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There is Nothing Like a Trip . . .
Published August 27, 2011 | 
by Mary Frances
Rushville, IN – It’s funny how time away can give you a different perspective on time spent at home, or on home itself.
It has been three years since we bought Foolish Mansion, and in that time we have gotten a lot of work done. Unfortunately, we still have a ton of work left.
Once we recovered from the bike trip, I decided that we need to finish Foolish Mansion sometime in the foreseeable future. I sat down and made a financial plan and a project plan for doing this. Now we have every weekend scheduled, both the work weekends and the fun weekends. There is room for serendipity, but not a whole lot.
The weekend before last was a house work weekend (week actually, as school had not yet started) . Joseph and the kids scraped, primed and painted the downstairs hallway, the lower stair cases, the south living room and the living room ceilings. Chris and Patrick tiled the bathroom tub wall.
Joseph was so determined that the painting be completed by last Sunday morning, that he and Patrick painted until 7 am. Joseph worked 19 hours straight. This was his summer legacy to the family.
When Chris and I got up at 7:30, the walls on the staircases were still wet.
When we had gone to bed, the kids were still working on the trim. They had not even started the color on the walls. When we got up, it looked like a different house. The living room is grey-blue with white trim. The stairs and hallway are green with white trim.
It took the girls two days to scrub up the paint splotches, clean the floors and get the rugs and furniture back into place.
Joseph was done. He packed and I drove him back to Purdue last Tuesday. He slept the entire way there. Patrick, as usual, showed no visible signs of fatigue.
On other fronts…
I managed to ride my bike to Indianapolis twice in the last two weeks. I rode with Jenny and Patrick to the cousin’s house one week. I rode to Chris’ work another week. It feels great to ride, but I strongly miss our bike trip. So many things remind me of the great time we had.
I am much faster now, with no luggage to carry, full tires and no dragging brakes. Jennifer and Patrick cannot keep up with me. I find this shocking. I was the caboose for so much of our trip. Now I am out in front, nagging them to hurry up. In all fairness, Jennifer had low tires and dragging brakes on the day of our ride. She will leave me in the dust once they are fixed.
Mary Elizabeth rode to Shelbyville and back with me one day. It was a scorcher.
Meanwhile, back at home….
Last week we attended a meeting for parents of cross country runners. Mary Elizabeth is in cross country. We learned vital information at the meeting, such as…. our children cannot run on empty stomachs so we must be sure to feed them. They need to get a good night’s sleep. They need to attend practice.
I asked Mary Elizabeth, “Is the basic assumption is that all parents are idiots?”
She said, “Pretty much.”
I learned that I will be working at the concession stand to help the team earn money, and I will be bringing snacks and drinks for the team a couple of times over the season.
My plan is to over salt the popcorn at the concession stand and to bring some horrible whole wheat snack with grated carrots, chopped prunes and no sugar. They will never ask me to do anything ever again.
In the meantime Mary Elizabeth can run to glory on all the home-cooked meals she, Jenny and Patrick prepare.
And then there was fun…..sort of.
This past weekend we drove down to visit Robert (26) in Evansville, for a weekend of family fun. Unfortunately, the car keys were (we think) pick pocketed at the mall Saturday evening. In addition, I discovered on Friday evening that I had left the hose to my CPAP machine at home. This meant that I had a hard time breathing and sleeping at the same time.
Robert took us to meet his friends on Saturday morning, which I managed to stay awake for. No offense to the friends.
Patrick with the Fire hose
On Saturday afternoon we all went to visit the fire house where Robert is a volunteer firefighter. Patrick and Mary Elizabeth got to shoot the hose (not the real one, the one used for cleaning out the bay floor), climb up on the trucks and try on the fire gear. Mary E only tried on the oxygen tanks and hat but Patrick tried on everything.
After piling about 80 lbs of gear onto Patrick, all of which was way too big, Robert told Patrick to run up the stairs. He had a fire ax in his hands and he was wearing oxygen tanks, mask, helmet, boots, gloves , overalls and jacket. Patrick staggered up the stairs yelling “Here I come!” while Chris stood at the top of the stairs taking pictures. We were all doubled over laughing.
By Sunday I had a sore throat and was so exhausted that I missed Mass and spent the rest of the day lying around like a slug. Chris had put in 16 hours of overtime the week before and was not much better off than I was. He had more work to do on his computer on Sunday afternoon. We were not very good company. Fortunately, this did not stop Robert.
Mary at the Fire House
While Chris worked and I laid around, Robert took the kids to New Harmony where Patrick, apparently, came to the realization that he cannot live without a dulcimer. The kids went down to the Wabash River to hang out.
Finally, John arrived with the extra key to the minivan and we took off.
Fireman Pat
Mary Elizabeth did much of the driving to and from Evansville and only came close to giving Chris a heart attack once. She is required to have 50 hours of driving instruction; 10 hours more than are required to get a pilot’s license. I can’t decide if this ridiculous law is designed to encourage all parents to instruct their children in how to lie to authorities or to keep the children of honest parents off the road until they turn 21. Mary Elizabeth is still working on her hours and she is almost 18. She has had her permit for two years.
What’s up next…
This coming weekend Chris is supposed to finish the bathroom tile and Jennifer is supposed to start work on the bathroom drywall. Mary Elizabeth is supposed to paint a door at a rental property. Unfortunately, the same rental property has a broken dishwasher and a leaking frig, all of which were reported this past week. Chris is going to have his hands full this evening.
In case anyone is wondering what I do on weekends, don’t. Saturday is the only day I have the car so that is the day I do all the shopping. If getting a second car would mean that I had to drywall or something like that, I would stick with the one car. I know a good thing when I see one.
My mother is scheduled to get into town tonight. My brother and I will be sharing her for a couple of weeks. She has a high tolerance for construction and, fortunately, is very flexible. The kids think she is crazy and thus “very cool”. I think she is either crazy, very brave, or has a very short memory. The last time she was here, I took her on a trip with me to the city dump to unload construction debris (no, I did not make her help me unload).
She will either have a good time or go home at the end of her visit thanking the good Lord that her trip is over. I am betting on the latter.
There is nothing like a trip to put your home life in perspective.
Editor’s Note: Lots-O-Updates…
Published July 7, 2011 |
The injury from Mary’s spill in Canada is still causing her some problems. So, after consulting with a physical trainer (our son, William, at the US Air Force Academy) it was decided that Mary and the kids should take a couple of days off from riding to allow Mary time to properly heal. The team is using this time to catch up on rest, play (mostly swimming in Lake Ontario), school work (for Mary Frances), Foolish Mansion blog posts and uploading additional photographs.
There are many new updates to check out – new posts are available and photographs have been added to existing posts. Again, as these are posted chronologically on the blog, they may not appear on the front page even though they are newly posted. So, I’ve included links to the new content. Please check out the updates located at the following links:
- New pictures have been added to Day 7 Landmarks – Jennifer Anne (June 26th) (Pictures of the USS Cod)
- A new post, with pictures, has been added, Slogging to Canada – Mary Frances (June 27th)
- New pictures have been added to Wine Country – Mary Frances (June 29th)
- A new post, with pictures, has been added, Crossing into Canada – Mary Frances (June 30th)
- A new post has been added, A Restful Canada Day – Mary Frances (July 1st)
- A new post has been added, Riding out of Canada and into Trouble – Mary Frances (July 2nd)
And, of course, you can always visit the Photo Gallary to see additional photographs that didn’t make it into the posting. As always, the Foolish Mansion riders appreciate and welcome your comments!
Slogging Along
Published June 28, 2011 | by Mary Frances
Erie, PA – No, it’s not raining, unless perspiration counts. I can’t seem to drink water fast enough on some riding days. Today was one of those days. This is why it is a “slogging” day.
This morning we broke camp at 8 am, after having cups of hot cider. Then we rode into town (Ashtabula, OH) where we bought milk, strawberries and doughnuts to eat in the park. After breakfast we took a wrong turn in Conneaut, OH. We wound up going headlong down a steep brick paved street straight out of my nightmares. It threatened to spill us out onto the highway at the bottom. I rode the whole way down on my brakes while Patrick careened gleefully, bouncing over the bricks and coming to a perfect heart-stopping halt at the bottom.
After riding for twenty miles, we stopped for a break at a park along the lake. There was a steep hill and the kids lay down and rolled down it just like the used to do when they were young. This hill, however, was much taller and steeper. Later, we stopped again for lunch and some internet time. I am trying to finish two distance learning classes, which just goes to show how truly crazy I am.
The break was good for my knee. My knee does not like hills or hard rides.
John called, just after we crossed over into PA. He asked, “What does Pennsylvania look like?
I answered, “Pretty much like Ohio looked about two miles back.”
We did see some differences after a few miles. There were miles of vineyards along the side of the road, and more hills began to make an unwelcome appearance. It got hotter as the day wore on. We stopped for a break and to refill our camel backs. Then it was back to heat and hills.
When we finally arrived in Sarah’s campground in Erie, PA, I walked over to check out our campsite. It was right on the shore. The waves were rolling in, and the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. It made an orange path across the water.
The kids were waiting for me to find the campsite. When I showed it to them they kicked off their shoes and began running around in the water and sand.
After setting up camp, the kids headed off to Presque Isle State Park (map) to see the lighthouses. I stayed behind to study. They were bored on the island, so for fun, they took a ten mile bike ride. This was at the end of a 50 mile day. With their gear all back at camp with me, they were free of the weight they had all been carrying. Joseph said they just flew along.
After they got back to camp, they played in the sand and water. I sat in the tent studying on the computer while looking out at the beach and the kids framed in the tent door. They laughed and screamed and made me sure that this trip was a good idea…even on a slogging day.
Day … What?
Published June 26, 2011 | by Mary Frances
Cleveland, OH I can tell that we’ve been out on the road a while because we are having trouble (or in my case, more trouble than usual) remembering what day it is.
Yesterday we rode 49 miles, almost all of it along Lake Erie, and ended up in Lakewood, a luxurious suburb of Cleveland. Yesterday morning we left out campground on the Sandusky River. The most memorable things about it were the laundry room (finally!), the cute girl who Joseph is now texting with amazing frequency and the mythic war over who will do the dishes and, more importantly, who will not.
After we got out of the little valley where we camped, we got on Lake Road/Rt 6 and pretty much stayed there. As we left the little town of Huron, OH we began to pass mile after mile of tiny camping resorts, hodge-podges of tiny cabins, mobile homes and campers. The “resorts” were lushly green, bright flowers crowding the feet of the weathered signs out front. They looked as if they had been there forever.
We stopped at a park on Lake Erie for lunch, just a grassy place with benches to look out over the lake and a concrete pier with huge sharp rocks that drew the kids like magnates. The water was green up close but as it faded into the horizon, the lake was outlined with a sharp edge of intense blue. The skies were finally clearing, the wind was blowing and the lunch of grocery subway sandwiches and bananas was the best food in the world. As the Spartans said, “Hunger makes the best sauce.
After lunch, I went into the library next door to get on the computer. I wrote two Foolish Mansion posts that both got deleted by the ax of electronic fate. I also found out that I have one week less than Ihad thought to finish my distance learning courses in property management. It was not a pleasant visit. And unlike the libraries of small town Ohio, there were no polished oak card catalogues. Even the little grey haired librarians seemed more rushed and tense than their small town counterparts. But maybe I am projecting. By the time I left I was certainly rushed and tense. We still had twenty plus miles to ride and it was getting late. My posts and my classwork had not gone well. Getting back on the bike was a welcome relief.
As we got closer to Cleveland, we passed through one small town after another, all blending seamlessly into one another. Sometimes it was hard to figure out just which town we were in. As we approached Cleveland, one thing became clear. Money gravitates towards the shore and the city.
By the time we reached Lakewood, the last town before Cleveland, the houses had become huge. There were tacky, million dollar stone castles mixed in with a venerable old mansions. Every house was surrounded by the most elaborate landscaping I have ever seen. I could spend a weekend here just photographing the gardens and window boxes. Most were professionally done but some reflected the whimsy of the passionate gardener. On one house I saw a garden of huge potted tomato plants on the porch roof. There was no door. Whoever planted them has to climb in and out of a window to water them. I bet those tomatoes taste great.
In the evening, we stopped at a motel, our first for the trip. It is over 80 miles to get from a camp groundwest of Cleveland to a campground east of Cleveland, according to my frequently inaccurate calculations. Since we couldn’t get out of the city, we were stuck in it.
Patrick playing in the flooded road
Our motel is an ugly, squat, brick building. Across the street is a row of giant apartment buildings and condos that dominate the local lake shore and block out the sun on our side of the street. Our room came complete with wireless internet that did not work and a drunk across the hall who gave Mary and Jenny two fresh, cold beers before I was even able to make it up to the room. He scared the girls to death. They are not used to drunks, even jovial ones.
Joseph was busy ferrying the bikes up to the room while I guarded the ones still outside. When hearrived, the drunk quickly retreated to his own room and was never heard from again. This morning I turned the beers over to the front desk, complete with commentary.
The highlights of the trip, from Patrick’s point of view, have been riding and wading through a flooded country road (see pictures) and eating a “real” breakfast in the motel this morning. The minute we checked in he started talking about the upcoming breakfast. This morning he zoomed down with Joseph in tow and began to cram down boxes of breakfast cereal and countless muffins. He is so skinny, I wonder where it all went.
The high point of Mary Elizabeth’s day will be getting out of the city. She can’t wait to get back to her tent and back country roads.
Tonight we will be camping somewhere near Geneva-On-The-Lake, OH. We haven’t decided whether we will take a break the next day or try to push on and reach Niagara Falls on Thursday, one step ahead ofthe Fourth of July crowd. We’ll see….