May 2018 Trip

We went on vacation for the month of May to visit family and attend our granddaughter's high school graduation. We made a bit of a vacation out of it as well as our first stop was Gettysburg, PA. We talked for years about going to see the battlefields but never got there yet so on our way to IN to see our three granddaughters there, we stopped at Gettysburg to take a tour.

This is how I toured the battlefield.

 

 

 

Jerry's first time encountering a horse up close and personal. I never knew he never touched a horse until this day. 

 

 



Our hotel was amazing with the décor but they wouldn't let me bring the cannon home.

 

The stay was much too short to really see much but we had 3 beautiful granddaughters waiting for us to visit in IN.

Sammy, Lexi, and Christa with Jerry

 

It was so totally amazing to spend a little time with the girls. I didn't want to leave because it was just a few days and certainly not enough time to really spend with them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed and was thankful for every second we had with them but I still cried when it was time to go. I love them and missed them and that was even before we even got out of the state! My saving grace is knowing it is only for a little while and I will see them again in a year or two if all goes right.

 

Next stop is MS to see my dad. He is doing great for his age but time catches up with us all sooner or later.

 



So we spent a couple of days visiting dad and then went across to finally cross off the French Quarter, Louisiana off our bucket list.

 

Now I thought I would love this place but truth be told, I did not. First off, I couldn't breathe there. It was May so it wasn't like it was super hot or anything but the air there is so thick, it is like there is no oxygen in it. It is hard to explain but the other problem with the place is if you don't drink, there really isn't much to do. There are some nice restaurants around but I can't eat that much. The place is like bar after bar with little tourist traps in-between.

Luckily, I booked us on the tour, not only the French Quarter but other areas as well. Now that was interesting! All the architecture, history, and the rebuilding after Katarina was really interesting. We stopped at the park which is where the flowers (Brugs) I sent down went. At the park is where the garden is but we didn't have enough time to see it. We just ran into the park 'stop' to grab a drink and use the bathroom. Maybe one day we will go back just to see more of the areas we touched on during this tour.

So to sum it up, I am glad I went but I wouldn't go back to the French Quarter. Once was enough. I would be interested in seeing other things though, such as the park and other areas of LA. Maybe some day I will but now it was time to head to FL.

 

Daniel, Christina, Damien, and Willow came down to FL and met us there before the graduation. It was nice having the kids together again.

Funny thing is Mel and Willow are so close in size and looks, everyone kept mixing them up.

Graduation was nice but raining....actually, the whole time we were there it rained.

Before we left, I wanted to see an alligator so we went to the Everglades and I finally saw some.
 As if it isn't bad enough that it basically rained the whole time we were in FL, now there is a tropical storm/hurricane that insists on coming ashore in the south and going up the coast basically chasing us all the way home. So we left a little early to get a quick jump on it since the problem is the downpours make for nasty driving and with that much water, a lot of flooding as well.

I only got to see my brother in GA, Roy, for a couple of hours and then we had to head out to stay ahead of the rain.

 

A quick check of our property in NC and we were on our way home. I really missed my dogs and it was so nice to finally be home.

 

Although, it was May and I purposely had us going through tornado alley and even stayed in Tuscaloosa, I did not see any storms however the day after we left to start our trip, CT was hit by tornados. (Tornado alley went on record as being one of the most quietist season yet.) I figured at least in FL I could catch some nice thunderstorms however, it rained just about every single day and I did not see even 1 bolt of lightning. No thunderstorms!!! What the heck! When we left and didn't even make it to the border yet, I get text of funnel clouds were we were. Figures!!!

 

I come to the realization that I should not ever bother booking myself on one of those tornado chasing tours however Jerry insists he is going to rent me out to tornado alley so I can scare all the tornados away.

Pages of my trip to see my dad and brother

Aug. 28 - Sept. 6th, 2013

To start our trip, we picked up the car late on Tue. thinking we were going to leave early (by 4 am) on Wed. So we get the retal car and go to pay for our hardwood floors since they came in and don't you know the 'check engine' light comes on and won't go off. By this time the rental place was closed and didn't open until 7:30 in the morning. We did not rush ourself either to make sure to pick up my medication since we knew we had to be here in the morning because of the car so we just took our time back from the floor place and figured we would leave at 9 which gave us enough time to return the car and pick up my meds. Well, next morning we called the car rental and they thought it was just because it was close to the milage to get the oil changed so not to worry about it but if anything happened on our trip to call the 1-800 number and they will have a new car to us within an hour. Ok, no problem so we waited til just before 9 and left to get my medication and jump on the highway to start our trip. We get to the drugstore and they don't have any of my medication, it won't be in til noon. Now we go back home and wait until noon then go back so it ends up we left for our trip 1pm.

As if we weren't behind schedual enough, we run into this storm that was so bad that the winds were blowing branches off the trees and the rain so hard even though we were lucky enough to park at the rest stop, we couldn't see beyond the hood of the car. That lasted about another hour.

We didn't get no where near where we should have been but we spent the night in PA, we had enough. We got on the road early the next moring hoping to make up some distance. So off we go again and a bird flew right into the windshield and scared the heck out of us. We both thought it broke the windshield but it didn't thank goodness. (This is when we were on the highway going 65 so you can imagine it wasn't pretty.) This should have told us something was up but we kept going and we finally got out of PA and were so excited we got to VA but that was short lived. Once we got near Roanoke, VA we found they closed the hightway and we had to take a detour. Now this isn't too bad you would think only there was one problem....there was only ONE road that could be used because VA don't believe in side streets so everyone was on that road. It was a three hour detour. (The reason for the highway was closed is because they were doing some construction and I guess they used a little too much dynamite and side of the highway fell across the highway.) Needless to say, again we didn't get as far as we wanted and just pushed ourselves until we got to TN and spent the night.

The following day the drive wasn't too bad and we got to Hattiesburg around 4 (5 to us but this is a different time zone). We grabbed some things to eat and just spent the rest of the night relaxing. The following two days I spent visiting my dad. Oh it was so wonderful to see him! He is doing really well (he is 82 and has diabeties) but naturally he has aged since I last saw him 15 years ago. We had a wonderful time talking and he said he will try and come up to CT to see us next. (It is so hot here, I think I melted some.) It was really sad to say goodbye and leave there but I am just so glad I came. It was worth all the hassles. Now on to GA to see my brother.

Boy! Alma, GA is sure in the middle of nowhere. It was so good to see my brother.

After spending the day with him (and seeing him before we left) it was time to head on home. It was basically a slow uneventful ride. We stopped in NC to check on our property and it is just as beautiful as the day we bought it. It was nice to be home with the dogs...I missed them so much.