World's Biggest Picnic Basket

Here we are at the Longaberger Baskets headquarters in Newark, Ohio. This was the first big surprise for Mom - we were driving down the highway and suddenly! A giant basket! We both clapped with glee. If we worked there we would come in on our days off!


We brought the Mandai's World's Smallest Cooler on this road trip, so we thought it should meet its older (ha), bigger brother.

These photos can't even begin to do the size of this building justice. I think it is about 7 stories, but the size is just astonishing! It totally feels like Honey I Shrunk the Kids or something.

Life's a picnic!
-C

License Plate of the Day

In Dublin, OH: "LV A DANE".

-C

Bumper Stickers of the Day

Yesterday: "If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they all made of meat?"

Today: "<3 is a handsome garbageman."

-C

Roadside America!

Here we are at Roadside America in Shartlesville, PA, where the buildings are so tiny you can pick them up in your hand!

Just kidding, we got there at 6:31 and it looked like they had been closed for ten years already. That didn't stop us from taking photos while a man on a lawnmower watched in confusion! I bet we'd really like Roadside America, so next time we have to drag ourselves through PA we'll stop for a bit. Especially for the gift shop!

Ruby was terrified by the giant Pennsylvania Dutch, and I don't blame her. She barked and growled the whole time. What a good dog!

We had a slow day yesterday, so we didn't get very far. Now we are up and at 'em and going to head to Mansfield, OH, for lunch with the family. Hopefully today we will go through Ohio and Kentucky and probably make it to Nashville. Busy day! I made us a flickr page but since we're anxious to get on the road I will upload all the rest of the photos there later. There are some real gems! See you in Ohio!


-C

Bye!

-C

On the road!

We have finally left Connecticut and are en route to Roadside America in Shartlesville, PA. They close at 6:30 so we're trying to make it there before then!

Unfortunately we are short one member of our party--Sophie never returned home and we didn't find her at the pound. Our neighbors and housesitter are watching for her and will be putting up posters around the neighborhood. We called the moving company to tell them to make sure she didn't hitch a ride in the recliner. We even told the First Selectman! Now all we can do is hope she has seen Homeward Bound. If you're in Bethel, watch out for a little tabby with hazel eyes and no front claws. Send her mental snuggles!

Now, to Pennsylvania!
-C

World's Latest Departure

Well, our road trip has hit a bit of a snag. We can't leave yet because our very own World's Biggest Cat, Sophie, is Missing In Action. It seems she is not too keen on moving to Texas (and I don't blame her) so we'll have to wait until we can track her down. In the meantime I will laugh at our other cat, Clark, wearing a harness.

Until then,
-C

World's Biggest Dog

Our first stop on the "World's Biggest" road trip was the home of the World's Biggest Dog in Redding, CT. The Mandai were kind enough to let us share their home with Bailey, their Burnese Mountain Dog, who weighs nearly 1 million pounds (or 146). He likes long walks in the yard and pretending to be a sofa. Note our dog, Ruby, in the background, bored by the fact that she's a midget in comparison. Thanks for everything, Mandai!

We are just about all packed and ready to go... up next on our road trip: Pennsylvania!
-C

The Night Before...

We are about to embark on the World's Biggest Road Trip(tm)! Tomorrow morning (in theory) my mom and I will embark on a road trip from Bethel, CT to Whitt, TX. All of our furniture/boxes are on the moving truck and en route as of this evening. Now all that is left is to clean up the house a bit and load our stylish white (undrivable by me) Ford Explorer up with the following:

• One dog, Ruby
• Two cats, Clark and Sophie
• Maybe six birds?
• Two huge suitcases
• Two paper mache chinese heads
• Enough books on tape to last us a year
• Snacks like you wouldn't even believe
• A lamp that my uncle has been waiting for us to bring for at least 100 years
  
• Random odds and ends that somehow didn't get packed
• Ourselves
  

We are going to drive from Bethel, CT to Mansfield, OH and stay the first night at my uncle's house. From there, we drive through Kentucky and Tennessee and spend the night somewhere between Nashville and Memphis. On the third day we will hopefully drive through the rest of Tennessee, Arkansas, and finally arrive sometime late at night in Texas. Fingers crossed there are no rattlesnakes waiting to bite me.

As a surprise for my mom (shhh don't show her the map!), I have picked out all kinds of wonderful potential roadside attractions along the way, as listed on this here google map. We will be taking all kinds of ridiculous photos featuring John Adams, chinese heads, the dog and maybe the cats on leashes, and of course, ourselves. I will (hopefully) be posting our progress as we make our way across the country if I can figure out how to mobile post, and will definitely update with hilarious photos every night if the internet gods are benevolent.

Time to sleep, for tomorrow we awake early and ford the river!
-Chessie