After our travels with Charlotte, I thought that the rest of my summer would be spent in our small summer community on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Once I’m there, I have little inclination to go anywhere else.  But my daughter surprised me with the idea of a Labor Day weekend...

On the penultimate day of our travels with Charlotte, we headed out on our final excursion.  I had planned a hike through one of my favorite of Indiana’s state parks, Turkey Run.  About an hour away from Indianapolis, there are hiking trails through stream-carved canyons,...

Some of my fond memories from my school days in Indiana involve field trips, and one of my favorites was to the Conner Prairie Farm.  It’s a living history museum where docents dress in period clothes and adopt a persona of someone from another era of American life.  When we would...

Last week, I pulled a necklace out of my jewelry box.  It has two charms on it, both from my grandmother’s old charm bracelets.  One is a simple heart with my name and birthday on it.  The other commemorates the anniversary of my parents’ first wedding.  As I put...

As soon as David recovered from his bout with Covid, it was time for us to take our granddaughter, Charlotte on her trip with the grandparents.  My desire has always been to take each of the littles on a specially designed excursion around the time they are eight or nine years old.  I...

Shortly after we got to Michigan, my extended family started arriving for a week of reunion.  As happens at large gatherings these days, by the end of the week five people had tested positive for Covid.  One of those was my husband.  I ended up moving into the upstairs guest room...

As we planned our cross-country drive, I put Meredith in charge of finding kid-friendly hotels.  I’ve already mentioned how adept she is at finding restaurants and excursions.  She knows what her boys like, and a swimming pool at the end of a long day of driving is high on the...

At last, we came to Mt. Rushmore, a monument of such proportion that it doesn’t seem quite real, even as you stand before it.  On this crystalline June afternoon, we arrived in time to hear the house band tuning up for their patriotic program, presented nightly at 9 PM all summer until...

On day four of our cross-country trip, we were headed toward one of our main destinations, Mt. Rushmore.  But something that I love about traveling with my daughter is her aptitude for discovering interesting restaurants and unexpected attractions.  At this point of our journey, she...

On day two of our cross-country trip, we left Las Vegas and drove through the Virgin River gorge in a small corner of Arizona before heading into Utah.  Beyond the red rock formations there lay an unexpected attraction:  Mormon crickets.

We stopped in Meadow, Utah for a pitstop where...