Road trip snapshots.

My wife and I decided about a month ago to take a road trip up to Michigan and Illinois to see some of our extended family. She would be meeting my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Michigan; I would be meeting her aunt, uncle, and cousins near Chicago.

First stop: Louisville, so that we could visit the campus of Southern Seminary.

The weather was perfect for almost the entire trip.

We don’t have enough pictures together, so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful environs for a quick photo. (Pardon the hat-hair.)

One of the best meals we had on the trip was in Louisville, at Joella’s Hot Chicken. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Boy howdy.

After Louisville, we drove on up to Jackson, Michigan. Had great visits with everyone, and they all loved my wife and (rightly) insisted that I married “up.” I don’t disagree in the least.

Fun story: On Friday, we had finished having lunch with my grandfather and needed to kill a few hours before meeting my aunt and uncle for an early dinner. We drove around the small town where I was born, windows down, listening to music and enjoying the cool breeze. We came across an ice cream parlour (called “The Parlour,” naturally) that has been a landmark in that town for decades. I remember going their several times over the years, whenever we’d go up to visit as a family, and I have told my wife about it before. My wife suggested we stop in (why not?), so I figured we’d order a small treat. Surely that wouldn’t ruin our appetites, right? Behold: her “one-scoop” and my “two-scoop” (which the picture doesn’t really show is easily about a pint and a half of ice cream).

My one regret on this trip? I only took one picture of the family members we visited. It just never occurred to me to pull out my phone during those times. But here’s the one family pic I managed to get: my wife with her aunt Deb (while they were posing for a photo someone else was taking).

As it was, of course, college football kickoff weekend, I decided to send this shot to my dad (a die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes fan) from the Cracker Barrel gift shop. I asked if he wanted me to pick up anything for him. His response? “Matches.”

I wish I’d taken more photos in general. It really was a pretty trip, with the blessing of beautiful weather–highs in the mid-70’s, lows in the upper-50’s. Much better than the mid-90’s temperatures we have at home.

(You’d think this shot was from a barn or rustic-looking general store or something. Nope–it’s the ceiling of a rest stop in western Michigan. Well done, Michigan.)

All told, we covered just about 2900 miles in less than 6 days. Thankfully, my wife had the wise suggestion of renting a vehicle rather than taxing our minivan with such a trip. So we rode along in style, in a sweet Kia Sedona. #MinivanSwag