April 30, 2016, in which we take our gender expression on the road.

Today's leg of the journey took us from Washington, PA, to Carmel, IN to visit with my aunt and uncle, Judy and George.  I always think of them as the part of my family that recently moved to Indiana, but it turns out they have been here for 19 years now, so I guess it is going to stick!

After a surprisingly restful night in a hotel room, we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast before hitting the road.  Bear sported his Rainbow Dash dress, and I noticed that we have traveled far enough from the coast that this was met with disapproving looks rather than high-fives from strangers.  Whatever, Pennsyltucky, we are headed to San Francisco, which may turn out to be Bear's natural homeland.

Our first stop was the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum in Wheeling, WV.  We stopped here during our last road trip and it was a huge hit, so we were excited to be able to stop again. The highlights include a row of pinball machines, giant model train layouts, and an amusement park made of K'nex.  Also, despite it being a Saturday, there was literally only one other museum patron in there the whole time we were there.  

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The "Girl Train." Seriously?

Daily art shot.

We're settling in to our road-trip lifestyle.  We had a much better set-up in terms of stuff in the van today, including more important items within reach of the navigator, and fewer important items within reach of Bear.  I arranged a bolster for under Bear's pillow so he was able to sleep in a more comfortable position, and Benjamin arranged various power cords so he was able to watch Octonauts on the iPad. Pre-Bear Mali would have been totally against this screen time situation, but current Mali loves quiet and driving more than 3/4 of a mile before someone asks for a snack.  

Octonauts to your stations!

Bear ended up sleeping a decent portion of the drive to Carmel, so Benjamin and I were able to listen to the audiobook version of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Otherwise I don't have a book I'm reading right now, which is strange for me while I'm traveling.  (Suggestions are welcome.)

After a long, rainy drive that saw the hills of Pennsyltucky give way to the flat vastness that is Indiana, we got to George and Judy's where we were greeted by their collection of bears.  Bear promptly began rearranging the bears, the current status of which has been described as Bear-pocalypse.  We had a lovely dinner with George and Judy and George reprised his role as youngest uncle to give Bear some piggy back rides.