The first leg of our journey brought us from Kennett Square, PA to Canton, OH. We spent most of the previous week preparing for our departure, so the “day-of” packing of the car went easy, right? Well, not quite...it was more of a challenge than we thought to get everything into the cargo bag and overhead bin...think the worst game of Tetris with bags, boxes, suitcases, and coolers. It all worked out in the end, and we hit the road with excitement and maybe a bit of anxiety.
The drive could not have been better, and Cremini settled in at Kara’s feet instead of the third row seat like we had planned. If you know Kara and her history with animals, it was a lock that Cremini would end up Velcroed to Kara...This was our first trip all the way across Pennsylvania, and we enjoyed checking out the Allegheny Mountain scenery. All the meal prep and food packing was spot on, and we were well nourished with homemade waffles, fresh cut veggies, and other snacks.
The Ohio countryside was amazing, and our route took us through many small towns on our way to our destination at a lakeside cabin in East Canton. There were so many synergies to our current and past life as we pulled up to the cabin...Brandywine Street (for that Chester County connection), Squaw Valley Lake (from our California ski trips to the Sierras). This was the place, and we were so happy to arrive.
Our hosts in Canton were Kara’s health coach, Lindsey, and her amazing family. We don’t even know where to start about our stay in a cabin at Squaw Valley Lake. From swimming to feeding catfish to galloping pony rides, the kids had so much fun playing with Lindsey and Doug’s four kids. As if the cabin wasn’t awesome enough, we were treated to two delicious homecooked meals - vegan lasagna the first night and beer can chicken (from their farm!) the next night. If you know us, you know that kind of contrast is how we live.
Kris and Chase also got to spend the day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which was a truly amazing experience...highly recommended if you're ever in the area. Pro football is so much more than just the NFL. It was really interesting to learn about the people who played the game for the fun and competition before it became the major industry it is today.
The first stop could not have been any better, and we can't thank Lindsey and Doug enough for hosting our 5 ring circus for two days. On Wednesday morning, we packed back up again (Tetris game in the overhead bin - Round 2 - didn't go any better this time) and headed for Chicago!