Garfield and River Raisin

Yesterday morning we left our home at 5:30am. The kids and Paul slept a little in the van while I drove. Then we alternated between listening to an audiobook and the kids having screen time (iPad or Switch). We finished Men of Iron by Howard Pyle first and then began River Secrets by Shannon Hale. During the vacation we are trying to see a license plate from every state. Nadia is keeping track. We saw around 20 different states yesterday plus Ontario. We arrived at the home of James Garfield at 10:00am. We had a 45 minute tour of his home and the kids earned a Junior Ranger badge. A little after 12pm we left and drove about 40 minutes to Cuyahoga National Park. We didn't have time to explore the park. We ate our packed lunch at a picnic table there. We picked up Junior Ranger booklets, but the kids didn't have time to complete them there. If they choose, they can finish them later and we can return them by mail. Our third stop was the River Raisin National Battlefield. We watched two movies, and the kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. The have recently opened a new Visitor Center. Unfortunately the exhibits weren't open yet. The Ranger was very nice and gave our family a lot of information about the battle since the exhibits weren't accessible. The tour at Garfield usually costs $10 per person for those over the age of 16, but because Oliver is in 4th grade, it was free for our family. The other two sites are free for everyone, but one of the movies cost money to see at River Raisin. It was only $9 for our whole family to see it. After River Raisin we had dinner at Red Robin, which is a favorite place for the kids. Finally, we checked in at a Comfort Inn and Suites. The jacuzzi tub wasn't open, but the indoor swimming pool was. The kids swam until about 9pm. Usually we share one hotel room, but because Pop Pop had been planning to join us, he had paid for one hotel room most of the nights of our trip. Each room has 2 queen size beds. Paul and the boys were in one room, and Nadia and I were in the other room. Ian and Oliver shared a bed, and the rest of us each had our own bed. Yesterday we drove a total of 517.4 miles. Today we will only have very short drives (less than 15 minutes) as we're staying at a hotel near the Henry Ford sites.

As for COVID thus far, we have to wear masks inside all National Parks, but so far that was the only time we had to wear masks. We were expecting a breakfast buffet this morning, but instead all they had were packages of small donuts, packages of muffins, apples, and coffee. Since we are spending two nights here, we're planning on eating food we brought for home for breakfast tomorrow. Nadia and I would rather have oatmeal than what we had last night. There are microwaves in our room, and I brought some bowls, spoons, and oatmeal from home just in case a hotel didn't serve any breakfast. As we were driving  yesterday morning, it hit me that we only packed the kids' pillows. We need 5 pillows for our night in a cabin in Grand Teton. We'll have to decide between now and then whether to buy two pillows OR take a chance that two pillows will be available to rent that night (they can't be reserved ahead of time). Oliver forgot to pack his swimming goggles. The only other thing we realized we forgot to pack so far was extra charging cables for the van. 

A praise would be that Yvonne and her family arrived in Quito on Tuesday afternoon. We are praying for Margie to get good results from her upcoming CT scan. She will be undergoing chemo and radiation for her breast cancer. We are also praying that her reaction to the chemo will be much better than it was earlier this year. We are also praying for Paul's business because the two guys who were supposed to start work on Tuesday ended up choosing a different job. They are very short handed. Finally, we are praying that Milo won't be too much of a hassle for the family who have him for the next 24 days. Here's a picture of him snuggling with me from Tuesday morning while we were homeschooling. I do love him even though he really, really, really drives me crazy sometimes (such as when he ate one of our Civil War kepi hats a few days ago that we planned to take on the trip or when he destroyed Ian's glasses). I do miss the guy even though some of his behaviors make me want to scream.