Too bad vacations end!

We had a great time relaxing up in the cooler weather of Bristol, VA last week with Bob's mom and dad. Very pretty country out in Tennessee and western Virginia to say the least...I was surprised at how nice northern Alabama was as well once you start to hit the foothills of the Smokies north of Birmingham. My only complaint was the stretch of I-10 just east of Beaumont that was shut down to one lane on a Friday afternoon before a holiday. And when I say one lane, I mean one lane for BOTH directions. We moved only a few miles in an hour as the traffic alternated between west and east bound over that one lane. Pure genius on someone's part...luckily that genius was not the one on duty when we came back through because the traffic flowed smoothly.

Jack held up like a trooper. 2 days of 7-9 hour car rides going there and coming back are a lot for anyone, but especially an 18-month old. It helped if one of us sat in the back passenger seat next to him for some entertainment value, as did an occasional viewing of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and the Incredibles.

We went to Bays Mountain National Park in Tennessee one morning, which was gorgeous. They have some small animal exhibits that were great for Jack. The other highlight was the Bristol 4th of July parade (held on the 5th?). We got there 15 mins before the parade started and still got a great spot up front along the street.



Small town parades are a lot of fun because of the smaller crowds. Jack got a bird's eye view of the floats, fire trucks, and other noisy vehicles coming down the main drag through town. Trying to attend a parade in downtown Houston would be maddening...you'd have to arrive hours in advance and still probably wouldn't get a good view of the street. Plus, for a pregnant woman, it was nice to be able to locate a bathroom quickly after the parade had finished! Jack waved at everything...

Haley, our dachshund, went to the "Pet Hotel and Spa", or my parent's house as Bob likes to call it, for some R&R while we were gone....as if she doesn't get enough R&R napping all day?

The only downside to vacations is that they end and it's catch up time back in the daily grind :)