Road Trip 2008

We've just returned from vacation! It was a wonderful, relaxing trip. My only fear is that the restorative properties of vacation will be erased once we walk back into the office tomorrow morning and attempt to recover from five days out.

We began our trip in southwest Michigan where we convened for a Barbaro family reunion. Sunday morning we parted with the family and began tooling around the midwest without a plan. First stop: South Haven, Michigan to dip our toes in the lake.


We then leisurly made our way around the bottom to the lake to the south suburbs of Chicago where we stopped to stock up on Italian groceries. This place is in a strip mall and the Roman statues crack me up. Very authentic, don't you think? In addition to our groceries we ordered a couple giant sandwhiches to feed us for several meals to come. We continued our road trip with a stop in a charming little northwest suburb called Woodstock, IL. After hanging out in the town square park we moseyed up to Lake Geneva, WI where we stayed the night in a hotel and swam in the pool.


The next morning we drove south through Rockford, Freeport and Elizabeth, IL enjoying the pretty hills of northern Illinois. We landed in Galena for the afternoon where wandered in and out of the shops. Eventually we headed south again to the Quad Cities via Thomson where we stopped at the vegetable market for Sugar Baby watermelons and Muscatine melons.

The following day we took Ava to the Niabi Zoo. The weather had turned terribly hot but we had fun pointing at animals and saying "BAA!". We road the train around the zoo to take a break from the heat.
Seeing all those wild creatures really cashed Ava out!

Here's how Ava and I entertained ourselves during the long hours on the road! Who needs a blanket for peek-a-boo?

I was a little nervous taking such a long road trip with a baby but it was a blast! We had frequent stops at roadside parks and can recommend infant swings all over the Midwest. Ava had a few "I'M DONE WITH THE CAR SEAT!" moments but was generally flexible throughout the trip. She crossed three more states off her list. Only 44 left to visit.

For me, the best part of the vacation was being with Ava morning, noon, and night for seven entire days. I never had to say "bye-bye" or wonder what she ate or did in a given day. I'll miss her tomorrow!