Day 12: Racing for home

Yeah, we thought Pearl River to Youngstown, Ohio, was hard (403 miles). Then Daddy decided (and I agreed) that we were done stimulating the hotel industry and should just go the heck home. Youngstown to St. Louis: 614 miles!

That was pretty grueling. But, during the outbound leg of our trip, we really were easy on the driving, usually going just 3 or 4 hours a day. We stopped again at the Cracker Barrel in Terre Haute, Ind., where we had started our trip with lunch on Day 1. That was nice. Plus, it was Saturday... chicken and rice day!

So, with 600 miles under our belts that day, and well over 2,000 for the trip, this was surely a fine sight to see:

Day 11: And.... we're off!

Before we set off on Friday, we made reservations at Country Inns in Youngstown, Ohio. Boy, that was a long drive! When we got there, the place was being overrun by girl softball players. Apparently, there was a big tournament nearby, so we really were lucky that we made reservations!

The bathroom in our nonsmoking suite smelled like smoke, but Steve was so impressed with their towel technique that he took this picture:

We had dinner at a really good restaurant next door... Great grilled chicken. We had it in just about every form imaginable!

It was a long day, but it was nothing compared with what was in store... (creepy foreshadowing music here).

Day 10: In the pool

There's always one day set aside for Ellen's pool when we go home... She graciously invites us for a dip when she knows she'll be taking care of granddaughters Eva, Farah and Sophie. Farah just turned 3, and you may remember these great Allen-Farah shots from years past:

See how big they're getting?



Emilyn and Eva are getting bigger, too, of course!



Grandma wanted a picture of all four generations together... and here it is! Everybody's looking at me and smiling!

Day 9: A Queens Odyssey

On Wednesday, we went to the "new mall" with Laurie... Truth is, we're probably the only people in the world who still refer to Palisades Center as "the new mall." It's the biggest darn shopping orgy on the East Coast, after all, and makes the Nanuet Mall look like a wart. But, that wart will ever live in our memories as the mall of our youth.

Anyway, we walked around a bit, tested out our new cell phone, went to the candy store... awesome! And Allen got to ride on this excellent bulldozer.

We pretty much forgot lunch, though, because we were headed to Zlata Praha in Astoria for dinner! Delicious sauerbraten, and Daddy had plenty of Czech beers.



After that, our breakneck drive across Queens (we did it!) led us to Hania and Raul's apartment in Forest Hills. (Driving in New York City is one of those things that you can't believe you did, even when you're successful.) We strolled down to Austin Street and went to the Piu Bello gelato shop. I had coffee and everything! We felt so cosmopolitan! (Hania had almond and kiwi gelato. Allen had mixed berry. Emilyn had mint chip.)



(OK, the very dumb thing I have to admit is that I took no pictures of Hania and Raul on this little trip, even though they were the best hosts and showed us a wonderful time. The good thing is, they are a very beautiful couple and look great in every picture. Plus, they go to a lot of exotic places that are gorgeous to look at. So I stole this photo from Hania's Facebook page and used it here. See how cute they are? Now, imagine them posing with the Crabbe family in an array of funny shots. In Queens. There you go.)

After gelato and cafe, we went back to their balcony for some sangria. It was yummy beyond description, and their balcony is really cool, overlooking the fountains in the center of their complex. Emilyn was happily playing games on Raul's iPhone. If I hadn't had a tired 2-year-old to wrestle with, I would have been very relaxed and would have gabbed for hours. Kind of like you do before you get married and have kids! So, at 10, we said goodbye and made our way back to the GWB (or the George W. Bush bridge, as Emilyn thought it was called...). We were very tired after a great day!

Day 8: Lunch with Laurie

On Tuesday, we met Laurie for lunch at Khan's. Ahhh... reliving our first Mongolian barbecue. Truly a site of our culinary formation. Allen hoovered all the soup, and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on.

Before that, though, just after breakfast, I couldn't resist videotaping this "precious moment" between Allen and Great-Grandpa.

Day 7: Joe's meatloaf

On Monday, we made it to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house. Pearl River keeps looking smaller and smaller! It's Incredible Shrinking Hometown Syndrome! Everyone gets it when they've been away for as long as we have. (We are approaching, very soon, the point at which we will have spent more than half of our lives in St. Louis.)

But I know two Crabbe-lets who feel right at home here...

And of course Emilyn, who took off to stay at Grandma's almost as soon as we got in the door.

We got to see her in short order, though, as Joe brought over his delicious meatloaf. And we had green beans right out of Great-Grandpa's garden... and this is the portion of the vacation where we begin measuring our accomplishments in food consumed!

Day 6: The biggest hotel room in Bingo

On Sunday, we said goodbye to the Homewood Suites in Rochester (thanks for a great stay... we'll never forget the "guy doin' worm" in the fish tank...). We headed south to Binghamton and Derek's house.

We got there in time for a great lunch of salad, burgers, hot dogs and Caroline's yummy homemade macaroni and cheese. Laurie and Hannah made brownies, and Laurie, as usual, carved the entire edge off for herself.

We had fun playing Whoonu? and Apples to Apples. Caroline even had the grown-up version of Apples. It was tougher for Emilyn to play, because she hadn't heard of some of the people on the cards... Plus, she was getting bad advice from Uncle Bill: My green apple card was "brilliant." She had the red apple card "Carl Sagan." Uncle Bill told her that would be the best card to play, and he'd give her a dollar if he was wrong. Well, somebody else played "Bill Gates," and I went with the software pioneer and billionaire over the astronomer. Emilyn ended up taking 5 bucks from Uncle Bill on that miscue.

(I showed off my vacation photos thus far, but didn't take any pictures while I was there. What's up with that?)

We talked for a while about spreading Mom and Dad's ashes. I came armed with three ideas, as directed... And wouldn't you know it turned out we settled on my original idea from a year ago: We'll scatter them next summer in Lake Pymatuning, on the border between Pennsylvania and Ohio. I'm in charge. And it's going to be awesome!

Allen was pretty strung out without a nap, so Derek called and got us a room at the hotel next to the Harley dealer where he works. It was the largest, strangest hotel room ever. This video shows and tells it all:

Only 89 bucks a night!

Day 5: Warbird wings, Ontario Beach

On Saturday morning, we split up again. Daddy took his rented Toyota to the Geneseo airshow, and we three headed north to Ontario Beach Park in Rochester.

Man, was that water cold! (It's nothing but melted Canadian snow, I tell you.)


But Emilyn, the Beach Girl, got right in the swim of things. Even though it wasn't exactly like frolicking in the surf in Gulf Shores!

Meanwhile, at the air show, Daddy was seeing cool stuff like this:



For more photos, video and captions, click here.

Day 4: Bad sensor, great museum

Welcome to Rochester! First things first... Gotta spend the morning in the repair shop getting the oxygen sensor fixed and make that pesky check engine light go out!!!



Yeah, that wasn't the best. But, we got that out of the way, made sure Allen got a nap, headed over to the airport to rent a car for Daddy and still had tons of time for a fun-filled evening at the Strong National Museum of Play.

It's like the Magic House, only bigger. Much bigger.



We had dinner at the Bill Gray's diner right inside the museum (another Rochester staple), then headed off to play some more, right until closing time. Can you imagine getting all those kids to go home from a place like this? We saw more than one tantrum. But the museum handles it well: There's a goodbye parade, all the way through the museum, and ending at the front door. "Hope you had fun, kiddies, now get the hell out!"

To see all the rest of the pictures and captions from Day 4, click here.

Day 3: Ralphie's house, bad plugs and Niagara Falls

Day 3 was the really big day... An extra day in Cleveland to see... "A Christmas Story" House and Museum!

We got there before they opened for the day, so we bought tickets to the first tour (10:30) and browsed in the museum. There, we met the very guy who wheels in the "Fra-jee-lay" crate. He's an extra who was cast from the neighborhood, as were many in the movie. And now he whiles away his days sitting in the museum down the street from his house and impressing the hell out of movie fans! What a life!



Then we got to go in the house... The didn't use the interior of the house for the movie, just the exterior, but they did their best to make it look authentic, even though the layout is all wrong. It's pretty darn neat, and you can take some "goofy pictures," as our tour guide pointed out.

As we were pulling away from Ralphie's house, our spark plugs went bad... We had to stay in the neighborhood a little while longer while we got some new ones!

Then, it was off to Niagara Falls... AMAZING! If you've never been, you should go!



We rode the Maid of the Mist, which was unbelievably cool.



For more photos and captions, click here.

Day 2: USAF Museum, Cod in Cleveland

In the morning, Steve and the tots headed over to the USAF Museum nice and early, when the doors opened, and I stayed behind to pack up.

I arranged to meet them in the Hall of Missiles at 10... When I got there, 10 minutes early for the rendezvous, the museum workers were still dusting the missiles.

We and Daddy split up, with him touring the rest of the hangars and me and the kids hitting the gift shop and playground.





Then, it was time to hit the road and head for Cleveland, known to some as the Mistake by the Lake. I don't know about that... The lakefront is awesome, it's so easy to find your way around, and downtown is great!

We had no trouble, for instance, finding the USS Cod, a World War II submarine. It's in excellent shape, and we got a lot of great pictures.



For more shots of Day 2, click here.

Day 1: Haulin' tail to Dayton

Time for our two-week summer vacation recap. On our first day out, we basically hauled butt to get to Dayton.

We had reservations at the new Comfort Suites, right across from the USAF Museum. A great spot to stay, within walking distance. We ate some great dinner, at the Amber Rose, where we had pierogies, bier cheese, sauerkraut, you name it!

And we saw some new stuff, like Huffman Prairie, where the Wright brothers practiced flying their plane.

Allen took his customary forever to fall asleep, and we renewed our vow to always get a place with a dividing door!!!

For more shots from Day 1, click here.