A Fall Weekend in Ohio

 Let's see what I can spit out in 20 minutes on a Tuesday morning - it was a full weekend and yesterday I didn't crack open a book or my iPad to read blogs. . .I hit the ground running HARD.  Love our weekends away, but laundry and errands don't get done if we're not here :). 

Here we go - I'll link up with Holly and Sarah even though I'm a bit late to the party - maybe I'll have a few moments today to catch up with everyone else :)

I know "everybody" is saying "where did September go???" but, sincerely, "where did September go????"

My mother made the comment last time I was in Ohio about not seeing me again until Christmas.  We always try to get up there in the fall - it's the best time of the year in southwest OH!  We had a couple "free" weekends (I use that term loosely - luckily I don't have many weekends without plans) and gave a friend of the family the choice of which one she would be at home and she said the last weekend of September so plans were made, time taken off from work, and we were on our way at 12:07 p.m. on Friday.

I have been reading Maria's blog for years - she lives close to where I grew up so I connected to her that way, but also our kids are "about" the same ages - hers just a tad younger.  Most recently her daughter now lives in OUR area so there's that too.  We dipped our toes into the pool and tentatively started "talking".  When I told her we were going to SW OH last weekend we decided we'd like to meet but didn't made specific plans (Robert's fiancee is learning  that I like an outline, but don't need details - ha!) until that afternoon as we were traveling to Ohio - already a "sister" in my book!  Anyway, her writing is WAY better than mine so read about our evening here :). I can only add that I hope we have the chance to host her and Donnie in our home/city sometime and that we'll continue this friendship beyond blogland.  It was so.much.fun meeting someone and making all the connections.  It helped that Tom and I grew up in the area - Donnie and we overlapped a lot, but there were names she and I could connect too, just from the years I was in the area.  I miss the friends I made (and am still making apparently) in Ohio, just not the weather.  Ugh.

Here is our one-and-only picture - guess we aren't the best bloggers in that regard :/.  This was AFTER the Florida State/Virginia game - we were all invested in finishing it although none of us were rooting for one team or the other.  Who knew WE (Tennessee) would end up in OT the next day also???

I LOVED seeing the outdoor area that she blogged about all last year - it was as beautiful as all the pictures show.  Dinner was outstanding - Donnie cooked us steaks on his blackstone and Maria had salad, potatoes, and the BEST charcuterie board.  Thank you, thank you, Rineers, for the hospitality :)

Saturday morning was beautiful!!  We had made plans to meet my dad at Hidden Valley Farm at 10 a.m.  

We stayed about 2 1/2 hours - had a cup of coffee outside in the back, shopped the store, walked up to the sunflower patch (pick your own sunflowers!!), had some food, and visited the bakery.  A perfect outing together.  

From there we left to meet Tom's childhood friend, Jennifer, for a walk at Sugar Creek.  My watch says that I got almost 16K steps on Saturday!  

This is the one and only picture I got of them too!!  Ugh.  After we left Jennifer called to say we forgot to get a picture of the three of us. . .her house was on our way out of town so we stopped, but she wasn't there :(. Boo.  We'll for sure get one "next time".

We also stopped at Bill's Donuts while we were in the area - my mother used to live down the street from this iconic donut shop and misses them.  They've recently done a renovation and I snapped a picture to send to Maria since it was something we had talked about the previous evening.

We headed back to South Lebanon, Tom & Brian watched some football and I read my book and napped on their beautiful sunny back porch.  We got ready for dinner with my mom at the Golden Lamb.  This is how I drag Tom to Ohio with me - THE FOOD.  Really, the very best we've had (in the United States) is found in Dayton and north Cincinnati, in our opinion :)

And we (rudely) kept track of the game score during the meal - HOW were we in OT at this game???  Was it the cowbells??

Finished out the night with more football on a beautiful Ohio evening and a fire on our host's back porch - one of my favorite places to be :)

Sunday kicked off bright and early - I talked Tom into a walk around the neighborhood before hitting the road.  Look how close this deer was. . .I am NOT zooming in on this shot - I'm on the sidewalk!!  There were three, but this is the only one who stuck around once they saw us walking by with a dog.  I don't think I've ever been this close to a deer!

We left the house at 10 a.m. and were back home in time to get some things done around here; I also went on a solo shopping trip "just because".  Nothing exciting - a "this-and-that" at Marshall's and quick stop at Target. . .I rarely do this (shop because I want to), it just seemed like a relaxing thing to do to get ready for:

Susan's birthday dinner!!!  Her husband arranged it for her - we had such a GREAT time celebrating her milestone (and wearing the sash and crown made certain that everyone knew and could give her good wishes - ha!).  

I love these ladies we travel with so much.

Sweetwater, Cookeville, Knoxville, and Crossville - all came together to mark this special lady's birthday :). Thank you, Connie, for getting all these pictures!!

So. . .there you have it. . .my "quick" post (o.k., it took an hour but I fed the dogs while writing too).

Happy Tuesday - Happy Last Day of September!!

I snapped this great sunset last night while on the Pickleball court:

I'm really, really going to miss this season.

Love,

Jenni