The Midwest Adventure Continues

We had a relaxed morning at Mom’s after the wedding. She would be heading out to church, and we’d be hitting the road to Kansas City for some Chan Clan time.
Buds helped her get her new phone all figured out, then hugs all around before she left.


Time with the Chandlers is always joyful. Filled with some projects, lots of games, swimming, laughter, and our family heading to our basement space for bed while they stay up for a few more hours. We all love it.













We played around with the new Instant pot, organized the pantry, played hours of video games, swam, swam, swam, and talked, talked, talked.
Buds flew home on Tuesday morning, and the kids and I headed out on Thursday morning.
A late morning stop at Panera to get a bite:

We were about 3 hours from home when The Buster’s tummy started acting up.
Long story short, with no graphic details, we stayed in a hotel in Metropolis, Illinois for the night so the young fellow could upchuck in comfort.

We stayed near a local version of IHOP called “Huddle House.” I walked over to get dinner for the females of our group, and when an order was ready they would call out, “Huddle Up!” which I thought was cute.
Sixteen hours later, he was back to normal, though a little weak. We grabbed a quick bite at the hotel then headed toward Paducah for a stop at our favorite coffee shop.
Well, crap and mesh, there’s an open bridge on the route between Metropolis and Paducah.
I have a very strong aversion to open grates. A very strong aversion. Driving across this bridge made me feel…unsettled. And it was so incredibly long! Monkey kindly took photos so I could give Buds the full understanding of my bravery when I told him about it later.


That’s not a road we’ll be taking again.
A few more hours and we were home safe and sound. Another grand road trip in the books.