Day 1 - GGLT

The morning started with good conversation with the Brand relatives. We chatted with Aunt Sis, and cousins Charlotte, Sam, and Mike who stopped by. Mike and his brothers farm thousands of acres around Glasgow and the surrounding towns. Mike took Mark on a trip to see the flooding around Glasgow, and Mark took the camera.  He got a shot of the river that Stella had to cross every morning to go to school. The story is that their boat had holes in it, and they had to use an old coffee can to dip the water out as they crossed.  Mom and her two brothers wanted the water to be too rough so Grandpa would have to drive them around on the roads.  The river is a little high from the floods, but here's the shot:

When they got back, Mike met his new friend Frankie.

We were supposed to be in Columbia at noon to meet the McCoskeys and get this trip on the road. Yes, pun intended! Well, we left Glasgow - right on Goulding time - at noon.


We finally made it to Columbia. Lisa had texted that they were at Exit 124. Oops, we missed and got off on 125, so they came to meet us.  We stopped at a hotel at that exit, and the desk worker came outside to take our pic. AND SO, GGLT OFFICIALLY BEGINS...with Frankie in tow!  Don't we all look great in those t-shirts? Although it doesn't show, Frankie has his own GGLT shirt!

Our first stop was to be the Worlds Largest Bottle of Catsup, and somehow we missed it! That's okay though because we'll catch it on the rebound. We broke out the license plate bingo and scavenger hunt #1. And, in doing so, found out that neither Lisa nor Luke reads directions! (Those at the top of the page telling how to play the game and/or the rules.) We also heard comments such as "What did you see?", "I'm so excited that I can't even take my shoes off!", and "Does IHOP count for (finding) Country Kitchen?"  We had to call a temporary stop to the games so those in the Goulding van could all take naps. Well, except for Mark, the driver, of course!


Mark woke me up about an hour later trying to figure out where we were. Thought we were on the way to the Giant Bowling Pin. Oops - U-turn and back to the interstate. There was another side trip into West Terre Haute. It was a scene out of Deliverance! Destroyed (and plenty that should be) houses, three dead possums within 10 feet, a gravel road, Delusional Delilah (our Garin) guiding us into the river - you get the picture. If not, here's the best house on the road. You may not be able to see it, but there is a man under the house waving at us. (I was laughing so hard at this point I was crying and doubled-over!)

Thankfully, after reprogramming Delilah, we found our way out and made it to the Giant Bowling Pin!

And, of course, Frankie got his shot with cuz Lisa and Emily.

We had an awesome dinner at the Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill and Margarita Bar (rated #10 of 38 by tripadvisor.com - and we totally agree!). I can vouch for the awesome margarita! There, we played pass-the-ice-cream. We had four cups of ice cream and 10 spoons so we rotated around the table. Sort of like playing Hot Potato when you're a kid.  We also ALL had to visit the restroom as an entertaining side bar. When you exited the ladies restroom, there was a sign on the inside of the door saying "Men" and vice versa for the men's restroom. Mark was the first to find this and he and David were just happy to see urinals in the room they went into. Cuz Lisa missed the sign...twice!


So, here we are, tucked into our hotel rooms and can consider the day a success and the first day of creating some really fun family memories.


Wish all of you were here!!!!