Skyler and I left early Friday morning for the 12.5 hour drive to Virginia for the Occoquan Craft Show. This was the second year I have done the show and it must be one of my favorite locations--it looks like a cute, quaint fishing village--because it has so much personality.
The drive was ok through most of Pennsylvania--until it got dark and boring. And by the time we got to Washington D.C. we were both way past ready to be to the hotel. The drive actually took 15 hours and we were both exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.
Saturday we slept in until about 6 a.m. with me taking the first shift in the shower. We got to town and to our spot easily. We even snagged a free parking spot--I had been prepared to spend $50 for the parking for the weekend. Skyler was great helping unload the light things from the van and then I told her to find something in the cooler for breakfast while I got to work setting up the tent. Once she was done eating I found some things for her to do to get the booth ready for our 9 a.m. opening time.
The show was kind of slow for us on Saturday, but, the weather held up nicely. By the time 6 p.m. rolled around we were tired and ready to do three things--find something to eat, go swimming and find something to watch on TV. The first part was easy as we were set up right outside Madigans Restaurant. I was leery about taking Skyler here as it is mainly a fish place, but, looking at the menu we found something she would like--Chicken Alfredo. I had the Crab Cakes which were exceptional!
Next up was the swimming. Unfortunately, we didn't have a swimsuit packed--both her suits were somewhere back at Grandma's house. But I convinced her to just put on a pair of short and a tank and at least go check out the pool. Luckily for Skyler, there were three girls swimming and one kid. Only one of them had a suit on--the rest were in various levels of street attire like Sky. I enjoyed a quick swim and then headed over to the hottub for a 15 minute soak. After the pool, we headed back up to the room to change.
The final part we decided to wait on while we got online to check our Facebook pages. I also found a nice glass of Merlot at the bar--which Skyler did not approve of. But, I told her Auntie Jackie really deserved it so she let it pass! We finally got back to the room in time to find some Disney channel shows for her to watch. I let her have at it, put in my earplugs and was asleep in no time!
Sunday's show was great for us, so, the day went by really quickly until about 2:30 when the reports of severe thunderstorms and tornado watches got our attention. By 3:30 it had rained a bit, and the first crack of lightning had Skyler's attention. I handed her some money and told her to go order some chicken tenders and wait for me while I finished packing up the booth and got the van loaded. By the time the rain had calmed down a bit, she was back out "helping".
The best part of the drive over from the Chicago are were the mountains and rolling hills of Pennsylvania! We stopped at the scenic overlook above and shot off a few pictures and then just had fun trying to take some from the moving car. By 9 p.m. we had decided to stop for the night and find a hotel. We watched the TV some before bed, but, both of us were out about the same time this night. It had gotten down towards 60 degrees, so, no swimming tonight.
We got up and got a good start on Monday morning. We had in mind finding a service plaza on one of the turnpikes that had a Panda Express--Skyler was dreaming about Orange Chicken. Of course we never found one, but, when we got off the pike to get gas, I asked a lady about it. She said they didn't have them in town (Sturgis MI), but, she recommended their favorite of three local places. Sky was desparate for chinese, so, she agreed and we had a nice lunch in town before getting back on the road. By 3 p.m. we were back in Illinois...and home shortly after!
Skyler's rating of the trip--boring! LOL I guess I should brush up on my entertaining skills. I had a great time though and was very glad she came along!
