Nice day for a drive

We had no stops today, we traveled from Aurora, OH (IO) to South Bend, IN and tomorrow we head to the greater Joliet, IL area for a few days.  

That doesn't mean we didn't do anything, quite the contrary.  We inventoried half of the bus, the second half will get done in the morning.  

Woohoo!

It's actually not that hard to do (especially since Rodney did it and not me) but it is time consuming.  

The drive itself was only (only?) 230 miles or so but it did feel like it was longer than that.  We got in to our hotel a couple hours ago, took the vehicles over to the local firehouse (hat tip to Dave Cherrone veteran tour driver for the hook up!) and the fellas there helped us wash all three.

So how do I fill the space here when we do relatively little?

Just you wait...

Let me start by saying congrats and I'm so very happy for two of my favorite people on. the. planet.  Courtney and Kevin.  They finally, after four years of dealing with the headaches and bureaucracy of a governmental body (DCFS) announced the adoption of a child they fostered for four years.  Welcoming Gabby to their clan, even though she was a part of it from day one, gave such joy to them, and the people that love them, that there really are no words other than YES!!!  

I often tell Court that I love her like one of my own, to the extent that her ring and text tones are the same ones I use for all of the kids.  The fact that she often times sends baked goods has absolutely no bearing (well, it doesn't hurt but, you know...) on my feelings for Court and Kevin.  They've had a lot to deal with over the last four years and I'm glad they finally got a little good news.

Which brings me to the converse.  I need to choose my words very carefully here and I won't (obviously) use any names or anything to identify anyone because all I have to go on is speculation, mine and others, and my gut feelings (which often are spot on) for this.  Over the course of the last week we had the opportunity to interact with a family with a profoundly disabled child.  They were connected to an event we attended by a third party, an event for another person, but they were asked to be a part of it as well.  They exhibited very demanding behavior the entire time, as though the child's disability entitled them to treatment above and beyond the kindnesses that were shown to them.  As an example, they were provided with a hotel room for a night, gratis.  They asked for a second night.  Since they drove for three hours to attend the event, the organizer thought it was a fair request and made it happen.  They then asked for third night.  Just because.  The entire time we interacted with them, their attitude was "where is ours?".  I don't suspect there's any abuse going on, but they never seemed interested in what was best for the child, only what they could get.  Now, let me just say here that I have never had to walk in their shoes, and I can't imagine what types of hardships dealing with the child's disabilities on a daily basis would present, but I'd like to think I would be more concerned with my child's best interests than my own.

*climbs down off soapbox*

Now about Vinnie.

We stopped at the hotel bar for an adult beverage when we got back to the hotel and he started whining because I hadn't written about him lately so consider this your Vinnie update.  Actually, in typical Vinnie fashion, we were walking back out to the vehicles after stopping for a super-mega global Pacific Northwest based, coffee based beverage conglomerate (sponsorship opportunities still available) when an OH(IO) Highway Patrol car pulled up.  With a female officer.  

Guess who started chatting her up???

She got out and posed for a picture with Vin and Rodman, check out the Pink Heals Tour Facebook page for the pic.

This evening promises to be interesting.  The place we're staying has, apparently, a local youth sports tournament of some sort to thank for the majority of it's bookings.  There are a bunch of young kids running around the property and there was a cluster of about 30 adults enjoying adult beverages not too far from my room.  Soundproofing is, also apparently, not one of the things this fine establishment is known for.  Just sayin...  However they comped us for three rooms, so I'm not going to bitch about it (anymore) because it was very cool of them to do that on short notice.  

Ahem.  Downers Grove, I'm looking in your general direction here...

Lastly (I think) what can I say about Indiana that hasn't already been said?

How about this... when we hit the border, the sign proclaimed it to be the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and I said to myself "Self" I said "isn't Indiana also the birthplace of the Klan?"

I wonder why they don't have that on the sign?

Also Indiana is now the home to the First Church of Cannabis, thanks to their obviously well though out, lucid, Religious Freedom Law (because, you know, Murica!!!)

I didn't see that on the sign either.

Peace