Indiana Bound

Anticipation was high for Thursday afternoon, we went on vacation to visit family to a state we had never been to. It was to be a very long drive but we took it in 2 days going down. We spent the night in Moline, Illinois. It was dark when we got there, so we did not see much of it, but we found a hotel and a Denny's right across the street, which meant walking instead of driving. The next day we drove to Bloomington, Illinois, where my third grandfather lived and was buried. His daughter and her husband lived and are buried there also. I wanted to see my great-grandmother's grave. I do not know much about her except that she gave up my grandfather for adoption and he was raised by his aunt and uncle. We found the cemetery, asked for directions, found 2 of her siblings, but no headstone for Marie. I stood where she was buried and wondered why she had no stone, she died very young at 35. With no answers and expectations a bit dashed, we did go to another cemetery and found my 3rd great grandfather and my 2nd great grandmother and grandfather. I had addresses of where these 2 grandmother's of mine lived, so we drove to those addresses and I was able to get pictures. At least now I have an idea of where they lived, still wondering what brought 2 of these families to Bloomington, Illinois.

The second portion of our journey was to Terre Haute, Indiana. We arrived there shortly after 5:00. Uncle Jim, Ken and Ann were outside on their deck enjoying the sun. It was beautiful out. It was hot for the first time since before October. Ken and Ann have bird feeders up and enjoy the birds as I do. There is such a wide variety (Ken has a book so he can look to see what kinds of birds he sees), I had fun just watching and listening to them. It was a relaxing trip. There were no agendas. (The above picture is what Ann and Ken see out their window.)

Saturday was spent talking, and touring Terre Haute. Ken and Ann took us to a place called "Saint Mary of the Woods." What a beautiful place, quiet,serene, a lot of history. We stopped and looked at a chapel and the whole inside of the wall was made of sea shells. The picture does not do it justice. The grounds are beautiful too. I tried to take pictures insde the chapel, but you cannot capture with a camera what you see. Mother Theodore Geurin founded many schools in the area, this is just one of them. She was canonized not too very long ago.

They took out to lunch, an Irish pub. The food was good, as was the atmosphere and company. It was good to take our time and just talk. After we got back to the house, Ann needed to go to choir practice. She belongs to a community choir through Indiana State University. On Sunday afternoon they were going to sing the Creation by Heyden. Ken took us all out to dinner at the country club where they live and after that we got to see where Uncle Jim. He has got a view and the "Institution" as he calls it is nothing like I have seen before. It is like a small village. It is 7 stories with card/game rooms, they have a small theater, a bank and even a small grocery store. They have an exercise room where Uncle Jim goes everyday and works out. He is looking so good and still sharp as a tack. It was good visiting with him and hearing his humor come out. We had a lot of laughs this weekend, I will treasure it. Sunday we went to church at the Episcopalian Church, what a beautiful church inside. The walls are stone and there was marble. The beams of the church were painted in stripes, the colors of the church season. It looked like a gingerbread house to me. After church we had lunch and then got ready to go to the concert, and it was so good and enjoyable. It was fun seeing Ann up front and singing. We finished the evening watching a movie and more visiting. It was so fun just getting to know cousins even better.
Ann and Ken have a couple of pets, Emma and George. George is actually a girl red cat. Normally red cats are boys but this one is a girl. She is a beautiful cat and looks outside at the birds as the bird feeder is right there. Emma is the funny one. She has high energy and just bounces. She loves to chase the ball and is raring to go all the time. What a friendly dog she is.

Our trip ended all to soon but Monday we had to get up early as we had 13 hours of driving ahead of us. We managed to get home still in the light. It was gorgeous driving the last little bit home. The sun rays were breaking out from all the clouds, I can hardly describe what I saw, it was something out of a picture. It was good to get home and see our own little kitties and see what has changed. It is a little greener, the front trees are budding out more. By next week, everything should be out and alive again.

I know this is a lengthy post but it was a great weekend and we so appreciate the hospitality of Ken and Ann, we so appreciated getting to see Uncle Jim once again.