The Great Western Road Trip 2017....Part Thirty Three/Day Twenty Five & Twenty Six--The END

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  
Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  
Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nineteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Twenty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

The morning after visiting the Serpent Mount we had breakfast at the motel.  They had a pretty nice brekkie set up.........

I wanted to have a bowl of oatmeal but when I went to put hot water in the bowl I pressed the wrong button and started putting COFFEE in instead.  ick  I realized my mistake and finished putting hot water in but the whole think tasted of coffee(side note-I don't drink/like coffee).

Then I saw this breakfast roll/bun.  Of course I had to take a "Raisin Snail". lolz

We left the motel for our next stop but I noticed a Rite-Aid across the street from where we stopped to gas up the car.  I guess I have Rite-Aid Radar or something. ;-)

Hubs cleaning the windshield while I sat and pointed out spots he missed. lol  I am ever so helpful.....

Hubs wanted more coffee and they had a Tim Hortons nearby so we swung through the drive-thru.

I think this was a prison we passed down in Southern Ohio.  It's been almost 7 years so  I may be mistaken.

Approaching the big city from sleepy Southern Ohio.......

                  

We made it to Columbus pretty quickly. 

                   

 I saw that there was a World Market in Columbus and it was on our route so we stopped for a brief look/see.........

"Kittea Infuser"  A cute gift for the tea drinking cat lover in your life.

And for the dog lovers, "Pug in a Mug".

And what is this I spy?  Why it's a tiny ceramic giraffe.........

In a Giraffe patterned mug.

I bet many a coffee lover has felt the anguish of "Perkatory". lol

                                       

And I found my mug, well it should say "Mrs. Almost Always Right". lolz

I guess they clearance-d out all the Fourth of July items, like these "Party like it's 1776" decorative napkins since it was August now.

                                                

Ok, don't get triggered by the price of gas sign in Summer 2017 we passed.  Most people around the country would like even $3.11 per gallon of gas now.

We stopped to visit with another online friend, Chris and her hubby, yet another Dan in our universe. lolz

Dan made us dinner while Chris, my Dan and I chatted.  Then we had ice cream and went to bed.  It is so nice to meet people in person after getting to know them online!

Dan also made us all breakfast the next morning.

 Hubs snapped this photo of me and Chris in front of her ginormous fireplace painting that she got for a good deal and she loves.

                                                

 We said our goodbyes and thanks and hit the road.  We had one more stop to make that day North of them.

More Tim Horton's???  Is Canada taking over Ohio or something? lolz

                                           

I spied this water tower painted to resemble a pumpkin(or some similar squash)on the drive to our next stop.

Fairly quickly we were out in a rural area of Ohio.

And just like that!....another Rite-Aid appeared.  Seems parts of Ohio are lousy with them just like Pennsylvania.

We made it to another town in Ohio and to see Rachel, another online friend and her family.

Here we are posing with her kids.  Boy, have they grown up since then!

And one more photo of us two.

Rachel made us a yummy meal(pasta if I remember correctly), we visited for awhile and then she sent us on our way.....

                                       

But not before gifting us some yummy zucchini Bread.

                                       

Back on the interstate and Eastward Ho....

        

Passing an old long closed Goodyear Factory.  They don't call this part of the country the "Rust Belt" for nothing.

Getting onto I-80 and heading toward PA.

Lots of folks seem to move in the Summer.

And just like that we hit the state line.

But we had a 5+ hour drive once we got to PA since we lived on the other side of that often traveled and too long state.

So we booked a hotel room near Grove City.

And you know what Grove City is known for?

Outlet shopping!

Not that we really needed anything but we walked around for a couple of hours, I went into the Vera Bradley Store and found some new purses.......

Then we went into a bookstore for Hubs and browsed the selection.  I think Hubs found something to buy too.

After dropping our luggage at the hotel we went down the street for a light late dinner.

I couldn't help but laugh at the ginormous sweet roll on their glossy menu.  All I could picture was Jerlyn's breakfast back in Nebraska, earlier in the trip.....

I think I had an unsweet iced tea and a salad and don't recall what Hubs had but it wasn't very big.  And NO Sweet Buns for us!!!lolz

We slept, rolled out of bed, dressed and it was back on the Interstate to home.

We hit heavy foggy in Central PA.

Stopped for gas in Clarion where our Daughter attended college for one year.

Got home and snapped a photo of the mileage on the car before we turned it in.  7.416 miles on this "before we left" brand new rental car.  Oh my!

It was a great trip!  Full of sights and fun times with many great people that I won't soon forget.  But it was good to be home and sleep in my own bed again. '-)

Sluggy

The 3 Amigos Hit the Road-Part Two

 Part One can be found HERE.

Last time we left off we were headed North up to the Rehobeth DE area to hit yet another outlet mall.  Talbot's was a bust, the kitchen store was gone(done in by COVID)but I did manage to pick up some Converse sneakers for Hubs at the Rack Room Shoes store.  We also hit the Skechers store and Sissie found a pair of comfy slip-ons.  I found a pair of tie-dyed sneakers but alas! they don't come in wide widths. 8-(

Then we hit "my" store, Vera Bradley.  I love color, especially purple and I love a deep discount so I dove in.  

I found a purse, a wallet, a matching travel pill case, a lavender mask and a matching small zippered case(which will become my next coupon envelope when my current one wears out.  Don't ask me how much this all cost because Kim and Sissie wouldn't let me pay for any of it!  They called it my Christmas presents.  They are so kind to this old slug. 8-)))

Then it was off to lunch at Applebee's across the road for Oriental Chicken Salads.  Yum!

We also hit Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)on the way back to the beach house.  The only thing I bought were 3 books but Sissie found her kitchen rugs she wanted badly to replace her current ones.  Note to self-never buy light color scatter rugs to use in a kitchen. ;-)

As we left to go back to the car Kim practically RAN across the parking lot to the Dunkin' Donuts and Mickey D's drive thrus to find change, so desperate to beat me in the hunt for loose change.  She dug a penny out of gooey hot tar in the DD's parking lot. lolz

Then it was back to the beach house for a little more Diet Cokes, Chardonnay and Iced Tea and fun and games.

Don't even ask what's going on here! lolz

We slept, packed up the next morning and lugged everything into the car.  I am shocked Sissie got all our crap into the car especially with all the shopping purchases.  She's a Master Tetris Packer!

Here's a bad selfie on me chugging the last of a jug of tea so we didn't have to wedge that into an already packed car. lol

We set off after clearing the premise of "Kim droppings"(aka Diet Coke cans) and dumping our garbage at the place you go to dump garbage there.  We stopped at a diner before leaving the Eastern Shore for lunch.  Not as relaxing a meal as I'd hope due to a fraud alert on Sissie's account and her dealing with that but we all survived the crisis.  I called a Beloved Blogging Buddy on the rest of the ride back to D.C. and we had some laughs with her too.

We hit the beginning of rush hour around the Capital Beltway but not too bad and made it back to Sissie's house in good time.

My BUD was waiting for me.......

This is one of Sissie's cats called "Bud".  He is quite social unlike most cats.  The first time I was at her house while I was sitting in the chair pictured behind him, Bud jumped up on my chest purring away.  Let me say for the record I am NOT a cat person but Bud is different.  Every time I sat in that chair he's climb up on the footstool and demand pets and attention from me.  We had a ritual going by the time I left for home of head butting/rubbing with each other.

Let me also state for the record that I am an idiot who never learns.  That footstool is huge and a heavy substantial piece of furniture.  Every time I got up from that chair I'd bang my shin into that stool and never learned not to do that.  By the time I got home my right leg looked like this....

Stupid stupid slug!  It's disappeared now and it didn't hurt so there is that.

Back to the hjinx...

Sissie's hubby made us dinner the night we got back, his famous Italian Wedding Soup served with Popovers that Kim/Sissie whipped up.  Yummy!  And if hubby is reading this tell him again that NO his soup was NOT too salty and it was fab! ;-)

We sat around and talked, watched a little Jeopardy(well at least I did lol)and watched the Kim droppings accumulate....

I call this art installation "Diet Coke cans on garbage can lid".

She can get them to the can but lifting the lid is evidently too much work. hehehe

So Kim's cans(note I didn't say Kim's Can which is a whole other story)became the running joke.

At one point she was in the downstairs powder room and Sissie's hubby snuck over to the door and opened it enough to lob an empty DC can in there at her. lolz

Later Kim made her own art installation on Sissie's entryway table I called "Diet Coke Can Still Life"......

Kim also left an empty Diet Coke can in Sissie's car on the driveres seat at one point before I left.  I don't know what DC trouble they got into after I left but I'm sure there was more silliness. 

On Tuesday after Sissie finished work she took us out to lunch(after we finally roused Kim out of bed)at a place she likes to hang out at near her house.  We sat at the bar(yes I was barely able to climb on that high bar stool)and had lunch as we kibbutzed with the regulars that were there.

Upon leaving I noticed the planters with pretty geraniums in them.  A closer look and I saw signs in the planters........

Notice the cigarette butts tucked under the sign. lol

Kim arranged this cig(almost a full one!)so it was prominent.

What is D.C. coming to with this blatant display of not following rules?!?!

Oh yah, it's Washington....*snort*

Then Kim made a beeline for the Dunkin' Donuts next door as she'd only had 1 pastry so far the whole trip!  Oh the agony.........

Instead of then going back to Sissie's we were off on another shopping trip.  yay.

This was an outlet mall not 15 minutes from her house! 

This photo is of one of the many entrances and this stretch went on and on and on.  Notice the escalators on the right side as well.  There was a lower level we never even got to!

Frick and Frack made a beeline to the Talbot's outlet(of course).  I hobbled along behind them.

I found a few things to try on including this burgundy tunic/sweater top.........

And again Sissie wouldn't let me pay for it even though it was a great clearance price.  I passed on the white top I was considering because the discount wasn't high enough.

I also spied this dress for 60% off on the rack that might have worked for my son's wedding in February.........

Of course it looked hideous on me(didn't fit right and I didn't want to have to alter it myself)and if I HAD worn it to his wedding all the bride's family would have gotten the impression that the groom's mother was the Madam in a Shanghai Opium Den(just needed a black wig).lolz  So I passed on that dress.

This was by far the longest Talbot's shop so you get another photo of me waiting......

Finally we were done with Talbot's and it was onward to the Ugg's outlet to look for boots for a missionary Kim and Joel are helping to outfit for her mission.  After listening to Kim complain about the prices(lol)she got her boots and we wandered across the mall to the Coach Outlet Store.

I am a Coach Store virgin, but no more.  I felt the need for an oxygen mask when I walked in because of the rarified air in such a pricey store. ;-)

The store was all decked for Mother's Day gifting as that was the coming Sunday.  I liked some of the bags and tried to get Sissie to buy me one. hahahah

I did find this one 75% off.....

They also had it in teal(another color I like)but it was too small for me and it was $73+tax.  Dang, I could get two bags for that at the Vera outlet. lol

I almost pulled the trigger on this wristlet/wallet though........

It seemed to perfect "Anti-Coach" item.....their tradmark fabric/leather with hot pink lips embroidered randomly on it.  It was fun and snarky and 75% off but still I just couldn't do it for $68+tax.  The photo I took is enough for me. 8-)))

After leaving Coach we walked back toward the entrance..........

I saw this neglected landscaping area with nice rocks, nice for painting and thought for a moment of putting one in my purse to take to Lorraine the next time I saw her.

But I didn't swipe a rock because the thought of spending time in jail in MD was more unappealing.

Of course the slug who wouldn't spend big money on a purse or wallet wandered into the Bath and Body Works outlet and came out with all this......

6 tubes/bottles of shower gel/body wash.  They were having a B3G3 sale. lolz

Back into the mall and Kim had disappeared into the Ann Taylor outlet looking for clothing for her missionary gal and Sissie was sitting at a table enjoying the day.

Of all the shopping jaunts this one will forever be referred to as "The Bataan Death March of Shopping". ;-)

After leaving the outlet we hit the Mickey D's for Diet Cokes and I got my Free McFlurry on my app too....

Back to Sissie's for dinner(Taco Tuesday!)and I enjoy my McFlurry for dessert and watched the season finale of "Finding Your Roots".   A few more head buts with this guy........

....then it was off to bed a few hours after that.

When Sissie got home from work around 11am she was beat and wanted to take a nap after a night of insomnia so she gave Kim her car keys and told us to go off somewhere.  More shopping.  go me.

We didn't go far and we only went to one store-Home Goods.  We don't have one here so it was a fun experience.

Well it was fun after this fish tried to eat my arm.  I know this shot would have been funnier if the fish pot was on the floor and I had my head in it but it was too heavy to move so this lame shot will have to do.

I spent most of my time in there leaning on a cart and shopping the clearance section.....of course, right?  I found a few things, mostly some gifts and a new dish mat for the kitchen.

These signs were funny too.  This one describes Sissie......

And this one would fit a lot of folks..........

Then it was home to Sissie's but first another stop at Mickey D's for Kim's addition.  We parked and went inside since the drive thru was backed way up.  I ordered my Iced Tea and turned to Kim and she had disappeared!  I assumed she had gone into the rest room and I KNEW what she wanted so I ordered her DC for her and paid for both drinks.  It took awhile to get them and as I picked them up from the counter Kim comes flying into the building.

That RAT had left and gone to the drive thru window, dodging cars, and used the ruse that her sister had dropped her bracelet in the drive-thru lane there so she was looking for it.  All the while you know she was looking for dropped change in order to catch up with me and beat my total.

I resisted the urge to throw her drink, which I had just paid for, while she had double crossed me and ran around the building to look for change!  Cheater?  You be the judge.....

She may be a ruthless rat when it comes to the Money Game but I still loves her. 8-)

I had to take a photo of this though Sissie will kill me.

This is the toilet roll holder in the bathroom I used.  You can tell Sissie has cats just seeing this, right? lololz

Another excellent meal that night and more laughs and chatting and it was off to bed again.  I had to pack up and haul everything into my car including Sissie's Balls.......

She had a spare pair for me as a parting gift. lolz

We said our goodbyes and hugged hard and took a final photo.......

As payback I only got 3/4 of Kim's face in this photo.  Ha!

I hit the road for home making a couple of stops and getting home a bit late due to hitting Harrisburg PA rush hour traffic and construction but it wasn't too bad.

Kim flew home 2 days later and I don't even want to think about the trouble those two got into by themselves! 8-)))

And thus ended my little trip South for fun and giggles with my sisters from another mother.

Sluggy