Chrissy Hynde summed up my experience pretty well in the song My City Was Gone.

Downtown Toledo hasn't changed much since my last visit four years ago, but the town of Sylvania is growing like crazy. More and more housing developments are being planted in fields where corn and soybeans once grew.

My parents have put their house on the market and are packing up to move closer to my sister in North Carolina. Most of my mom's side of the family is still in or near Toledo. My cousin Derek and his family are now the only remaining Kieffers in Northwest Ohio, where my great great great grandfather first settled after coming from Germany in the 1820s.

This was Owen's first trip to Ohio and he and Ryan kept busy watching the squirrels and developing squirrel-like habits? Amy and I are still finding acorns in their pockets. We had a nice birthday dinner out to celebrate my sister's birthday and all of us spent an afternoon at the Toledo Zoo.

I was able to hang out with my Dad, Dominic, Derek, J., and Steve to watch a lot of the NCAA tournament and had breakfast with my old friend Brian Green, his wife Jean, and son Avery. Apologies to Tim and Molly in Cincinnati who I had planned on visiting before developing a bug (Hope you had a great time in NYC!).

Our trip back was smooth and we're happy to be away from the midwest's gray winter skies and under the bright blue sky of New Mexico. View picts from the trip.