September 21, 2009. Day 64 Indianapolis IN-again.

On September 21st, we left Great Lakes Naval Training Center and drove 216 miles, through a very busy Chicago, to Indianapolis for the night. It was nice that Grandma Celine was still with us to be a part of the trip for a while. We stayed at the Indiana State Fair grounds again. If you’re ever in Indianapolis and need an inexpensive RV place this is it. For $20 you get W-S-E. If you camp you know that’s "water, sewer and electric". We came here again because we were heading toward Atlanta for Melissa Timcho’s, Kevin’s niece, wedding. Kevin’s nephew, Ryan, lives in Indianapolis, so we called him and had him over for dinner. He said he was happy to see us because he got his first home cooked meal in quite some time. It was nice to visit and catch up with him too. We've included a picture of Ryan, on the left, at the wedding with his cousin Jordan.

September 17-20, 2009. Days 60-63 Great Lakes and Chicago IL.

On September 17th, we left our campsite in Springfield on our way to Chicago for Thomas’ graduation from Navy basic training. We picked up Lauren Rivera (Thomas’ girlfriend) and Grandma Celine from the Chicago Midway airport - they had flown in for Thomas’ graduation. Once we got them, we drove to Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where we were staying at the RV Park on the base – right along Lake Michigan.

On Friday, September 18th, we woke up early and left for Thomas’ graduation. We were there early, so we got great seats. Thomas was in the only performing division and he was in color guard. He held the American flag. As we were sitting in the stands on the second floor, we could see some sailors across the way in an open door. We couldn’t believe that one of them was Thomas. They all seem to look alike with that short hair. We were so happy to see him and we waved. A little while later, Kathleen went downstairs to find the restroom and as she was trying to find it, Thomas came walking up the stairs down below. She couldn’t believe that it was him. For nine weeks she had not seen him and had missed him so much. They hugged and she cried. It was so great to see him. Since Thomas was in the performing division, he did not have to stand at attention for the hour and a half ceremony like all the other divisions. After Thomas performed, he stood not far from us and watched the rest of the ceremony.
After graduation, Thomas was able to spend the day with us. He just wanted to relax at the motor home and visit with us. That was nice catching up with him and hearing all about his friends and the last nine weeks. Thomas was happy to see us, but he was mostly happy to see his girlfriend, Lauren. Thomas had to be back to his division that night.

On September 19th, we met Thomas at the train station and took a train into Chicago where we met Lauren’s mom, Carol. We toured Sears Tower (now named Willis Tower). We walked around downtown Chicago a bit. We saw “the Bean” at Pavilion Park and walked to the pier – then all the way back to the train station to get Thomas back to his division by a certain time. It was very sad for Thomas to say goodbye to Lauren. Lauren and her mom were staying at a hotel in downtown Chicago. It was nice to visit alone with Thomas on the train ride back.

On September 20th, we again took the train into Chicago to have brunch with Lauren and her mom, Carol. Today was our last day with Thomas. We visited a little, and then we all (including Lauren) took the train back to the Naval Station. Thomas and Andrew wanted to watch a football game before Thomas had to be back to his division. Thomas and Lauren were so sad to say goodbye to each other. Lauren’s train left at 5:15 p.m. Kevin and I took Thomas back to his division at 6:00 p.m. It was so sad to say goodbye to him. We are so proud of what he has accomplished. He was leaving Tuesday morning very early to fly to Pensacola.

September 16, 2009. Day 59 Indianapolis IN and Springfield IL.

On September 16th, we toured the Indianapolis State Capitol. At first we didn’t think there was a guided tour so we took our own. By the time we finished we saw that there was a tour starting so we took it in case we missed anything. They almost always tell you things not included in any literature and this guide did. You can also get into some places on a tour that you can’t by yourself although we don’t let that stop us. See August 29, Concord NH. After the tours we walked to the Indiana State Museum along the canal to get some souvenirs. It’s a really beautiful part of the city. We are finding that there is so much to do in the cities we go to and that we just don’t have enough time. Indianapolis is one of those cities we need to go back to do more. After lunch we drove three hours to Springfield, Illinois and toured their capitol that afternoon. It was the first time we have toured two capitols in one day. This capitol was interesting in two ways, the building itself and the fact that they don’t seem to do much government here because they seem to do most everything in Chicago. The guide seemed to be upset about that but still gave an interesting tour. We have really enjoyed all the capitols we have seen. They have been so beautiful. There is so much history in them. We also toured Abraham Lincoln’s home and his neighborhood. That was so interesting and cool to actually be in Abraham Lincoln’s home where he had lived. The National Parks System has done an incredible job of recreating the area as it was when Lincoln left for the White House. His home is original but nothing else is.

September 15, 2009. Day 58 Columbus Ohio.

On September 15th, we toured the Columbus, Ohio capitol. We had a good tour and really liked the capitol. We also had a great tour guide who did a wonderful job telling us all about the capitol and its history. After the tour we told her about our trip and she thought it was such an awesome thing for us to be doing. She then went to get her boss to tell him too. He was so interested in our story, that he even called the local paper to tell them about us. They were at lunch when he called but he asked us to stay for an hour if possible because they would be back soon. We were going to have lunch there in their cafeteria anyway so we told him where we would be. While we were having lunch in the capitol cafe, a man came up to us and introduced himself. It was Governor Ted Strickland. He had heard about us and wanted to come and meet us. We spoke to him for a little and even took a picture with him. Later on as we were finishing eating, Kathleen walked back into the cafeteria area to get a spoon and the governor (with his two aides) was buying a hot dog for lunch. She joked with him about him getting his own lunch, it being just a hot dog, and that he had to pay for it. They all laughed. A few minutes later, we had one of his aides come up to us and ask if we were interested in a personal tour of the governor’s office. We of course said yes and were given a tour of the office by the Governor himself. He was so nice and friendly. He even had his own photographer take a picture of all of us with him. Daniel was so happy that he got to sit in the Governor’s chair, at his desk and be the governor for a couple of minutes. As it turned out, the paper never called back so we weren’t interviewed. We enjoyed our time at the Columbus capitol. We really liked how friendly everyone was. The Governor and his staff made it the most memorable visit so far. We then drove three hours to Indianapolis, Indiana and stayed at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds.

September 13-14, 2009. Days 56-57 Charleston WV.

September 13th, we left Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to travel toward Charleston West Virginia. It was a Sunday and we didn't want to be traveling too much so we didn't drive all the way. We stayed at a KOA Campground in Flatwoods, West Virginia that was affiliated with a hotel next door. Because it was part of the hotel we got to use all their facilities so Kathleen took the kids swimming in an indoor pool and she and Andrew worked out at the workout room. It was a beautiful area in the mountains. We loved driving to our campsite seeing all the deer in our campground. On September 14th, we left Flatwoods and drove to Charlestown. We ended up parking the RV and our Jeep in front of a house in a residential area close to the capitol. As we were getting out an older couple came from their backyard wondering what the noise was. The lady said that her sister from California had a motor home like ours and she thought that maybe she was here to surprise her. She and her husband then came over to talk to us for quite some time. We introduced ourselves and they did too. Chuck and Betty then gave us a tour of their amazing garden throughout their entire yard and they even gave us a tour of their home. They were a very nice couple. We walked the few blocks to the capitol building. It was a beautiful capitol. West Virginia is a beautiful state. We feel in love with it. We then drove three hours to Columbus, Ohio. We were on a quick pace to IL and while on the way we needed to visit 5 state capitols so we couldn’t stay long in any one of them. We talked to Thomas today. He graduated from recruit to seaman. This means he’s completed basic and will be graduating on Friday as planned. We are so proud of him.

September 11-12, 2009. Days 54-55 Harrisburg PA.

On September 11th, we left the campground in Trenton NJ and drove 3-1/2 hours to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This was the beginning of our west bound detour to get to Great Lakes IL for Thomas’ graduation from Navy Basic Training. It was still over a week away but it felt good to know we were heading to see him. In Harrisburg we went straight to set up camp because it had been raining hard all day. Our campground was only 4 miles from downtown anyway. It finally let up some so we went to tour the capitol. We absolutely loved this capitol. It was so beautiful. We thought it was the best one so far. It was so grand and colorful. We suggest you take a tour of the capitol at:

http://www.pacapitol.com/CapitolTour/Splashpage/intro.htm.

After we took the tour, which we really enjoyed, we tried to get a picture of us all on the Grand Staircase. One of the legislators (he was from Philadelphia) came over to us and offered to take our picture on the amazing staircase. He took our picture then talked to us about how the legislature had just within the hour passed the State Budget 90 days late and the last state to do so. We asked him what the Governor was going to do with it and he laughed and said the Governor was going to veto it. He was very friendly and seemed to enjoy hearing about our trip. It was still raining when we left and we still needed to take our picture in front of the capitol. You can see our umbrellas as we took it in the rain. On the 12th we didn’t go anywhere. It was still raining pretty hard and it was Saturday so Kevin and Andrew wanted to stay in and watch college football. It also gave Kathleen a chance to go get more grocery’s and to shop for some clothes for the upcoming graduation and the wedding in Atlanta we were going to on the 26th. We did enjoy our time in Harrisburg in spite of the rain.

September 10, 2009. Day 53 Jersey City NJ.

On September 10th, we wanted to go to New York City and we were thinking we could just get on the Staten Island Ferry in NJ and ride across into the city. We drove up from Trenton to the Ferry and were unable to find a parking space anywhere. We decided to just drive around and ended up in the Liberty State Park on the Hudson River. From there we had amazing views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Driving around we also found the Liberty Harbor RV Park that we had been interested in staying at. It also has a great view of New York City across the river (with the Statute of Liberty in the distance). We made reservations at the RV Park for the beginning of October to come back and really do NYC right. We then went back to Trenton so Andrew could watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play their first game.