On the Road with the Twins

In case you're wondering why I didn't blog yesterday, it's because we were on the road--doing the first leg of our trip east with our twin granddaughters and their mommy--and I had no internet access. We got about five hours of driving behind us before we stopped at around dinnertime and stayed overnight with our daughter-in-law's aunt and uncle, who live in a bucolic town in Illinois called Woodstock. Woodstock has the most idyllic and picturesque town square: its brick-paved streets, lined with quaint shops and restaurants, surround a lush, green park that has a large bandstand in the middle of it. It is just so beautiful! But the town's real claim to fame is that the 1992 movie "Groundhog Day"--hands down one of the greatest, funniest movies of all time, in my opinion--was filmed on location there, and the bandstand on the green was used for "Gobbler's Knob," where Punxsutawney Phil made his appearance. Our daughter-in-law's uncle was kind enough to drive my husband and me downtown after dinner and then walk with us around the square (in the dark, in the rain), pointing out all the buildings and sites in town that had been used in the movie. He made a special side trip to show us the bed and breakfast with the white picket fence and arbor out front. We even got to see the very spot on the sidewalk (now commemorated with a metal plaque) where Bill Murray's character Phil kept stepping off into the giant puddle, while Ned Ryerson--"Needlenose Ned," "Ned the Head"--jibed, "Watch out for that first step--it's a doozie!"

After a good night's sleep and giving the babies their first bottles of the morning, we left Woodstock and got back on the old dusty trail. With the twins napping pretty much the whole way, we made it to South Bend right in time for their next feeding. We decided to stop in at the University of Notre Dame and feed the girls their bottles in the lobby of the Eck Center, which is right next to the Hammes Bookstore. While their mommy and I took care of the babies, their Papa ran over to the bookstore to get them some pink Notre Dame-themed bibs. It was a short rest stop, but a good one--and then it was time to hit the road again.We drove for about four-and-a-half more hours, with one bottle stop somewhere in the middle, until we got just outside of Cleveland, and that's where we are now--in a really comfy two-story suite at a Residence Inn. The babies have been real troopers (and their mom, who's been riding squished in between two carseats on the hump in the middle of the back seat, has been one, too); but it won't be long now before the trip will be over, they'll be in their own little house in Upstate NY, and they'll have their daddy back home with them where he belongs. We have only about six more hours of actual driving time before we reach our destination tomorrow. The twins were getting a bit tired of their car seats by the end of today's leg, but hopefully after a nice long break here in the Cleve (I'm putting that in for all you "30 Rock" fans), they'll be ready to get back in the saddle tomorrow morning.

I'll post updates on our trip as soon as I have internet access again, and I'm not sure exactly when that will be. Until then, wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.