Oh vacation, I miss you!

We got home Sunday night from our vacation a little before 7 pm. And we managed to get everything unpacked in record time! It is really nice to be home, but I have to say that I miss being on vacation already. Monday was kind of a lazy day. We hit up the zoo and saw their new tapir and the baby harbor seal! It’s kind of my favorite place. But I had to go back to work today, boooo. And between tomorrow and Friday night, I get to work 30 hours! But it’s okay because I asked for the extra hours. That way, I only use about a week’s worth of paid time off.

Oh my gosh though, so much to tell about my vacation!

So we headed out of Wisconsin Friday morning the 15th and made it all the way to Hudson Ohio. It was a long drive, but that was our plan and we had a hot tub in our room because I thought I might need it. I didn’t need it as bad as I thought I might but it was comfy anyhow 🙂

Saturday the 16th, we met one of my awesome friends Heather and her hubby for coffee/breakfast. We spent like 2 hours talking and I feel like we could have talked the whole day away. It was awesome. But alas! We had Gettysburg to get to! We stopped at Montezuma’s for dinner and by the way, if you are ever in the Gettysburg area you have to go there. It’s like a requirement that I am making for you right now. Why? Because they had amazing food! No alcohol, but that’s okay. They legitimately had the best enchiladas verdes I have ever had – and I know my delicious Mexican food. I have so many craving for it now 🙁

We pretty much spent the next two days climbing around the Gettysburg battlefield. It was amazing to see how much of it has remained the same, thanks to being a park. Seeing where so many, including brothers from the boyfriend’s family, fought and died (including one of those brothers) was really solemn and yet super cool. Sunday night we went on a ghost tour and I got some good pictures of orbs. The boyfriend keeps picking on me about them though 😉

Monday night we ended up in part of West Virginia after leaving Gettysburg. I also hit up my Enbrel that night, which was good because I was worried my gigantic lunchbox cooler wasn’t keeping it cold enough. The next day? I had no side effects. It was awesome. Tuesday, we hit both Antietam and Harpers Ferry. Antietam gave me some creepy vibes to be honest, but what can you expect from the nation’s bloodiest day in history right? We didn’t stay long at Harpers Ferry, but that had a lot to do with the fact that it was about 90 with crazy high humidity. We headed back to the hotel, definitely showered, and called it an early night.

Wednesday, we did something super awesome (yeah I know the whole vacation is super awesome – sssh 😉 ) – we drove through the Shenandoah Valley. There were kind of a lot of bugs so being outside and still wasn’t a fun option, but driving with the windows down up and down the mountains was so cool. We ended up in Charleston, WV, that night where I was supposed to meet up with a friend but I got hit by the fatigue bug and lazed around most of the night.

Thursday we went to The Wilds, an amazing safari park in Ohio. They had rhino babies! They are the only place in the world with fourth generation rhinos. They are working on great conservation efforts, including introducing species into the wild after they have disappeared. Our guide was pretty cool and I got some awesome pictures. We drove a little more and spent the night in Columbus.

Friday, we headed on up to Dayton where we hit up the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Yours truly got to hang out on Kennedy’s Air Force One… well, and Eisenhower’s and FDR’s and Truman’s! And we got to see a bunch of experimental aircraft in addition to a B2 bomber and space things! Then we drove off to Cincinnati, where we stayed in a fancy hotel and caught a Reds/Twins game… well, most of it. We left early and then by the time we got back to the hotel I had swollen fingers that I could barely bend 🙁

And that’s after showering and getting them a little less swollen. Wah, wah.

Since we were right across the river, we drove into Kentucky just to say we did Saturday. We hit up a great deli with gluten-free bread and an awesome gluten-free bakery. Then we made a lot of headway on driving, making it all the way to Springfield, Illinois! And then I got a fever and rash all over! Hooray!

My armpit is actually tan because I suck at putting sunscreen on my armpits apparently.

Sunday morning, we visited the only home Lincoln ever owned and the Capital building where he worked – and where his body was displayed on its way to Oak Ridge Cemetery where his tomb is located… and where we stopped next. And then we made it home, to sweet sweet Madison.

It’s nice to be back and to sleep in my bed with more clothing options and a fridge for my Enbrel. But I love going and doing cool things and I miss that sense of just do whatever we feel like. At least now with my schedule change at work, I will be home more in the evenings and the boyfriend and I can do more together like make dinner. Mmm dinner.

So that was my vacation! It was awesome and I was silly to be so apprehensive about it as I was before we left. I can’t wait until our next super awesome adventure!

That is wonderful! I am glad you had a great vacation and you did not let chronic illness completely derail your great time. That can be tough but you managed like a trooper! Those poor fingers looked painful. I can relate. I'm glad you're back as well.

Hugs!
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