We just spent nineteen days in Winton Woods Campground in the Cincinnati area. This is always our “home” in Zach and Lauren’s area when visiting them. We always leave there saying the same thing, nice park, a little too busy, too expensive, but our only option in that area. One of the things we love about the campground is the 2 mile paved walking trail around Winton Lake.
It was great spending time with our son Zach and his wife Lauren. They love to find a new place for us to try for dinner and this time it was Terry’s Turf. Their specialty is gourmet burgers which were truly yummy. But as wonderful as the food was the ambiance was even better. The place was very tiny, seating about 25 people but decorated inside and out with hundreds of neon signs from very small to very large. Fun evening! And what would be a visit to Cincinnati without dog sitting for Hope, the Great Dane. Hope spent three days with us while the kids had their upstairs floors sanded and stained. Hope loves Zach but Joe comes in a close second and the feelings are mutual. Hope is getting up in age at eleven years old so she has a hard time getting up and down the camper steps. Sometimes she needs a little encouragement. We also spent a Sunday afternoon with Joe’s brother Art and his wife Nancy in Dayton. It is always great to spend a day visiting with them.
Our daughter Cassie and our 4 year old granddaughter flew to Ohio for a weekend to visit Zach and Lauren. They stayed with us which was so much fun. Zach and Lauren spent the weekend showing all of us a good time. We walked to breakfast Saturday morning from their house in Oakley to Sweet Bee restaurant for a delicious meal and then visited a large toy store which of course Cate loved and didn’t come out empty handed. We also visited a few other shops in the area and then it was back to the 5th wheel for an afternoon nap. We were going to cook out on a fire in the evening but when Zach and Lauren came over Zach said Cassie had to experience Skyline Chili, a chain restaurant that is only in the Cincinnati area. I will tell you that you have to acquire a taste for this place. It is chili over noodles covered with shredded cheese or chili over hot dogs covered with cheese or chili over a baked potato covered with cheese – you get the picture! In all of our times visiting Zach we have eaten there four times and I have yet to acquire the taste but Joe enjoys it.
Sunday was a beautiful day and we talked about going to the children’s museum but opted to spend the afternoon outside on the riverfront. It was a great choice! Downtown Cincinnati has done a great job in making their riverfront a special place to visit. The parks are beautiful! There are wonderful play areas for kids including a unique flying pig, which Cate loved. They also have a beautiful carousel in a glass building that overlooked the 
river. We all had fun riding the carousel. We walked along the river and enjoyed the flower beds still in bloom. We then walked a few blocks into downtown to have some Grater’s ice cream. If you go to Cincinnati you have to have Graters ice cream. Our day ended with tacos at Zach and Lauren’s and saying our good-byes since Cassie and Cate were flying back to MN in the morning and Joe and I were heading out on Tuesday. In six weeks we will see everyone again back in MN for Christmas and we know how fast time flies. We had a wonderful time in Ohio but were ready to head south.
We are currently in southern Illinois heading to Kansas to have a little work done on the Lifestyle the first of December. We are thinking of parking the 5th wheel in Oklahoma City over Christmas and driving back to MN. We will of course have to winterize which will be a first for us since we became full-timers but we are thinking this is our best option this year for spending Christmas north. We drove back once and said we’d never do it again but that was from California. This will be a much shorter trip. We’ll see how it works out. Maybe we’ll say never again once more.
Thanksgiving is around the corner and again I have to say we have so much to be thankful for. We are truly blessed for all we have; children, grandkids, friends, family, our lifestyle and our health.
Enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday! Stay safe! Love to our kids and Cate and Alex!