to Independence Hall from the parking was a little hurried. I was a sweaty mess by the time we got there (because of course I was).

The tour was nice and informative. Certainly worth the stop. We also saw the Liberty Bell, which is a bell with a crack in it (in case you've never heard of it). The line moved well and it is cool to see that kind of history up close. At the Federal Reserve they gave out small bags of shredded cash after going through a security checkpoint straight out of a spy show (empty your pockets and one person at a time enters a rounded pod which then shuts the entrance and opens the other side for you to exit). Unfortunately, the US Mint didn't let you buy coin blanks or anything as souvenirs. That part was kind of disappointing. We did get to see coins being made though, which was cool.

It was supposed to be around 90 today, but it didn't seem like it ever got over 85. The boys were still behaving like they were wearing flaming ski masks and full-body armor though. I kind of wish it was REALLY hot so they could fully appreciate what big babies they are being.

Also in there somewhere we had lunch at Reading Terminal Market. The "Reading" in Reading Terminal Market is the same railroad that is referenced on a Monopoly board. Fun fact: (and by "fun" I mean "vaguely interesting," and by "fact" I mean "according to the people there") it is pronounced REDing, not REEDing, so I guess I've been saying it wrong all these years playing Monopoly. Anyway, it was a good food court and I highly recommend it.

I've been meaning to mention, I guess there is a coffee shop chain back here that is really prevalent. Seems like it was all over the place in Boston and New York too. The regular coffee is not my cup of tea (badum-chhh), but their espresso drinks and food are quite good. I'm having trouble coming up with the name at the moment though. Seems like it might be something like Queequeg's? I'll post a picture if I can find one.

We got to DC this evening, but not early enough to head out to the National Mall, so we will save that for tomorrow. We have the better part of 4 days here, so it will be a little rushed, but hopefully will let us hit the high points.

There were fireflies again tonight. Even in downtown DC. I caught one. It was nice.

#TravelDiaries #RoadTrip #PhiladelphiaPA @RdgTerminalMkt @VisitPhilly @INDEPENDENCENHP @US @usmint
Start the trip on Day 1 here: https://t.co/I3xic1pDBy | Yesterday’s adventures (Day 20): https://t.co/JlSC1xLq1K

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Family US Road Trip 2015 memories - Day 20 (of 39): Amish buggy ride, shoofly pie discovery, campground fun, and as always (for privacy), everyone is Abraham Lincoln....

July 7 - 12:31 AM
Day 20:

Ah Pennsylvania. I would put it in the top 5 most beautiful states that I have seen. Everything looks like a big green pillow. The houses are cute. The shops are cute. Even the names of the cities (with their tendency to just be a name or word with the word "town" appended - e.g. Elizabethtown, Allentown, Jonestown, etc.) are cute.

If states were clothing, Pennsylvania would be an angora sweater. If states were food, Pennsylvania would be cinnamon rolls. If states were cattle, Pennsylvania would be a Jersey cow. If states were diseases, Pennsylvania would be some sort of cute disease that you wanted to hug.

Today we did the Amish thing. Took a short buggy ride. The driver was Amish and there were some interesting things, but overall, it was nothing to write home about (the irony of writing that sentence in a status update meant for, in large part, the folks at "home" is not lost on me BTW). If I had it to do again, I would have focused more on local crafts and shopping and less on tours. Unfortunately, as with so many other locations, the biggest issue was not having enough time. A week would have, I'm sure, just scratched the surface.

Then there was food. Shoofly pie, where have you been all my life? That was some good stuff. Sweet, but not overly, like I feared it would be. Got some fresh fruit from a local orchard, some cheese and bread from a local bakery. There is only so much that can be consumed in a given amount of time though (see last night's post) and we hadn't planned too much for the day, so we ended up getting to the KOA campground in time for some activities. Swimming, miniature golf, games, and then roasted hot dogs over the fire. We even got a firefly display while lightning was going on in the background.

Tomorrow is Philadelphia. We're really only doing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (plus lunch of course, gotta get my Philly cheesesteak), and then on to Washington DC. Unfortunately we were officially informed today that we did not get the White House tour, which is too bad, but there will be plenty else to do.

#TravelDiaries #RoadTrip #LancasterPA #amish #shooflypie @LancasterPAcom @visitPA @KOAKampgrounds
Start the trip on Day 1 here: https://t.co/I3xic1pDBy | Yesterday’s adventures (Day 19): https://t.co/IO9OeSfw2f

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Beautiful floors in Independence Hall

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Just some building we saw walking around Philly....
@visitphilly #philly #philadelphia

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

This is the coffee shop chain I was referring to. I was close on the name....
@Starbucks

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Coincidentally, when we got to the hotel in DC, National Treasure happened to be on tv when we turned it on and it was all taking place where we just were in Philadelphia. There was just a scene in Reading Terminal Market where you could see the table I ate my cheesesteak at. Mmmmmmm cheesesteak...

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Super disappointing! Apparently there are multiple definitions of the word "mint", so, if you're thinking you're going to get a fun breathe freshener treat at the end of a cool factory tour, guess again! Stupid government. Who wants to see a bunch of stupid pennies getting made?

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Philly Cheesesteak at reading terminal market. Delicious. I did not go the whiz route. I would be interested if anyone has strong feelings about that. Sounds gross.
@RdgTerminalMkt #phillycheesesteak

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Two Lincolns and a bell that was likely rung at the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. That's a whole lot of liberty for one picture.
#libertybell

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Independence Hall. Good history and surprisingly good AC.
@INDEPENDENCENHP

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

This is the shoofly pie mentioned. No affiliation. No kickbacks. Just beautiful memories of deliciousness. It never occurred to me to check before now, but it appears they take orders online. Do it. Just do it now. Worst case scenario? You have some guilt about eating a whole pie on your own. Best case scenario? you might get to eat a whole pie on your own....
@BirdinHandNews #shooflypie

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Family US Road Trip 2015 memories - Day 20 (of 39): Amish buggy ride, shoofly pie discovery, campground fun, and as always (for privacy), everyone is Abraham Lincoln....

July 7 - 12:31 AM
Day 20:

Ah Pennsylvania. I would put it in the top 5 most beautiful states that I have seen. Everything looks like a big green pillow. The houses are cute. The shops are cute. Even the names of the cities (with their tendency to just be a name or word with the word "town" appended - e.g. Elizabethtown, Allentown, Jonestown, etc.) are cute.

If states were clothing, Pennsylvania would be an angora sweater. If states were food, Pennsylvania would be cinnamon rolls. If states were cattle, Pennsylvania would be a Jersey cow. If states were diseases, Pennsylvania would be some sort of cute disease that you wanted to hug.

Today we did the Amish thing. Took a short buggy ride. The driver was Amish and there were some interesting things, but overall, it was nothing to write home about (the irony of writing that sentence in a status update meant for, in large part, the folks at "home" is not lost on me BTW). If I had it to do again, I would have focused more on local crafts and shopping and less on tours. Unfortunately, as with so many other locations, the biggest issue was not having enough time. A week would have, I'm sure, just scratched the surface.

Then there was food. Shoofly pie, where have you been all my life? That was some good stuff. Sweet, but not overly, like I feared it would be. Got some fresh fruit from a local orchard, some cheese and bread from a local bakery. There is only so much that can be consumed in a given amount of time though (see last night's post) and we hadn't planned too much for the day, so we ended up getting to the KOA campground in time for some activities. Swimming, miniature golf, games, and then roasted hot dogs over the fire. We even got a firefly display while lightning was going on in the background.

Tomorrow is Philadelphia. We're really only doing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (plus lunch of course, gotta get my Philly cheesesteak), and then on to Washington DC. Unfortunately we were officially informed today that we did not get the White House tour, which is too bad, but there will be plenty else to do.

#TravelDiaries #RoadTrip #LancasterPA #amish #shooflypie @LancasterPAcom @visitPA @KOAKampgrounds
Start the trip on Day 1 here: https://t.co/I3xic1pDBy | Yesterday’s adventures (Day 19): https://t.co/IO9OeSfw2f

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Family US Road Trip 2015 memories - Day 19 (of 39): A rare low-key day with late wake-ups, family games, a movie, and painful overeating, and as always (for privacy), everyone is Abraham Lincoln....

July 6 - 1:15 AM
Day 19:

Tonight marks a sad moment in our journey. It is officially the half way point of our trip.

Oh well. Still a lot to do.

As promised, today was something of a day off from our norm. We didn't get up until nearly 10 AM. We played some games by the serene river running through the campground, did some laundry, and went and saw Inside Out. It was a lot of fun and definitely recommended.

After that, we went to a pizza place for dinner and then watched a little something on Netflix (first time since we left, but we wanted to finish the day very low key). Over all, it was a relaxing day, without too much going on, which one would think would result in a short, concise, status.

One would be wrong.

The place we had dinner (Mannino's Pizza) was very reasonably priced and well reviewed, but, most importantly, it wasn't just pizza. Basically you could get anything they had as a sandwich, pizza, salad, calzone, etc including Greek, Philly, buffalo chicken, and the list goes on. I got the stuffed buffalo chicken burger, which was great because their version of a stuffed burger was 2 patties wrapped around boneless buffalo wings. That is a concept with which there can be no argument.

They also had a whole host of sides, including corn fritters, breaded deep fried cauliflower (or broccoli if you prefer), poppers, onion rings, mushrooms, zucchini, and, again, the list goes on and on.

So, of course, I had to have multiple sides.

That was about 5 hours ago. I am still literally painfully full.

Now I am a full-blown adult of at least average intelligence. I can do basic math and answer standard trivia questions. I am able to perform my duties at work as requested and generally take care of my responsibilities at home and yet it is always impressive to me how stupid I can be. It isn't just with food, but this is a good example.

Somewhere deep in my brain, there is something broken. I was aware of how much I "needed" to eat. I was aware of how much was "plenty", and yet that broken thing in my brain turned the dial up from "plenty" to "physically uncomfortable" while still managing to convince me it was a great idea at the time.

It would be different if this was a brand new experience. If my post was something that began with "The most surprising thing happened tonight....", but the only "surprise" is that I continue to do these stupid things knowing the consequences.

This is, of course, not unique to me. Everyone has their "stupid" things, but that doesn't make it any less baffling (although, hopefully more forgivable), but rather more. The capacity of humans to do things to themselves they KNOW are detrimental may be their most impressive trait merely BECAUSE it is so illogical.

I have no solution to this problem or anything particularly profound to say about it.

It was just on my mind.

Because I am so full.

The craziest thing, of course, is that the whole time I've been writing this status, I keep thinking that I should bust open my chocolate bar that I made yesterday at Hershey.

And you know what? I think I just might....

#TravelDiaries #RoadTrip #jonestownKOA @Pixar @KOAKampgrounds @ManninosPizza6
Start the trip on Day 1 here: https://t.co/I3xic1pDBy | Yesterday’s adventures (Day 18): https://t.co/VIQP9ItQrs

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

And our little Toyota Dolphin just kept chugging along. That little 20R motor wasn't able to make that thing go very fast, but it sure was reliable. This is about 5000 miles into the trip.
@Toyota #dolphinmotorhomes #toyotadolphin

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

The campground had a surprising number of activities. It is possible one of the missing parents not pictured here was napping. I shall remain nameless.
@KOAKampgrounds #PhiladelphiaWestChesterKOA #KOA

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

Everything was beautiful. Even boring ol' corn.

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

You can see that the kids have truly embraced the subtle manner of dress preferred by the Amish.

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

So many shops with so many cool things. Those are live bees. And that is ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

[Travel Diaries and Other Thoughts @AbeOnVacation]

I think this Abe-Lincoln-looking Amish chick is hitting on me...
#flirting #rizz