The Great PONY Ride of 2009

My uncle, his wife and their seven kids lived in a small, rural community, not far from where I live now.  Nearly every Sunday we would drive up to their house, as would some of my other aunts, uncles and cousins.  I think we all went THERE because a.) It was more difficult for them to pack seven kids and elderly Aunt Edna into the van to trek anywhere else, and b.) Their home was bordered by a large field on one side, and woods on the other three, yet it was a five-minute walk to the tiny downtown area, which consisted of a small family-owned grocery store, a gas station, a school and playground, a post office and two churches.  Plenty of things for kids - in THOSE days, when you didn't feel the need to keep them within your sight at all times - to explore.

I loved every Sunday that we went to Uncle Paul's.  I loved hanging around with my many cousins, most of which were older and often took the time to entertain us younger kids by hikes in the woods, football or baseball games in the field, dirt bike rides, or snowmobile rides and pond hockey games in the winter.  But my favorite was the annual church bazaar that my uncle organized.  Dunk tanks, potato sack races, crafts, a few rides, food, food, food...and my favorite, the pony rides.  How I loved all things equine!  In later years, I took riding lessons, even entered a few shows, but those pony rides were what fostered what turned out to be a lifelong love of horses.  They were a quarter each, and I usually had enough money saved up to ride each of the several ponies at least twice.  

I don't know why I thought of this last Saturday morning, as we set out on our vacation.  Maybe it was because we drive through a few towns that are very similar to the one my Uncle Paul lived in, and the sights of white church steeples and small New England town centers bring back memories.  Our plan was to hit the road right at 6:00 AM, and we were right on time, as usual, pulling out of the driveway at 7:45!  (Actually, that's good for us...I had my money on 9:00).  We filled the fuel tank, grabbed what would be the last Dunkin Donuts coffee I would see in several days, and hit the road, on what I dubbed the Great PONY Ride of 2009...

 Through Pennsylvania, to Cleveland/Columbus/Dayton, Ohio, followed by Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY.  Get it??? ;)

Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that "the other woman", Maggi, accompanied us.  And no, I was not upset at all.  In fact, I purchased Maggi for hubby as a Father's Day gift.  Because I know what it's like travelling with him, and I figured it was time for someone else to tell him where to go.  He never listens to me.  Maybe SHE would have better luck.....

But no, he didn't really listen to her, either.  At least not at first.  But it was nice to have more company in the car! And it was cute when Punkin asked, "Mommy? Why does the car keep talking to us?"

The first leg of our trip would be the longest - from the Worcester, MA area all the way to Cleveland, OH.  Did I mention we had a four year-old in the back seat?  Yes, we knew this would be a long trip, but thankfully our little Punkin travels REALLY WELL! She's logged quite a few miles already, and since her birthday was just a few days ago, she had a stash of new toys, brand new crayons (aren't new crayons so much better than old ones?), paper/coloring books, dolls, toys...and the best gift of all (thank you, dear sister!), her very own camera.  

 Able to hold 154 photos, child-friendly and nearly indestructible....this thing is worth its weight in gold!

Of course, 154 photos can be snapped within a three-minute span of time....which means, I may have missed a thing or two as I cleared blurry images, duplicate/triplicate/quadruplet pictures, in order to make room for more and entertain her for another...three minutes.  But still, she got great enjoyment out of that camera, and actually took some pretty decent pictures!  We are currently in negotiations for Punkin to guest blog on Marvelously Mundane in the near future...just as soon as she cleans up her room.

Anyway, I love the ride through western Massachusetts, through a snippet of New York, over the Hudson River.  Did I think to snap a few photos along the way to share with you? Well, no. If I had, I would have taken a photo much like this one about five minutes across the Pennsylvania state line...

Yes! I saw a bald eagle perched on a treetop!  I was so excited!  Hubby - not so much.  Maggi thought we should "stay on the current road".  Punkin wanted to know why it was bald.  We have bald eagles around here, but I've never seen one in the wild with my own eyes.  Actually, I did see an eagle in Maine, once, but since it was humungous, apparently full-grown, and did not have a white head or tail feathers, I guess it was a different kind of eagle.  And I didn't get a photo of that one, either....

The ride through Pennsylvania was pretty, but long.  After passing the City of Wilkes-Barre....

...which when we saw it through the mist looked like a model railroad town, bridges and mill buildings nestled along a river in a valley, the rest of the trip was a whole lotta farmland followed by forest.  Kinda like western Massachusetts, but flatter.  I like that kind of scenery, though, as I imagine some of those small communities are getting ready for their own versions of church bazaars and county fairs.

We arrived at our first destination, Cleveland OH, at about 6:00 PM Saturday.  It was sunny, a bit muggy, but Cleveland was a lot nicer than I was expecting.  My husband, who, by the way, has a degree in architecture and a passionate interest in urban design and planning, had been there before, and his descriptions had included words like "economically depressed", "struggling", "run-down" and even "dying".   Frankly, I found it to be a lot like Worcester - great potential, lots of character, some great architecture (meaning older buildings), except Cleveland was very, very clean.  Lots of green spaces, too, whether it was parks or the occasional flowerpots or trees along the street.  I think even he admitted that Cleveland's luck was improving, and I dare say the city seemed almost vibrant at times.

That night, we tried going to the science museum, a reward for Punkin for being so good during the long trip, but alas it was closed.  Oh well, right next door is the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

We toured the museum - no pictures allowed inside the museum, so I can't show you Elvis' purple car or Michael Jackson's glittery glove or Janis Joplin's eyeglasses or any of the other things.  Between the exhibits being a bit over Punkin's head and the fact that my husband and I have totally different tastes in music ("Where's all the Van Halen stuff?" he kept asking), we kind of whizzed through it.  At the end hubby complained that he just paid a boatload of money for "stuff you can see for free if you go to enough Hard Rock Cafe's".  

He was kinda right!

But in the lobby, we snapped some photos of Punkin and the giant guitars... 

They had a nice "memorial" guitar to George Harrison and Punkin decided to be silly....

Stop that before security kicks us out!!!

Then, when THIS one....

...appeared to almost fall over, we decided it was time to go.  (It really DIDN'T fall, as I later discovered they are bolted onto the display stand.)

We walked back to our hotel, about 10 minutes away, grabbed dinner and hit the sack early.

For tomorrow, we would go on a sacred pilgrimage.....

To Be Continued.....