Not Warm. Loving It Anyway.

Hello from chilly Ohio! We had a great week traveling northward toward one set of grandkids, despite Nathan coming down with a cold. We had some fun in Nashville, where we had a pleasant surprise, and in Dayton, where we finally visited a museum we’ve been trying to catch for years. Now all is grand, as in grandkids!

We spent a couple of nights in Nashville. This was our third visit to the city and it was pretty cold, so we didn’t have much planned. As we arrived, we immediately started to see the destruction from Winter Storm Fern from the week before. There were downed trees and branches and damaged power lines. We were hearning stories of people who were still without power or trapped in their neighborhoods a week after the storm hit. It was dramatic. We booked a show at Zanie’s Comedy Club based on the Nateland Podcast hosted by Nate Bargatze. We like his comedy and this was a compliation show of comedians from around the country doing 5-10 minute sets. It was really good and there were definitely some talented comics. Then at the end, the host announced that there was a surprise and out came…Nate Bergatze! He was working on some new material and had just won a Grammy the night before. He was very funny and we felt like we got a steal of a deal.

Then it was on to Dayton, Ohio. We almost always drive by Dayton on our way between Alex’s place and Lauren’s home, so we often consider stopping. It was the home of the Wright Brothers and there are some really good historical sites there relating to aviation. The problem is that the national park sites aren’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays and that’s usually when we are driving through. We purposely planned to be there on a Wednesday this time so we could check it out. However, we also thought we could catch the National Mueseum of the Air Force on Tuesday afternoon as a bonus. But, alas, not this time. It was closed due to the partial governmenet shutdown. We did get to visit the national park site, though, including the museum outlining the Wright Brothers’ history and the only one of their bicycle shops that’s still in tact. It was worth the wait and we will probably be back to see more sometime.

Now we are happily installed in Marietta, Ohio again and spending a portion of every day reading stories, building projects, and giving piggy back rides. It’s just perfect and we are soaking it up! Have a great week!