Day Sixteen: Salem, Virginia to Livonia, Michigan

Our last day of vacation is over! After breakfast at the Hampton Inn in Salem, Virginia, we decided to take the scenic route home. Instead of the Interstate, we cut across Virginia and West Virginia on Route 60. This was a very nice twisting road through the mountains that reminded all of us of Colorado. The weather was great, sunny and warm, but dropping down to the lower 70's up in the mountains. The only bit of rain today was in Ohio, and it was brief. While we were in West Virginia, we stopped at Gauley Bridge, a great waterfall that we had visited a few years back. It was just as we remembered it...only more crowded. We stayed for an hour, took a bunch of pictures, and had a nice Subway lunch. From there we made our way to Interstate 77 and headed for Ohio. Our only stop was for gas (Speedway), dinner (Olive Garden), and state line photos (Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan). We threatened to stop at Dairy Queen at one point for dessert...but it never happened. Their loss. We arrived at home at 9:30pm, just as the sun was setting. We took our usual welcome home photo in the dark and unloaded the van. We came home a day early because Joshua needs some emergency churching. Besides that, we're all happy to be home again. It's nice to have another day off before work on Monday. Can't wait to see the family.


License Plates spotted: Utah, Delaware

Day Fifteen: Fort Mill, South Carolina to Salem, Virginia

After the long day at Carowinds yesterday, everyone slept in a bit this morning.  Since we didn't have a lot of miles planned for today, we took our time getting going.  We skipped breakfast at the Best Western and headed for Dunkin' Donuts.  Before we got there we stopped at the North Carolina border for a quick photo.  After breakfast we gassed up and grabbed some Subway sandwiches for a picnic lunch for later in the day.  From there we headed up Interstate 77 and hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is a beautiful drive that we've done before.  We stopped after an hour to eat our picnic lunch and take a nice hike.  It was a warm day, so we only hiked a little more than a mile before everyone was tired.  After lunch we winded our way towards our hotel in Salem, Virginia, stopping only for a quick photo at the state line.  We hit rain while we were up in the mountains, but nothing too bad.  We arrived at the hotel at 5:30pm, dropped off our luggage, then headed to Golden Corral for an excellent buffet dinner.  This family loves it's buffet dinners.  Back at the Hampton Inn, we swam for an hour then headed to the room to watch the Olympics.  It's an early night.  Tomorrow we drive home.

Day Fourteen: Carowinds

We had a great day at Carowinds today.  After a quick breakfast at the Best Western we arrived at the park just after the gates opened.  It was hot and humid, but the park was almost empty, so we got a lot of rides in.  Among the many coasters we hit were the Intimidator, the Vortex, the Gold Rusher, Afterburn, the Hurler, Ricochet, Thunder Road, Nighthawk, and the Carolina Cobra.  We also rode Windseeker, the Scrambler, the Yo Yo, the Rip Roarin' Rapids, Whitewater Falls, and the Boo Blasters.  It was a perfect day for the water park, and we spent a couple hours in the wave pool, the lazy river, and on the water slides.  We left the park tired and hungry, so it was pizza at the hotel and off to bed.  Tomorrow we head for the mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Day Thirteen: Savannah, Georgia to Fort Mill, South Carolina

We really hated leaving the Hampton Inn in Savannah this morning. Easily one of the most spectacular hotel rooms we've ever stayed in. Oh well, off to a faceless Best Western in South Carolina. We slept in this morning, barely getting down to the lobby by 10:00am in time for our breakfast. Before we left Savannah, we visited the downtown area. It was really hot and humid, and worst, Josh was really crabby, so we only spent an hour or so checking out the Riverwalk. Seemed nice, but we didn't have enough time to see much of anything. The drive to our hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina was a relatively short one, and after only stopping for a state line photo (South Carolina), lunch (Cracker Barrel) and snacks (Shell), we pulled in to the Best Western at 4:30pm. First order of business on this 100 degree day was swimming at the fabulous outdoor pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves for the first hour, so an intense cannonball competition broke out immediately. I checked out a huge record store near the hotel for a couple hours while the boys finished swimming, then it was off to dinner at Shoney's. The food was just ok, but the hot fudge sundae ruled. Tomorrow we do some more roller coasting at Carowinds...

License Plates spotted: Connecticut, West Virginia

Day Twelve: Panama City, Florida to Savannah, Georgia

Up early this morning for a long day of driving. We skipped the hotel breakfast and headed for Dunkin' Donuts. It was messy eating in the van...but worth it. We made a couple long stops today: Costco (for water), the mall (for baseball hats), a record store (just to browse), and the Circle K (for gas). Because of all the stops , we didn't get to Savannah until 7:30pm. No chance to visit the city, just time to eat and swim. We'll check it out tomorrow before we head to Charlotte.

License Plate spotted: Massachusetts

Day Eleven: New Orleans, Lousiana to Panama City, Florida

We said goodbye to New Orleans this morning after a quick breakfast at the Hilton. Back on the road we hit eastbound Interstate 10 and headed for Florida. Josh asked dozens of hurricane-related questions today. I guess the movie yesterday really got him thinking about storms, floods, and evacuations. We spent the whole day reassuring him that we weren't going to get hit by a hurricane, cyclone, tornado, typhoon or tsunami. That said, it was creepy passing by entire districts that obviously hadn't been rebuilt since Katrina. We passed Six Flags New Orleans just outside of town, now abandoned. The site of beautiful roller coasters falling down was a bummer. Before too long the sun was shining and that cheered us up. We took some nice state line photos at the Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida borders. The clouds threatened several times, but we never saw rain until late in the day. We drove along the Gulf of Mexico for a couple hours, passing through a bunch of resort towns. They all looked great, but we continued on to Panama City. We arrived at the Quality Inn at 5:30pm, and it started to rain. No swimming (pool was gross anyway) so we headed off to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner. After dinner we walked the beach and watched the sunset. The beach was rather disgusting, but the sunset was spectacular. We shot many photos. Tomorrow we're off to Savannah...

License Plate spotted: Nevada

Day Ten: New Orleans

We had a fun, busy day in New Orleans today.  Thanks to our ultra-exclusive Gold Member Hilton Honors status, we were invited to a continental breakfast on the 29th floor of the New Orleans Hilton.  It sounds great, doesn't it?  Well, it's the same stuff we get every day at the lowly Hampton Inn.  The food was ok, and the view was spectacular.  After breakfast we headed across the street to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.  This was a pretty cool aquarium.  We enjoyed the sharks, the sea otters, the poison dart frogs, the manta rays, the penguins, and the tropical birds.  After lunch we saw an IMAX movie about Hurricane Katrina's affects on the Louisiana Bayou.  It was pretty sad seeing what happened.  After the movie, we checked out the Butterfly Garden and Insectarium.  Lots and lots of bugs, living and dead.  The boys loved the ant exhibit.  Jennifer hated the spiders.  All of them.  Everyone enjoyed the butterfly house.  Afterwards, Jennifer and the boys headed back to the room to cool off while I checked out a couple more record stores.  Tomorrow we head off to Florida and if the weather cooperates...the beach.

Day Nine: Houston, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana

For the first time, we skipped the free breakfast and headed to Denny's.  Well, it wasn't much better.  We were up early today and on the road by 9:00am.  It was already 86 degrees.  No stops other than lunch (Gatti's Pizza) and gas (Pilot).  After several sunny days, we finally hit rain again.  Just as we got into Lafayette, Louisiana, it started to pour, monsoon-style.  The heavy rain lasted 30 minutes or so and before long the sun returned for the rest of the day.  We crossed Lake Ponchartrain on the 24 mile long Lake Ponchartrain Causeway.  Traffic in New Orleans wasn't too bad.  We found the New Orleans Hilton-Riverside pretty easy.  It's a pretty nice hotel, but not really that nice.  We're staying in a $200 a night room, but thanks to the Hilton Honors rewards program, our stay is free.  After checking in and seeing everything that was going on around the hotel, we decided to stay an extra night instead of heading to Biloxi tomorrow.  After checking in we walked to the French Quarter to find something to eat.  Let's just say it was an eye-opener for Justin and Josh.  Justin couldn't wait to get out of there.  We found the Hard Rock Cafe and had a nice (loud) dinner.  Back at the hotel the boys swam in the chilly outdoor pool for an hour before we headed back to the room for bed.  Tomorrow we check out the Aquarium and a cool-looking insect museum.

License Plates spotted: Washington, Connecticut, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Day Eight: New Braunfels to Houston, Texas

Back on the Texas highway this morning.  We left New Braunfels at 9:45am and headed south to San Antonio.  What a great town!  Our first stop was the Alamo.  The Alamo is located right in downtown San Antonio amongst the skyscrapers.  You'd never know it was there if you weren't looking for it.  We spent an hour or so checking out the grounds.  Fortunately, the Alamo is now air conditioned, because it was HOT outside.  We also spent some time walking the amazing Riverwalk.  The river is basically a series of canals that run around the downtown area.  Both sides of the river are lined with restaurants and shops.  The whole Riverwalk is lined with trees, so it was a perfect way to beat the heat of the day.  It's exactly what I imagine Venice to be like.  Unfortunately, we didn't stay long enough to grab a canal boat ride.  Maybe next time.  On our way out of town I stopped at a cool little record store called Hogwild Records & Tapes.  I bought a couple LP's and a nice t-shirt and we were on our way to Houston.  For lunch, we stopped at an amazing truck/travel stop called Buc-ee's.  This was the largest truck stop we'd ever seen.  They had everything you could want when on the road.  The food was great.  Justin and I got a deli sandwich, Jennifer got a burrito and Josh got chicken and fries.  The place was PACKED.  There must have been 500 people in the store while we were there.  I hope we stop at another while we're in Texas.  I'll shoot some photos.  Our first stop in Houston was Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.  Josh got a hat and t-shirt for his collection, and we shot a bunch of pictures.  The stadium was built onto an old Union Pacific train station, which was kind of cool, but overall it didn't look as nice as the Rangers stadium in Arlington.  From there we drove to our hotel near the airport in Houston.  The outdoor pool is small but warm.  The boys spent an hour splashing around before we headed off to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  We're headed to bed now, since we have a LONG drive to Louisiana tomorrow...

License Plates spotted: Maryland, Kansas, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Day Seven: Schlitterbahn

What a great day!  After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed to Schitterbahn, the largest water park in the world.  Schlitterbahn is German for "slippery road."  We arrived at the park at around 10am and stayed until 6:30pm.  The weather was hot, but there was plenty of shade and a nice breeze all day.  The park has hundreds of slides, pools, and other water adventures.  We tried as many as we could in one day.  These are not your average waterpark water slides, either.  The first lazy river we tried was called Raging River.  From start to finish it takes 45 minutes to complete!  Besides that, the river featured crazy rapids and waterfalls.  The path twisted and turned throughout the whole water park, over and under the other slides.  It actually ran thru buildings.  Amazing.  Justin and I rode a couple excellent water coasters, the Master Blaster and the Dragon's Revenge.  Josh loved the The Torrent river and the Lagoon.  Jennifer's favorite was the Lava Lagoon and the River Bend.  This was definitely our favorite waterpark, and everyone wants to come back someday.  Too much to see and do in one day.  Tomorrow we visit San Antonio on our way to Houston.

License Plate spotted: Montana

Day Six: Arlington, Texas to New Braunfels, Texas

Back on the road again this morning.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed for downtown Dallas.  We stopped at Dealey Plaza, site of the Kennedy assasination.  It was surreal standing on the exact spot that it happened almost 50 years ago.  The traffic in the area is very heavy, and only a few tourists walking around.  I was surprised there wasn't more of a memorial in the area, just a small plaque on the sidewalk designating the plaza a National Historic Site.  We walked the whole area and took a bunch of photos.  The photo above was taken from the exact pedestal that Abraham Zapruder stood on when he shot the most famous film of the assassination.  Here again, there was no marker indicating that this was the exact spot that he stood and shot the most famous 8mm footage in history.  After walking the plaza, we headed up to the 6th Floor Museum.  In 1963, this was the School Book Depository Building where Lee Harvey Oswald changed history.  The 6th floor now houses a very nice walk-through museum and tribute to JFK.  We all enjoyed the very moving program.  Josh asked lots of good questions.  The rest of our day was spent driving south to New Braunfels, Texas.  We arrived at our hotel at 5:30pm and headed for the pool right away.  The weather looked iffy, so we wanted to get our swim in.  We ended up swimming for a couple hours.  Josh is getting better and better every day!  We're headed to Olive Garden for dinner, and back to the Hampton Inn for early bed.  Tomorrow we hit the greatest water park in the world.

License plate spotted: San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Day Five: Six Flags Over Texas

We had a nice sunny day at Six Flags Over Texas.  It was hot, but never horrible.  After breakfast at the hotel, we rode a shuttle over to the park a mile away.  Lots of riding for the boys, not much for Jennifer.  We started with the El Sombrero and a Slurpee for Josh.  The roller coasters included the New Texas Giant, the Shock Wave, The Runaway Mine Train, Batman: The Ride, Judge Roy Scream and Titan.  All were fun.  We got wet on the Roaring Rapids and dried off on the Gunslinger.  Josh drove for the first time on the Chaparral Antique Cars and we all enjoyed the view from the Oil Derrick Tower.  We didn't close the park down, but we had a good time for several hours in 95 degree heat.  After the shuttle ride back to the hotel, Justin and I napped while Jennifer and Josh swam in the pool.  Tomorrow we're off to Austin and New Braunfels to check out Schlitterbahn.

Day Four: Arkadelphia, Arkansas to Arlington, Texas

Great weather for our fourth day on the road.  Another breakfast at the motel before hitting I-40 westbound towards the Texas state line.  The only stops on this sunny Monday were for lunch (Arby's) and gas (Pilot).  Not sad to leave Arkansas behind, there just wasn't much there for this family of four.  We managed a nice photo at the Texas state line, and once west of Texarkana it was time for Justin to grab the wheel.  He drove for around an hour.  He passed as many cars and trucks as passed him.  Semi-white knuckle as we approached Dallas...but he did a great job.  Jennifer clutched her pillow from the backseat and prayed.  Traffic through Dallas was what I would consider light for a major city.  We arrived at the Hampton Inn Arlington to check in at 3:00pm.  After dropping off our luggage, we headed to the Texas Ranger's ballpark only a mile away.  Joshua has been collecting baseball hats and wanted a Rangers hat for his collection.  He found a nice red one to go with a red Rangers t-shirt.  After shopping we went searching for a great Texas-style steak dinner.  We found it at the Salt Grass Steakhouse right near our hotel.  Everyone had a different steak dish, and all were happy.  Jennifer had a bit of a headache, so we let her relax at the hotel while the rest of us hit the batting cages.  The boys did real well for their first time hitting in the cage.  After that we spent another hour playing a game of baseball in a nice park we found nearby.  From there it was back to the hotel to hook up with Jennifer and try the pool out.  It was the best one we've had on this trip.  90 minutes later we were all tired.  Tomorrow we finally conquer the coasters at Six Flags Over Texas.  The boys are very excited.  Jennifer, not so much.

License Plates spotted: Alaska, Oklahoma

Day Three: Dickson, Tennessee to Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Another day of high adventure!  Another day of occasional rain, sometimes heavy, sometimes misty, we spent our 17th wedding anniversary in Arkansas, of all places.  Everyone slept in a bit, so our day started with breakfast at the motel in Dickson, Tennessee.  It was just ok, as usual.  We didn't get on the road until 9:45am, which was fine because we didn't have any real plans for the day.  Our first stop was Memphis, Tennessee.  We rode a monorail across the Mississippi River to Mud Island, a nice park right downtown.  Everyone enjoyed the ride.  It wasn't crowded at all for a summer weekend.  On the island we checked out a 3 dimensional miniature replica of the entire Mississippi River.  It was fun, but a bit hot out to really enjoy everything.  Still, we spent a couple hours out of the van, so that was nice.  The rain began after we got into Arkansas.  Another impossible state line sign, so we settled for a quick shot as we drove by.  Everything about Arkansas has been almost comically unimpressive.  The roads are in bad shape, the weather has stunk, the rest stop bathrooms are disgusting, and the traffic was terrible.  We got stuck in a bumper to bumper jam that had us stopped cold on I-40 at one point.  I had plenty of time to get out of the van and shoot a bunch of pictures it was so bad.  We lost an hour to that one.  When we got near Little Rock the sun finally popped delivering a splendid double rainbow.  That's the lone redeeming thing that has happened in Arkansas so far.  We stopped to find some water shoes for Justin and baseball hats for Joshua.  We found the shoes but struck out on the baseball hats.  We'll try again for those tomorrow.  Dinner was Pizza Hut, followed by dessert at McDonald's.  The pool at the Hampton Inn was warm, but crowded and noisy.  Tomorrow we ramble on to Dallas, Texas.  If the sun is shining we'll get Justin behind the wheel.

License Plates spotted: Lousiana, New Mexico, California, Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, Quebec, Canada

"Pizza Huts"

Here in Arkansas, they store their pizzas in what the natives call a "pizza hut". Tonight, we are dining inside of one of these fascinating "pizza huts".







Here, we see the interior of the "pizza hut". The natives are seen speaking in tongues.







The children of Arkansas tell the story of their families through these traditional wall drawings.





Here, the tribal leader (wearing a colorful red outfit) talks "story" with a fellow Arkansan.





As an aid to all visitors, the natives post signs as a guide to their ancient dialect.





Fortunately, they had spaghetti on the menu. We're sick of pizza...

Standstill on I-40

Welcome to Arkansas

The boys are looking for Arkansas barking frogs...

Daily Patrick Family activity planning meeting has commenced.

Day Two: Indianapolis, Indiana to Dickson, Tennessee

Quite a bit of rain fell on Joshua's 8th Birthday, but it didn't slow us down at all.  He started his special day by opening some birthday presents.  He was happy to get his own laptop, a video game, and a set of baseball cards (among other things).  After an average free breakfast at the hotel, we headed across town to the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  I'm not positive, but I thought I saw Justin wipe away tears of joy and whisper "Here at last, here at last.  Thank God almighty, I'm here at last."  His joy was shared by all, no doubt.  Once inside the track, we hopped on a tour bus and cruised around the track at a speed that most certainly would not have impressed Ray Harroun, or anyone with a pulse for that matter.  It was still fun.  The rain held off until we hit southbound Interstate 65 headed for the Kentucky line.  The "Welcome to Kentucky" sign's location was deemed hazardous to our safety, so we skipped the photo op.  Lunch was Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Go figure.  We arrived at Mammoth Cave with 25 minutes to spare before our scheduled 1:30pm "Historical Tour" adventure.  Everyone had a great time.  It was nice and cool underground.  We didn't spot any bats...but we shot a bunch of cool pictures anyway.  When we emerged from our tour we were greeted by hot, sunny blue skies!  We grabbed a batch of Frozen Coke's and headed off towards Nashville.  We were able to take a nice photo at the Tennessee state line just before the rain began again.  It rained pretty hard for a couple hours, so our tour of Nashville consisted of a traffic jam and a visit to Grimey's New and Preloved Records.  From there we headed west to Dickson, Tennessee and the Hampton Inn.  The hotel is nice and once again the pool was warm.  We picked up pizza from a place called Gatti's in town and took it back to our room.  Everyone's tired so it's off to bed.  Tomorrow we cross the mighty Mississippi and venture into Arkansas.

Goodnight.

License plates spotted: Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Nebraska

We swim.

When in Kentucky...

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Day One: Livonia, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana

We had a nice first day of vacation.  After our traditional driveway photo we headed down I-96 in search of fun and adventure.  Thanks to a couple minor detours courtesy of an inaccurate AAA Trip-Tik, we pulled into the Hampton Inn in Indianapolis at 6:30pm.  Our only stops (other than the one to stare at the map on the side of the road) were for a quick photo at the Indiana state line, and a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Our hotel is nice, and the indoor pool was refreshing.  Dessert was Cold Stone Creamery, a routine sure to be repeated several times over the next 15 days.  Tomorrow we visit the happiest place on earth...

Once again, Justin and Joshua are spotting license plates.  Today they saw Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsyslvannia, Wisconson, Oregon, Florida, Maine, Iowa, Virginia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Ontario, Canada.

Dessert

Naturally...

Dinner stop

They keep their crackers in barrels here...

Nap Time

So it begins...