Quite the jumper

Mango aka Pina was hanging out with us in the yard last night, chewing on one of our bushes. I followed him when he walked down the gangway.

I was wondering how he'd get out of the yard with the gate closed but he just jumped up and went on his way to the neighbor's.

Buddies

Aw. Andy was skeeping in the recliner and August climbed up, sat on his lap and put his paw on Andy's hand.

Hershey Week 10

L had quite the week juggling work and visiting aunts (and me) and celebrating her 21st birthday. Bottoms up!

It was so good to see her.

Funny that while L was in Pennsylvania her birthday card from the Hotel Hershey arrived at the house.

Signed by all the managers.

While we were driving back to Chicago L posted this picture of her back at work. Cute outfit.

Random road trip

A selfie at Edgewater Beach in Cleveland.

At a Pennsylvania rest stop.

Our Hummelstown, Pa., airbnb welcomed us with bowls of Hershey chocolate.

The living room at the Hummelstown home ...

and kitchen.

Had to stop at Sheetz for gas. L goes to Sheetz a lot for gas and food.

Entering Amish country on Tuesday.

This the outfit L had us shopping for Monday night so she had U of I colors to wear to a networking event on Tuesday. She did end up talking to a merchandising manager and was told to email her so they could schedule a tour of the merchandise warehouse. L prefers retail over food service so this could be a good fit for her. They have merchandising internships but first ypu have to complete the internship L has now. Interesting.

Love the Hershey streetlights and the flower baskets.

L's first offical drink as a newly minted 21-year-old was this martini flight.

L thought these dolls dressed as Amish kids were a little creepy. I thought they were cute.

I enjoyed the Pennsylvania countryside.

Found this at a Reading crystal shop. Had to ask Andy if he wanted it for his office. He said no.

Christmas Story house

We checked out of our airbnb at 10 a.m. today and walked across the street to the Christmas Story gift shop to buy tickets for the guided tour. Our tour guide was Bill and he was quite entertaining.

The house looked just like the movie inside.

Cindy crawled under the kitchen sink just like Randy did.

There's the turkey the Bumpuses' dogs eventually ate, causing the family to go to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner.

They let us hold the leg lamp.

The Christmas tree had the Red Ryder BB gun beside it for Ralphie for the bowling ball for the dad.

Andy would love this.

The phone in the upstairs hall where Ralphie's mom talked to a friend's mom ...

and the sink where Ralphie then got his mouth washed out with soap. They were selling bars of Lifebuoy in the gift shop for $9.99.

The boys' bedroom.

Then we went into the museum where they had lots of props from the movie.

The toys from Higbee department store.

Randy's snowsuit.

The mom's robe.

The gift shop was pretty incredible.

I bought a leg lamp magnet and a bunny suit bottle opener. When you checked out the clerks said thank you and Merry Christmas.

So much to see. It was a fun stop.

Then it was back to Chicago.

Back to Cleveland

We left the mountains of Pennsylvania this morning to drive back to Cleveland for the night.

This is our airbnb just a few doors down from the Christmas Story house.

It was closed by the time we arrived but we did bet a passer-by to take our picture.

This is the Bumpuses (?) house where all the dogs lived in the movie.

We went for dinner at a restaurant on the Cuyahoga River near downtown.

Our view from the outdoor patio where we sat. Our waiter was great; the hostess was horrible. She barely greeted us. Food was good.

After dinner we drove downtown and walked around the Rock n Roll Museum. It was closed but there was a rap group performing on stage. Not my type of music ... and lots of pot-smoking happening.

Cleveland's skyline.

Sunset on Lake Erie.

We met one of Julie's former students at this ice cream shop which was on the same street where we had dinner Sunday night.

Group picture.

How cool is this? The Christmas Story house was all lit up when we returned to our airbnb. Even the leg lamp in the living room window was glowing.