April 9
Emily had her pitching lesson in the morning. Once she got home, we loaded up the van and headed to Chillicothe. We met my parents in town and went shopping for Easter dresses and had dinner. Once we got back to their house we relaxed and got ready for bed since we would have an early morning.
April 10
Woke up around 6:00 a.m. and left the house at 7:00. We stopped for breakfast in town before hitting the road. The weather was nice for driving. The girls were very good. We played the license plate game, well, my dad and I mainly played. We spotted 34 different states and a few from Ontario. Girls played with their iPods but mainly looked at all the scenery. Both girls slept maybe an hour the entire 10 hour trip.
It took us almost 3 hours to get through Ohio. West Virginia is a short state, less than half an hour. Then there was PA.
PA has the coolest rest stops along the Turnpike! It is neat to see all the people and try to figure out where they are going and where they are from. The girls love the hand blowers in the bathroom, the air is so strong it moves your skin and makes your hand look funny! They washed their hands several times at each stop!!
The highlight of the drive for me has always been driving through the mountains in PA. I haven’t driven the Turnpike in the fall but I bet it is beautiful when the leaves are at peak color!
Megan enjoyed looking at all the rocks on the side of the highway and sang us all the Rock songs she has recently learned in school:
Sedimentary Rock (to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Sedimentary Rocks are made from lots of layers, living and non-living are pressed together over the years they form a solid rock and the name of the rock is sedimentary rock.
Metaphoric Rocks (to the tune of Hi-ho the dairy-o)
Metaphoric rocks are pressed changing form from heat and stress.
Emily enjoyed all the scenery and the mountains.
Along the way we also tried to teach Megan how to say New Jersey with an east coast accent. We kept telling her it was pronounced New Joy-Z but for some reason she had a hard time with it! It was quite comical.
We arrived at my Aunt Toot’s house (Dad’s sister) house around 5:00. When we went to see my grandma (Baba which is Polish for grandmother) she was very confused. She didn’t remember who Megan was and was confused about who Emily and I were. It was very hard for me to see her like this. She seemed to know who my dad was so that was good. She finally came around but she still had her moments. I know it is very hard on my aunt to take care of Baba and breaks my heart knowing there is nothing I can do from 600 miles away to help either one of them. I am thankful my aunt is able to take care of my Baba.
We ordered dinner, and stayed up late catching up with Aunt Toots while Baba watched her game shows!
April 11
Woke up and Aunt Toots made us a nice breakfast. The weather was supposed to be sunny and warm so we went to the shore. The first shore we went to was
Point Pleasant. The homes that overlook the ocean were beautiful. It was breezy and chilly in the morning but the girls still enjoyed getting their feet wet and collecting sea shells. We even saw a seal which my dad said is extremely rare in NJ. It appeared to be very sick and looked sad but still cute.
Then we went to
Seaside Heights, home of the Jersey Shore gang. This beach had a boardwalk, rides, food, etc. Most everything was closed since it isn’t beach season but there were a few open. We were able to have lunch and buy a few souvenirs including yummy salt water taffy! We talked Megan in to sticking her finger in the ocean water and then licking her finger. At first she thought it was gross, then she couldn’t stop. She loved all the salt! After lunch the weather warmed up a tad and the haze was breaking up. Turned out to be a beautiful afternoon!
That night my Aunt Kathy (mom’s sister) came over for dinner! It was nice to see her!
April 12
Today was the day the girls were looking forward to the most. We were going to see the Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island! We weren’t sure if we would be able to go due to the threat of a
government shutdown. Originally we were going to go with Aunt Toots but she had hurt her foot and wouldn’t be able to walk on it all day. My dad went with us in her place. The weather forecast called for a 70% chance of rain so we were hoping we could get through most of the day without rain.
After going through security, much like airport security, we hopped the Ferry from the NJ side. The view of NYC was breathtaking, even though the weather was cloudy and hazy. We hopped on the Miss New Jersey Ferry and headed towards
Ellis Island. Emily was especially excited because she just learned Ellis Island at school. She was also excited to learn that my Great-Grandpa Zedalis came from Lithuania to America via Ellis Island. My great grandparents on my mom’s side also came to America from Ireland via Ellis Island!
Emily was a little disappointed in the museum. She thought it would be set up more like it was back in the day. But she did enjoy some of the displays. We enjoyed looking at the items some of the families brought to America from their home country. Some of the clothing was beautiful. One family brought a barrel of pickles over. When new immigrants were processed they were asked 29 questions and the first three were their name, occupation, and amount of money they carried. Sick immigrants were either sent home or put in the island hospital.
After
Ellis Island we got back on the ferry to go see the
Statue of Liberty. By this time the rain had begun. We stayed in the enclosed section of the ferry so we wouldn’t get wet. Luckily Aunt Toots gave us umbrellas, just in case!!! Even though it was raining it didn’t make Lady Liberty look any less impressive. She was breathtaking.
As soon as we arrived on land, we made way to the gift shop to buy rain ponchos so we could stay half way dry. Of course there were puddles everywhere and there was no way to keep our feet dry. You all know how much I love having wet feet inside my shoes! YUCKY! We were unable to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty because reservations needed to be made in advance. We didn’t realize this until my aunt went to purchase the tickets a few weeks ago and she was told the crown was booked until July. We were able to go to the top of the pedestal and museum which was pretty cool. We were able to look up inside the statue and see the steep spiral staircase which was neat. The rain stopped while we were eating our lunch so we were able to sit at the top of the ferry on the way back to Jersey City.
April 13
Our last full day. My dad had plans to visit an old friend and Aunt Toots scheduled mani’s and pedi’s for us! It was the first for all three of the Allen girls. The ladies at the salon were so sweet. Emily chose bright orange polish, Megan bright pink, and I had French manicure on my hands and reddish-pink on my toes! It was fun to be pampered!
When we returned home from the salon we had a quick lunch then went to the mall with Baba for a few hours. I pushed Baba around in her wheel chair and showed her some “outfits” she should buy for herself including some very sparkly tank tips, leather skirt, and other very loud and inappropriate items of clothing!!!
We had a Polish dinner that night including pierogis and kielbasa. Yummmm.
April 14
Up early and on the road by 7:00 a.m. I woke up with one of my lovely sinus headaches which made for a long way home. Headache finally went away after several rounds of ibuprofen and Sudafed! We only ran in to traffic on the PA Turnpike right outside of Philly. Other than that it was pretty smooth sailing all the way back to Ohio. The girls were stocked up on paper, crayons, markers, and iPods were freshly charged! We played the license plate game again. This time we only saw 31 different states and one plate from Ontario.
At one of the rest stops Megan bought a knock-knock book. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Knock Knock. Who’s there? Sadie. Sadie Who? Sadie magic words and I will tell you!
Knock Knock. Who’s there? Adam. Adam who? A dam is made out of cement!
I ended up having to explain half of the jokes to Megan, then once she got them she laughed for a few minutes!!!
The girls were starting to wear on each other’s nerves on the ride home which I expected since they had gotten along pretty much the entire time we were gone. We got back to our house around 7:00 or 7:30 (I think). I was sleeping within 2 minutes of my head hitting my pillow which is very unusual for me! Felt good to sleep in my own bed with my own blankets and pillows!
The girls and I had a wonderful visit while in NJ and hope to be able to visit again next spring break!
