Road trip to Indiana!

We arrived in our beloved state between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. Unfortunately it was quickly turning dark and we were losing our sightseeing opportunity by the second. It felt odd being back...I was nervous as I wondered what we'd see, feel and think of our beloved state after 12 years.

As we arrived at the exit to our hotel we noticed quite a bit of growth in the Southport area...it was expected, but it still "Wowed" us. We were lucky enough to have one of our favorite restaurants "Bob Evans" just out the back door of our hotel. We all enjoyed our meal and Vic and I reminisced about how many meals we had eaten there in the past. When we left, it was the first time the kids had an opportunity to play in some leftover snow that was in front of the restaurant. Needless to say, they thoroughly enjoyed it and we all left shivering, cold and wet as we walked back to the hotel. We were grateful that the hotel had a heated pool, hot coffee and comfy chairs for relaxing.

After a comfy nights sleep I awoke to find Southport exactly as I remembered it the morning that Vic and I had first traveled to Indiana to see if it was were we wanted to live after he got out of the Coast Guard. We thought it was beautiful, clean and perfect.

We had ice crystals on the windshield!

The geese were doing what geese do...swimming, honking and pooping...

...huddled together, keeping a spot open on the pond!


After a yummy hotel breakfast, we decided to checkout Greenwood, our beloved city in our beloved state. Just as we expected it had grown...evidently when we lived there and thought it was great, it was...because a lot more people found out about it and decided to live, work and build it up. It's still a great city and has EVERYTHING you could ever need or want...including traffic. We drove to our old homestead...still cute, but small...the neighborhood, still nice but different...my best friend, gone but never forgotten. We looked for my beloved horse's that used to meet us on the corner of our old country road, but they have since been replaced by commercial building and subdivisions. Much of the farmland is being bought up and built upon.

After Greenwood we ventured to downtown Indianapolis...for the first time we stopped to soak in the sights. Indianapolis is a beautiful city...very calm, friendly and chalked full of fun...fun that we never took the time to enjoy 12 years ago.

This War monument is in the middle of the city...

a closer view...

Of course the kids were thrilled to find some leftover snow...after all, you have to have your priorities right...and snow always comes first!

Going inside the War Museum...

Typical stick your head in a hole and smile pretty...obviously a challenge for little sis...

...not so much for us.

We wanted to go to the observation tower...we could climb 360 steps or take a teeny tiny elevator for a buck each...we chose the latter! Little did we know that when the elevator stopped we still had two small flights to go...two very small, tight wee little steps.

These are the best pictures I could get through the dirty observation windows...I suppose it's a challenge to keep them clean.

Pic #1

Pic #2

Pic #3

Pic#4

Thank goodness Vic had the insight to go first on the way down...sister of course fell and bumped her rump down a few steps before running into Vic. Needless to say, she was shaken up...but thankfully not hurt.

Here's are a few random pictures that I liked...I love the building in the sky view...

I love steeples...

Don't know what this building is, but I liked the way it stood out...

and finally...a very expensive candy shop...I got a free picture and we ducked out the back door, too pricey for our blood, plus it didn't even look or smell that good (thankfully).

After a fun time downtown and extremely long sightseeing trip on the outer loop we headed towards Greenwood...apparently someone needed a little cat nap, lol.


We decided to hit a local pizza joint in Franklin, we remembered going there with friends.

There's a train that runs and brings the food and drinks, fun concept! Except our train only brought drinks and we were disappointed to find out that the food is now served by a person.

The food was expensive and not very tasty...but still we had fun and left with fun pictures and memories :~)

Since we came to Indiana to see if it had the potential to become the place we wanted to once again live, we had asked alot of the kids as we rode around, and they were being real troopers. We decided to take a break and let them play at a local fun zone that we'd seen on the T.V. in the hotel lobby.

What kid doesn't love arcades? For a whole $10, or was it $20?...they racked up the tickets and were the proud owners of this loot!

Yeah, I know, the loot is totally not worth it, but the smile is!

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The kids wanted to play in the snow, so we headed to a local park hoping to find some leftovers. Fortunately we found enough for a little snowball...

or two...

or three :~)

Normally I wouldn't recommend trying to walk on the water...but today it was okay!

We explored!

Met some new friends.

Made REAL snow angels...

...instead of a sand angel and found out that crocs + snow = very cold feet and an even whinier girl! :~)

We visited a city called Columbus...we had never been there before and it was rated a top spot to raise a family. We headed downtown first and later visited the surrounding area. I'm sure it's a great community...but we just felt it was to busy and hurried for us. They have a cool bridge though...

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The area of Brown County was breathtaking...we did not expect to see mountains in Indiana! We definitely saw the appeal of this tourist area. This happens to be where people like to go see the fall foliage...there a cute little town and beauty galore.

...and we rode on our first covered bridge!

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The rest of our trip was spent riding and taking in the sights. We discovered tons of farmland that still remains intact and natural...untouched by the greed of suburban growth. This trip was a blessing...as we were able to age our special place and see the changes that we could only imagine. We had a blast but were definately ready to come home...and just for the record, home is anywhere your stuff is. What do we love about Indiana? ALOT!

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What does our future hold? It changes like the wind...stay tuned to further updates as to which direction we blow :~)