Finally getting caught up with our adventures. With our big trip in mid-June to Florida, we didn’t travel anywhere in July which was especially noteworthy. Early in the month was our annual 4th of July visit with parents in Champaign (now just Suzanne’s dad) for the parade and fireworks. Our son Justin was home for two weeks at the end of the month for his annual youth golf clinic at Shwamii Golf Club. I got to play three rounds of golf with him this visit, or should I say I took three lessons.

August on the other hand was a fun and busy travel month. That first week and the day after we took Justin to Midway to catch his flight home, we left for Cincinnati, OH, actually just south of there in Kentucky. Suzanne has cousins that live just a few miles from the Ark Adventure and we spent the evening with them. These family members are from Suzanne’s mom’s side, and like most cousins, we typically only see them at funerals. That is something we are working on in our travels, trying to see friends and family that we haven’t seen for a long time.

The real reason for this trip in that direction was to travel the 127 Yard Sale. If you’re not familiar with this four-day event, Route 127 runs from Michigan to Alabama and on the first weekend of August every year, the entire route is lined with flea markets and garage sales. Our trip focused on the stretch from Frankfort, KY to Chatanooga, TN, probably the most popular part of the route.

Starting off a little fast, we found treasures at our first stop. From there, mile after mile there were garage sales, barn sales, and multi-family sales; Big signs, little signs, balloons, 12′ waving men, and every age trying to flag you into their location; Church bazaars, antique shops, and of course flea markets of every size imaginable. Choosing where to stop was the biggest decision we made every quarter mile.

Around noon that first day, I decided it was time to eat while Suzanne continued to shop. I moseyed up to a food truck with a sign that said “Smoked Bologna”. I’ve smoked bologna before and have not been particularly happy with my results. Sitting down in one of the chairs provided, my mouth filled with delight as I took that first bite. “Any good,” said the burly guy in the seat next to me. “Yep” I replied, “you the chef”. “Sorta,” he said; and from there, he politely answered all my questions on how he turned this everyday plain bologna into a wonderful sandwich, which I now plan to duplicate.

Over the course of our 316-mile adventure, we stopped at 23 different flea markets and countless garage sales. I can’t even begin to count the number of garage sales we passed by on the route or saw signs saying “1/2 mile this way”. If you love the hunt like my wife, it’s a shopper’s paradise.

The next weekend was the Illinois State Fair which has a draft horse show, and as I’ve already explained before, that attraction for Suzanne is unstoppable. She loves the cart and hitch classes the best which have five performances on both afternoons and evenings over three days. Held in the St Fair Collisiem, the Crider family has been sitting in the same location for over fifty-plus years and that hasn’t changed. Suzanne’s dad even showed up with some friends on Sunday evening for the six-horse hitch. So for three days, I watched as my other half was mesmerized by the thunder of hooves and the smell of horses as they passed by.

We finished out the month with Suzanne’s second PATHway trial follow-up with scans and visits with her oncologist and surgeon. Still the gold standard for what they want to accomplish, it’s always fun to see their reactions to what they consider an unbelievable outcome.

PHOTO ALBUM of our Travelogue, July & August 2022

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121:8