In the middle of the night, in the middle of suburban Wilmette, we were startled awake by the cries of a coyote. Kamrin thought it was a screaming baby or some other distressed animal, but I had heard the cry before. A little Googling once we got up confirmed that Wilmette actually has a Coyote Warning in effect. Who would have ever guessed that we’d finally hear that famous cry so far away from American Southwest.
Despite the nocturnal interruption Kodi treated us well and we despite not having the electricity plugged in we managed just fine. We showered in the house and then locked it up for the last time. Goodbye Wilmette.
We decided to take one last spin through nearby Gilson Park and down by the Wallace Amphitheater before officially hitting the road. And no Wilmette send off would be complete without visiting the mother of all pancake houses Walker Brother’s. Matt and Hannah met us for some breakfast and we feasted on Butch Babies and French Toast.
Heading out of town we pulled through Evanston to get some paperwork notarized. The roads were seriously narrow and it was a fair bit of driving that got us out of there with out a scratch.
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As if that challenge wasn’t enough, the road construction and detours we navigated to get south of town were mind boggling. Suffice it to say when it was all behind us I had to stretch my hands out after the white knuckled driving conditions. We continued down around the horn of Lake Michigan and headed due east towards Cleveland. Not wanting to miss a chance to add another state to the list we drove north a few miles off the expressway to grab a quick lunch in Michigan.
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The driving was pretty easy after lunch and the traffic was light. So we pulled into our destination with plenty of daylight to spare. Kamrin’s cousin Meghan and her husband Paul live outside of Cleveland and we just pulled Kodi up outside their house and brought our stuff in. Their kids Sophie, Luke and Greer were playing out in the yard when we pulled up. Before long Luke and Sophie were talking our ears off with all kinds of fascinating kids stuff as they climbed into and played in the bed of Paul’s truck.
Paul grilled us up some burgers as we played downstairs with the kids in their basement playroom. This is a piece of childhood that most kids in Florida don’t get to experience due to our high ground water table. So it was cool hanging out in a proper playroom.
Once the kids slowed down enough for us to get a good look at them it was clear that they had really grown, even since the last pictures we had seen of them. They were still kids after all and when it came for bed time Kamrin was called in for story time duties.
Kamrin listened attentively as Sophie read about the Lama Lama Red Pajama and helped Meghan tuck everyone in.
We had a bit of adult time in the kitchen and it was fun getting to know Paul and Meghan. It is too bad they live so far away because it would be nice to see them more often than we do. Paul had an early morning departure for work so we all took the chance to knock off early and we were grateful for a read bed and nice clean sheets.