The Long Journey to Home and Back Again

Random Illinois sighting of the week: A man, who was dressed like a cowboy with a neon yellow vest, was picking trash off the side of a main road with one hand while he held onto a horse that was walking behind him with the other. Just another day in Olney.

I said to Amanda last night the the more time we spend here in the middle of nowhere, the more I like the idea of eventually living in a small town like this. That being said though, coming home this past weekend made me more aware of how much I do miss everyone back in PA. It was great to see everyone and catch up on everything we have missed. The best part about seeing our friends and family this weekend was hearing all of your positive feedback regarding what we are doing. Your encouraging words just reinforce that we are doing the right thing by embarking on this adventure. So thank you once again for your support. Also, thank you Dave and Emily for driving us around all weekend after we made our 11 hour overnight trip from Olney, IL to Ephrata, PA. Let me tell you though, Amanda was a trooper, she drove over 7 hours of the trip from Olney to just over the border of PA. Amanda O'Malley: Machine.

The main event of the weekend was the Rebel Race. It was supposed to be an intense mud run, but there was one problem: No mud. Leave it to New Jersey to host a mud run without mud. There was more dust than mud and more calisthenics than obstacles. Needless to say we were disappointed by the course, but we are still thankful that Dave Saul organized it (and let us crash at his place the night before). It gave us a good excuse to come home, spend time with people, and get a little dirty in the process. Well worth the trip.

What we expected

What we got

We started the drive back to Olney on Sunday morning with the intention of stopping in Indianapolis to watch the Flyers game. We didn't quite make it that far since I woke up late and delayed us by an hour. Oops. It all worked out though, because our stop in Dayton, OH was the best part of the drive. We found what we thought would be a sports bar just off of Route 70, but it turned out to be more of a biker bar than a sports bar. Just picture Amanda and I waltzing into a biker bar filled with grizzled, burly, and otherwise intimidating looking creatures; we were clearly out of our element. There was no time to turn around though, it was game time and I was willing to risk my well-being to watch the Flyers. I had to ask the bartender to change the channel on one of the TVs, since apparently hockey isn't a must-see sport in Dayton. Thankfully, the game ended up being action packed and filled with fights, so the bikers were getting into it. By the end of the game we were chatting it up with all the locals, and more importantly we left unharmed.

We made it safely back to Olney and are currently working through the week to get to the weekend. This weekend we'll be heading to a Blues and Bluegrass Festival near Evansville, IN. I'm sure it will be an interesting experience with an eclectic crowd. Be sure to check in to see how that all goes.