Dayton or Bust!

Day 1: Boston, MA to Easton, PA
Day 2: Easton, PA to Pittsburgh, PA
Day 3: Pittsburgh, PA to Dayton, OH

We made it to Dayton and the blog title has officially changed!! Bonnie T, Easton, Rae and I left Hanscom on Tuesday, May 1st and arrived safely at Wright Patt on the afternoon of Thursday, May 3rd. It was a pretty easy trip thanks 100% to my mother. If she wasn't here I'd probably be in jail in Easton, PA (I'll explain in a minute...)

Let's start at the beginning. Mom arrived in Boston on Wednesday, April 25th to help us move out of the house and for my promotion. Once the house was empty the two of us took Easton and Rae and moved into the temporary housing at Hanscom...400 sq feet, two adults, one toddler and a Yorkie. My mom said it reminded her of our summers in Minocqua. Jace was on vacation in Key West from the 25-29th though so that freed up some space for us for most of our time there. We passed the time by taking a LOT of walks even though it was still a cool New England spring.

One final hurrah around base housing. I'm going
to really miss those sidewalks!

We managed through five nights and blasted off for the first leg of our journey filled with relief that our time in that room had come to a close. Take a look...

A look at our "kitchen"

From the "kitchen" to the bathroom. The one
bedroom door is on the left.

Looking at the living room from the "kitchen".
Check out "Cat-Dog" in the window.

Action shot!

A glimpse into the gourmet appliances. That was the only burner that worked.

Our first day of travels led us southwest to Easton, PA - 294 miles away. We stopped every few hours to eat and let Rae stretch her legs. Here we are at stop #1:

Life skill acquired: drinking from a straw!
This will be the first of many new skills Grandma Bonnie
will introduce along the way :) Genius! Have you done
this before?

I figured Smallz would only be able to handle a few hours on the road at a time so I tried to keep each leg at around 5-5.5 hours. Given that criteria we totally lucked out when Easton, PA popped up on the map around 300 miles away! I immediately went in search of a hotel and found the Grand Eastonian Hotel.

Leg #1 in the bag :)

Our stay in Easton proved to be one for the memory books in many ways. The hotel didn't have record of our pet reservation and checked us into the wrong room but once we got those issues resolved and moved into our suite it was a much welcomed resting spot compared to where we came from.

Yeay...lots of space!! Gots to love the gov't rates :)

We got moved in for the afternoon and then took off for a little exploration. We walked up and down the main street and then down to a nice park by the river. The Crayola crayon factory is there in Easton but since our Easton is only interested in eating things he picks up right now we passed on going in and instead opted for the park. Unfortunately the park was built for bigger kids so E couldn't swing or anything but it was still quite scenic and great for taking some pictures. We then returned back to the hotel, ate some dinner, gave E a bath and hit the sack. We had run out of room in the car and couldn't pack Rae's kennel so her nails on the hardwood floors and the ever-present uncertainty of when she was going to let off an alarmed bark made it difficult to sleep but we both eventually dozed off...until about 1am...then the adult movie auditions kicked off in the room next to us. UNREAL!! Now reference my earlier comment about going to jail...I was livid. A solid hour and a half later auditions closed and I managed to get a few hours of sleep. Here is Easton, PA...

Definitely a cute little town with shades of sketchiness...
the sketchiness doesn't translate well in this photo ;)

Looking south down the Delaware River -
there was a fishing tournament in progress and you can see the boats

Looking northeast from the same spot

I don't know what/who this monument is for...
but it sure made a pretty picture

Grandma showing Easton the water. He was lovin' it!

Just fiddling with my editing software :)

How fun, right? Three of my favorite things...
my mom, my son and CHRISTMAS!!!

More editing

Horrible photo but wanted to document we were all there together :)

No tub = bath in the sink!!

We said adios to Easton (the city, not the baby) around 9am and headed further west for Pittsburgh. Nothing too eventful to report along this route except for the beautiful scenery and our super fun stop at the Sideling Hill Service Plaza (video below, too, don't miss it!)

We arrived safely at our Red Roof Inn about 3 o'clock. There wasn't too much room for little man to cruise...and I didn't take pictures because, well, it was a Red Roof Inn. Only memorable thing that happened that evening is that I ordered take out from the wrong Crapleebees. I realized it when sitting in the To Go spots and someone walked out asking what I was doing...oops. I reordered from the new Crapleebees and then proceeded to get stalked by the other one all night until I paid for the food that I never picked up. Ugh...who pays $40 for Applebees? Me.

Day 3 was our first day to start and end with sunshine which was excellent. We saw some beautiful countryside as we left Pittsburgh and traveled west on US Route 22. Just outside of Columbus, OH we stopped at Salt Fork State Park so we could all stretch our legs. I couldn't believe the humidity when we got out of the car...BAM...it hits ya like a ton of bricks.

Salt Fork State Park

Perfect for The Assistant

Makin that outfit look goooood!

Rae didn't mind the stop, either! :)

So then it was a quick hour and a half on to Dayton and we arrived at our new temporary home on Wright Patterson around 2:30 PM and were over-the-moon excited about the place. We have a legit dining area, full kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Complete with cleaning service...I'm going to be sad to leave this joint! Here are a few shots of where we'll be living until May 17th. Can't wait to get Daddy here late next week :)

7008, baby! There's a garage over there to the left but I couldn't fit it
all in the iPhone camera field of view

Our living room

Our dining area just off kitchen

The kitchen!!! Full oven, range, fridge,
microwave and dishwasher

To pass the time we've been taking more walks here, playing in the back yard, driving all over the base to reacquaint myself and just enjoying our family time!!

Celebrating the newly mowed lawn...the grass was taller than Rae
when we moved in :(

Pretty back yard...not so pretty rain clouds moving in

Now she's here...

And now she's not! You can see her to the right and
"below" the tree...and the geese she scared the poop out of...literally :(

Playing with my camera. Super Moon.

Enjoying some dinner. Pasta with red sauce anyone?

Plate clean, mission accomplished. Now to the bath!

Hats on for the Kentucky Derby!!

Fun in the sun...but not for long...this kiddo
is pasty white

Easton's new favorite activity is crawling in/out
of Rae's kennel...over and over again.
Also...he's started screaming and biting now. The new
daycare's gonna LOVE him ;)

Finally found Bass Lake. He enjoyed eating the clover...
maybe not quiiiite ready for the park.

So that about wraps it up...but let me leave you with an Ohio like/dislike pictorial.

Like:

Gas pump handle locks.
Can't find these beauties in the Commonwealth

Dislike:

Humidity. Period.
Seriously this was a wash/air dry...

I'd like to offer a huge yet still inadequate thank you to my mother for helping us out for such a long time. Easton's loving having her here and I realize how slighted he's been by us living so far away. On a more positive note, though, I've learned so much by having here here with me for the past two weeks. I'm going to be soooooo sad to see her go...and so will the Little Homie. Love you, love you, love you, Mama!!!!!!