The first issue was finding a place to stay. It was last minute, in the summer, so we were not sure we would be able to find any place with rooms available. We wanted to spend most of our time outdoors and we did not want to spend a huge amount of time in the car. Amazingly, we found a hotel just two hours away and the rooms had their own doors leading outside - so no walking through hotel lobbies.
RJC was anxious about leaving but once she was settled in the car, stuffed animals in hand, we were on the road and she was happy to watch her DVDs. We stopped for lunch at a lovely spot on the water. It was a bit rainy, but we found an outdoor place with a covering. The employees were beyond accommodating so we were off to a decent start. RJC was a little anxious as she was so far out of her routine. We were worried that with the rainy forecast we would be unable to do much outdoors and since she refused to bring her iPad we were not sure how this short getaway would go (she only uses the iPad in our house, in a specific spot) but we were all in, so after lunch we continued on our way to the hotel.
We made it to the hotel, really enjoying the ride. The mountains were green and beautiful. The rain was annoying though luckily it was fairly light and not constant. We stopped at a farm which turned out to be...struggling. Still, we had the opportunity to walk a bit and we saw a few goats (oh my gosh, one of the baby goats was so adorable, trying to walk up a board and sliding down instead). We realized fairly quickly that there wasn't much here for us and RJC was fussing, so back in the car we went and headed to the hotel.
We were slightly disheartened, but we were able to adjust. It was rainy for about a day and a half, yet we found things to do and places to eat outdoors under cover or we brought food back to our room. The room itself had a nice deck and when it wasn't raining it was a lovely place to sit and relax. We had a visiting chipmunk who hung around for the two days we were there. RJC loves nature - sitting outdoors for her is relaxing and she is often more settled when we are outdoors. We were in a beautiful state - very green and plenty of open space.
Many of the places we went were family-owned businesses rather than large chains. We went to a small mini golf place with an arcade and other than seeing one other family briefly, we were the only ones there. At that point it was still raining, so we only played in the arcade. RJC shot basketball hoops (she is quite good at this), played skee ball, and a few other games. Hal and I played air hockey (so much fun). None of us cared about the little prizes we could choose from, so we left our points there for the next family to use. We went to a "country store" that was huge! I am not a shopper - in fact, the thought of shopping makes me cringe - but this place was great fun and I could have spent hours there. RJC, however, was having none of it, and was getting loud and anxious so we left. We were able to play mini golf once the rain stopped. For the record, I could have done without the snake that was hanging out in the water on the first hole - yes - an actual live, big, creepy snake. Of course, with our family, ice cream is a necessity and there were plenty of places to find it. The highlight of our visit though...The Chocolate Shoppe! Major score!
RJC had some difficulty adjusting initially, but as the weather cleared so did her mood and she ended up seemingly more relaxed than when we first arrived. She slept fairly well though I am glad we were not in a big hotel as she was up sporadically (4 am, 5 am, 6 am...) and would get a bit loud for short periods of time. Luckily, we had an end unit and she and I did not sleep near the wall shared with our neighbors and since we never heard of any complaints, we assumed they were either heavy sleepers or we were far enough from their room that they didn't hear her. Phew.
On the way home we stopped at the same place where we had lunch on our way to vacation. Once again, the employees were amazing, and we made a nice connection with a woman who worked in a local school as a paraprofessional. We chatted about our families and life in general and it was one of those moments where I was certain that we were meant to have these days for our family. Although it was a spur of the moment idea, it was also a necessity to get away, even for just a few days. We had been quite isolated for these last couple of years and though we did not actually interact with many people on a personal level, we saw people while we were out and about, we would nod, smile and wave. It was a nice reminder that we are still part of a bigger world even though our world at home had grown incredibly small.
An unexpected adventure, well worth the time and effort!
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