vacation memories... lunchtime done a different way

Last week, we set out on a family vacation.  We had lots (and lots!) of plans for the days away.  We returned home two nights ago after 8 days with just over 1,500 miles logged, and many wonderful memories made.  I will attempt to visit those memories here, and it will take some time to accomplish that.  I hope you will come along with me over the days ahead... 

Let's get started!

Our first day of traveling was planned to bring us to Dubuque, Iowa where we would stay two nights.  Why Dubuque?  Well, the simple answer is that it was a half-way point of sorts between our home and our next destination of Omaha, Nebraska where we would be meeting up with Steve's parents and sister to visit the Omaha Zoo.  But... that is another post for another day.

So, back to our trip to Dubuque.  Yes, we picked it for its location.  But, once it was chosen, we did some reading online and had chosen ahead of time to visit the Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium and hike the trails at the Mines of Spain.  And, that was, in fact, how we spent the day Saturday (which was day two of our vacation)--more on that later.  On Friday, though, we had set out to try to do things differently than our usual.  What I mean is that when we travel, we often feel that we are in a hurry to get wherever it is that we are going.  Stopping off for lunch, for example, needs to happen as quickly as possible so that we can just get back on the road and sometimes we might even eat in the van so we don't lose time along the way.  Not so on this day of traveling!

Our little girl had been seeing TV commercials for a restaurant she really wanted to go to... you may have heard of this place--it's Chuck E. Cheese!  Hope had never been to a Chuck E. Cheese before, and yet, each time she would see this commercial she would say "Chuck E. Cheese!!  I like this one!"  So, I mentioned to Steve that I would really like to take the kids to a Chuck E. Cheese while on our trip.  He found one that would make a convenient stop for us along the way our first day on the road, and we made our way there, arriving right at lunchtime on Friday. 

And so our lunchtime, which normally during travel would be at most about 30 minutes, stretched out to just about 2 hours!!  We did eat our lunch, of course, but the real fun was in all the game play!  Not only did Geoffrey and Hope have a great time, but we really enjoyed the time we spent with them!

Can I just say what a great big brother Geoffrey is?  He took the time to ride this little safari jeep with his little sister, even though he really wanted to be playing his own games.  She had a ball!

After our time at Chuck E. Cheese, we drove a bit farther, enjoying the beautiful farmland of northwestern Illinois.  Before reaching our ultimate destination of the day, Dubuque, we made one more interesting stop.  My next post will take us there... to the small town of Galena, Illinois... a real treasure!