Daddy what's a catapult? Something you throw cats with.

We successfully made it from Florida to Ohio!

After filling the van to bursting, 4 Shimers and a dog loaded up to hit the road at about 12:30 on Thursday June 9th.. We were in South Carolina by 230! I love how fast the landscape changes. We went from Florida/Georgia with all the marshland to real hills before I knew it. Given how flat Florida is, you can imagine my excitement when the road actually started to cirve a bit, and there were actual inclines to be seen on the side of the road.

Holly Ridge Campground was adorable-straight out of some cheesy movie. (The office is shown to the left) We arrived around 8 or 9 that night. The lady running he desk had already gone home. Luckily, home was across this beautiful field. So when we called she sent us to a site and met us there. By the time our tent was up, she was ready to sign us in. She even gave the girls popsicles.



the field of fireflies (daytime)



The most magical thig happened while we were setting up. I looked up at one point, and realized there were fireflies everywhere. Kaya and I walked along a path to see a fieldfull of them. We dont get to see too many of them at home, so it was a special treat for us. It felt like a good omen. (Of course, Bella was afraid of them at first, but I digress.)

After breakfast, breakdown an playground time (where the girls played with what the called a catapult- whih led to the question in the title), we hit the road again. We drove from NC to Ohio. While we were still in North Carolina we kept seeing all these cars parked by overpasses- literally hundreds of people! Rick and I were both getting a bit freaked out, so we found a local radio station and tried to figure out what was going on. Turns out the plane that "crash" landed in the Potomac a while back was being moved along the highway on its way to a museum in Charlotte. We looked over and suddenly, there it was! It was really amazing to see a plane get pulled along the interstate- and I was thrilled to see her go in the oppsote direction as us!

We stopped at a few scenic places to streatch and eat. We had to go by the New River Gorge Bridge- right after Rick got his first speeding ticket of the trip. It's the longest single span bridge in the western hemisphere. Totally breathtaking.

The next stop was at the Tygart River Dam- which TripTik told us was poen to the public so we were looking forward to walkin on the dam. You should have heard all our dam jokes- it kept Rick and I entertained for hours! Unfortunately, the dam was closed for walking due to "recent world events". I have no idea why terrorists would seek out a remote corner of West Virginia, but I am sure the Army Core of Engineers had their reasons.... So we settled for a wonderful picnic lunch. A ranger gave the girls each an inflattable ball when we toured their mini museum. Kaya's rolled down the hill we had our lunch on and narrowly avoided a few passing cars. It then blew down a steep hill and I assumed it was lost forever. Somehow Rick managed to scale the hill and get the ball back for her- super daddy to the rescue!

We made it to Rick's dad's house in Ohio by about 7pm. So far we've been having such a good time I havent had a chance to post. Thanks for your patience- and thanks to the few of you who asked about it- you kept me motivated to try and post at all!