It's Spring Break!

This is undoubtedly the best Monday of the year.

Unless Christmas is on a Monday. And it isn't. Carry on!

Technically, it's the first day of Spring Break. Realistically, though, it's the third or fourth day we've been out of school (depending on where you attend and your class schedule).

Of course, if you're a real adult, you gave up the dream of Spring Break long ago. Now it mostly means trying to occupy your kids for a week while managing to somehow still make money. And that's no good.

It could be worse, though. Your forecast could call for rain all week (like ours does). So much for getting a nice tan or reading outside all week. My Kindle is allergic to the rain, so I'm going to have to pass on that one.

And as if that isn't enough, you could be spending Spring Break somewhere that was mocked by a national late night show host:

Of course, that is where I'm currently spending Spring Break, but that's beside the point. Also, I'd like to note that we don't sound like we're from Wisconsin (like that lady). Also, I've never worn a parka in my life. And, as the forecast shows, you'd die of a heat stroke in a parka if you were in Wichita this Spring Break.

Now that we've cleared up some misconceptions about Wichita...

Most of the people that read this blog, though, are stuck without a Spring Break. And though I think that should be illegal, the least I can do is help you to dream. So let's dream together.

If you were given a Spring Break to do whatever you wanted, where would you go and how would you spend your time?

Personally, I'd want to be somewhere that I could accomplish one of my life goals, like skydiving, bungee jumping, or seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And it would have to be somewhere that doesn't have rain all week; I've gotta get my tan on.

So what about you? What would your dream Spring Break look like?

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A Week of Achievement

It's Easter weekend and we decided to protest traveling home, because we're college students and that's what we do when gas is almost $4. Turns out the family just came to us instead. Gotta love 'em!

Whew. That flurry of Spring Break posts has worn me out. Here's a quick recap, in case you missed one of the posts over the last month: 

• 11-of-111-goal: Goal 101
• A Much Belated Spring Break Post (And a Goal Accomplished!) 
• Nacrolepsy, Tetrazzini, and Farm and Fleet, Oh My! - Pt. 1 
•  Nacrolepsy, Tetrazzini, and Farm and Fleet, Oh My! - Pt. 2
•  Waka-What?
• Indiana: The home of invisible towns, Starbucks, and the Colts 
• A Little More Indiana(polis) 
• Question: What Time is it There? 
• Missouri Wasn't Misery 

Missouri Wasn't Misery

I'm pretty sure a combination of this thunderstorm and my medicine is the reason I'm up at 5 AM on a day we have no school. Not cool, body. Not cool at all.

So here we are. Finally. My last post about Spring Break. Which is fitting, seeing as how I'm enjoying my first spring storm. I know you're sad, and I'm a little teary-eyed too, knowing that this series of posts is just about finished. I promise we can make it through, though. Right? Righty-o.

In my last post, I wrote about visiting the Crowdus family, which was beyond awesome. We were so happy to finally meet them and we really enjoyed their love, hospitality, and wonderful company as we spent time at their house. As always, though, we had to say goodbye. If we have any say in it, though, this won't be the last time we see them!

Our next destination seemed like it should be a lot further away than it was, and the whole geography thing is still throwing me for a loop on this one, but we were meeting up with our friend Natalie, who worked with us at THOGL (and who authors a blog that is much cooler than my own), and currently resides in St. Louis. I've only actually been to St. Louis once, and that was for some missions work a few years ago. Actually, it was only a day. Or rather, a few hours. It was like "missions practice." Whatever that is...

Question: What Time is it There?

Sunday is Easter, in case you missed it. Just a friendly heads up!

When we last left off in this Spring Break extravaganza, we were still in Indiana. Well, folks, I am here to tell you that we are finally getting out of there! I mean, not that I don't love it. There's just only so much time you can spend in a state that doesn't cheer for the Chiefs.

After having a great time with the Fowlers (their hospitality and love toward us was unbelievable), we set off on the next leg of our adventure. Our first stop would be in Morganfield, Kentucky to meet up with the Yaugers, another family from THOGL who we met while we were over there this past summer. We decided to meet up at a barbecue restaurant in Morganfield, which I was thrilled about - even if it wasn't KC barbecue...

A Little More Indiana(polis)

Am I the only one who has noticed that I've made posting about Spring Break about 10 times as long as Spring Break actually was?

When we last left off on this marathon of a road trip, we were in Indianapolis, hanging out with Kelsey's sister, Tracy. Did I mention that I love Indy? Because I do. In fact, I loved it so much that I'm going to write about it again... sort of.

After spending the night with Tracy, we got up the next morning, packed up once more (we were professionals by this point), and headed to our next destination: the Fowlers! The Fowlers live in a town just outside of Indianapolis, so we only sort of left the city, which was fine by me. Somehow, though, I think I still managed to sleep part of the way there. Maybe I should get that checked out...

Indiana: The home of invisible towns, Starbucks, and the Colts

I'm not gonna lie. I had to e-mail myself a copy of our Spring Break itinerary from Kalyn's computer to help me with this blog post...

When we last left off on this ridiculous trip, we were in Wakarusa, Indiana, spending time with some of Kalyn's family. Check out the previous post if you missed it to get filled in on Waka-Waka Land (as I affectionately refer to it).

We had a great time with Kalyn's family and their hospitality was amazing. Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon. However, we did eventually have to leave. We had a lot of people to see, and unfortunately, Spring Break was only a week long. Our next stop?

Wabash/Somerset/La Fontaine, IN. 

And I thought Wakarusa was small...

W/S/LF, Indiana is, well... Let's just say you're not going to find it if you look for it. Literally. Even in the 21st century, some towns aren't "on the map." If you check it out on Google Maps, you'll actually be able to find Wabash, and if you're lucky, you'll find La Fontaine, too. Somerset, though? Non-existent. 

And therein lies our problem. The next family we were supposed to visit claimed to live in Somerset. I'm still not sure if the town exists, and I've been there! I mean, I really would've taken a picture of it, but what's the use in photographing an invisible town?

Eventually, though, we figured out how to trick Google Maps into giving us directions to this invisible town. We actually missed it the first time we drove through. No joke. However, we eventually made it there, and the people we saw more than made up for the invisible town that they live in...

Waka-What?

I realized that we only have 4 weeks of school left last night. My motivation level dropped about 1007%.

When we last left off in our epic Spring Break journey, typical road trip chaos had ensued. Missed that post? Check it out here. Thankfully, though, we finally made it to Wakarusa, Indiana, home of none other than Aunt Kelly, Uncle Billy, and Isaac.

No seriously. I really meant "none other." There's literally no one else there.

So maybe I'm being a bit facetious. That's beside the point. Aunt Kelly and Uncle Billy are relatives of Kalyn that she is very close to and loves very much. Unfortunately, they live in a town with a population of 3 that is $200 worth of gas away from us. Thankfully, though, they will be moving back to Kansas soon. Until then, though, Wakarusa is the place to be (5 points to anyone who caught that ridiculous TV show reference)...

Nacrolepsy, Tetrazzini, and Farm and Fleet, Oh My! - Pt. 2

It's a great day. I'd say about 126% of the reason for that is because it's Friday.

Road trips are always interesting. There's always something that gets in the way of plans unfolding just the way you envisioned them. Whether it's spontaneous combustion, a pack of untamed baboons, or an unexpected stop at Nostalgia Ville, something always interrupts road trip plans. Thankfully, none of these things happened during our Spring Break journey, though I'd love to stop by Nostalgia Ville again sometime soon.

If you squint, you can see Kalyn being really cool in this picture.

When I last wrote about our Spring Break, we had made it Des Moines (again, prounounced "Dess Moy-ness") to spend time with Kelsey's family. We arrived Saturday in the early afternoon and planned to stay the night and leave the next day. We had a very relaxing time with the Taylors as we vegged, watched some of the NCAA Tournament (before everyone's brackets exploded), went on a random Wal-Mart run, ate taco salad/burritos/soft tacos, and played some board games.

As an aside, I have to tell you a very sad, disappointing story about the time we spent with Kelsey's kin. As previously mentioned, we went on a Wal-Mart run, and part of the purpose of this was so that Kelsey's mom could get ingredients for her famed Chicken Tetrazzini. She had planned to make it for lunch the next day. Kelsey talks the Tetrazzini up quite a bit because one of Kalyn and my favorite meals is Chicken/Tuna Tetrazzini, a wonderful comfort food inherited from my wonderful mom.

This is where I would insert a picture of my mom's Tuna Tetrazzini. Unfortunately, it's a fabled creature of sorts (like Big Foot), so getting a picture of it is nearly impossible. This is the closest thing I could find.

Little did we know that we would figure out in a couple of hours that we wouldn't be enjoying this fabulous meal the next day. We had our adventure planned out to a tee (thanks to my wonderful wife's hard work), so we had to leave immediately following church the next day, forcing us to eat sandwiches on the road instead of the delectable meal that I was so looking forward to.

After church on Sunday, we quickly left Des Moines (as any sane person would do) on our way to bigger and better things. Our next stop? Chicago!

Nacrolepsy, Tetrazzini, and Farm and Fleet, Oh My! - Pt. 1

And so Spring Break continues (on here, anyway)...

Narcolepsy. Tetrazzini. Farm and Fleet.

 Do you have any clue what these the three things have in common?

If not, keep reading. You'll find out soon enough...

A Much Belated Spring Break Post (And a Goal Accomplished!)

I have to apologize. 

Sincerely, honestly, and truly, I need to ask for your forgiveness.

I posted on here about our epic road trip over Spring Break a week ago with a really cool map that showed the ridiculous amount of driving we did, and then left you hanging.

I realize this tease may have burned a bridge between us.

Thankfully, I plan to own an airplane someday, so I'll just take you for a ride to make it up to you.

Deal? Deal.

 Now that we're past that, I really do want to tell you about our epic Spring Break (or at least our first stop)!

This Spring Break, Kalyn and Kelsey (who we went to Taiwan with this past summer and who is returning there this summer) decided that we should go on a road trip. Now, I love traveling as much as the next guy. However, the idea of traversing 2000 miles with minimal male contact scared me a little. I was assured, though, that I'd survive. And somehow, I did...

11 of 111: Goal 101

9 days, 1,900 miles, and over 24 hours worth of driving. 

Every mile was worth it.

There will be much more to come about this Spring Break adventure...
after I catch up on all of the homework I didn't do.

How was your Spring Break? Let me hear about it!