The End is Drawing Near.....

Yesterday morning Mark and I did a little more exploring of Nashville and decided it was definitely another city that we would like to come back to when we had more time.

                                                This is the what used to be the Grand Ole Opry.

 

 

 

 Taylor Swift's apartment building and Jane standing outside of it.  She owns the entire top floor.

                                              The St. Louis Arch on the way to Columbia.

We drove seven hours to Columbia, MO to Tom and Kelly's house.  It was fun to see them, their new house, the chickens and especially the DOGS!  The kids love their dogs. 

Today we a had leisurely morning in Columbia and hit the road around noon to head north to Minnesota.

Once again, I have to applaud my traveling team.  They did a fantastic job.  There were many long drives and we could go for hours without hearing a peep from the rear of the van.  We tried to be as understanding as possible when the fighting and bickering would start, it was expected after that much "together" time.

Some observations from this journey:

1.  I love my family.
2. I am thankful that we have the means to do these trips every summer, I hope that it will create lasting memories.
3. People in the southern part of the United States are very friendly and welcoming, and that is appreciated by me!  I am a good customer service freak!
4. Our children are growing up at lightening speed.  That is exciting in some aspects and frightening in others.
5. Our girls are becoming strong and independent and I hope they always need their Mom.
6. Everyone's idea of a beach vacation destination is not the same.
7. Even after our long winter, I think I still appreciate the change of seasons.
8. You can have an idea in your mind of what a destination is going to be from other peoples opinions or things you see on TV, but until you see it for yourself, you never really know.  We were surprised both good and bad this trip.  New Orleans and Nashville were way more than expected.  Myrtle Beach was way less.
9. "Fresh, made to order donuts are something you need to eat to believe."-Jane
10. "I think the driving is the best part."-Thomas
11. "I loved riding my Nickel board in Florida"-Teddy
12. " The food was good."-Rose
13. Sometimes the smell of a clean public restroom is a welcome smell.
14. We consumed enough calories each day for 12 people.

We traveled to nine new states this trip, bringing our total now to 38.  We only have 10 left, unless we decide to add Alaska and Hawaii!
Next year we will return to the East, but we will be in far northern New England.  It has been decided by the whole family that we will not make as many stops.  We will just drive east, rent a house and stay. 

Thank you to Grandma for letting us use her van it treated us well and we will clean it before we bring it back!

A HUGE thank you to Mike and Davina once again for staying at our house with our dogs.  We know it is a big sacrifice, especially when you have a new house of your own to take care of.  We have said over and over, we could not do these trips without you.   THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!

Ending mileage 5208


Until next year....so long.

Westward Bound

Yesterday we left the Outerbanks and headed away from the ocean for the first time in two weeks.

 We arrived in Asheville, NC in the early evening.  What a cool town!  It is an artist community with many "interesting" residents. Great shops and tons of restaurants. 

                                                 Ted passing time while waiting for his dinner

 

 

It is also the gateway to the Great Smokey Mountains.  I would definitely like to return there for a long weekend sometime, one night was not enough.


 As I was standing in an extremely long line for the French Broad Chocolate Lounge(from where I heard the treats were "life-changing"), (Mark had the kids around the corner) four guys on scooters, came careening up behind a car that was stopped at a red light.  One of the scooter drivers hit the stopped car and the passenger got out and started yelling that them.  The driver, a woman, got out and tried to get him back in the car all while the two parties were exchanging words.  Before you knew it, the back seat passenger jumps out of the car runs back to the guy on the scooter and punches him in the face and a total melee ensues, right in front of the long line for chocolate!  It was CRAZY!  Out of nowhere, a police officer shows up on foot, breaks it up, the scooter riders speed away, a police car shows up, chases them down...etc...etc...At least it made the time pass in the wait for sugar!

This morning we continued west to Nashville, TN. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains.  We walked around downtown for a few hours and there is so much to see and do.  Live music is coming out of every open door.

 Mark  and I hope to visit a few more shops in the morning before we start the trip north to Columbia, MO to see my brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Kelly for the night.

                                                This is self explanatory...it is from Ted.

Lighthouses, Airplanes, and Sand Dunes

Today we drove south toward Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  We stopped at Jockey's Ridge State Park.  There we found the largest sand dune on the east coast.  We had fun climbing the dunes and enjoying the view.

 As we continued on,  we came to the the town of Rodanthe and found the house that was the backdrop for the Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie "Nights in Rodanthe".  The house actually had to be moved further back from the ocean a few years back because it was being swallowed by the surf. 

Then it was on to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  It is the tallest lighthouse in the world at 210 feet.  We bought tickets for Mark, Jane and Thomas to climb the 248 stairs, but right before their tour time, there was a distant lightening strike and parks rules say, no climbing with storms approaching.  The rangers had no idea when they would let people back in, so we had to move on.

We ended the whirlwind tour with the Wright Brothers Memorial.  Jane, Thomas and I climbed to the top of the hill where the memorial stands and were able to see the spot where Orville and Wilbur first took flight.  You could see the Outer Banks in a whole new way up there.

We ended the night with the BEST crab cakes EVER at the Kill Devil Hills Cafe.  Amazing!

Overall, we determined that the Outer Banks was a very neat place with lots of history and beautiful scenery. The ocean, beaches and houses are all awesome to look at and explore. We would definitely come back here!

The Outer Banks of North Carolina

Yesterday we left the chaos of Myrtle Beach and headed north to the much quieter Outer Banks area of North Carolina.

 We checked out the beach right when arrived in town.

  If you are familiar with our blog, you know that we must always have at least one glitch in our accommodations each trip and yesterday was it!  A little back story first of all...our trip itinerary included three nights in the Outer Banks area, but I could not find a house to rent for only three nights before we left MN.  Many of the home owners that I spoke with told me to check back right before we arrived in NC and that if they had openings they would rent to us for the three nights.  While in FL, Mark found a house on Craigslist that looked like an okay place, so we reserved it.  Fast forward to yesterday, we arrived at the house, and needless to say, it wasn't okay.  It was not as described on Craigslist, it was dirty, smelled weird, I could go on and on!  We didn't have a back up plan for last night, so we HAD to stay there.  I was exhausted and wanted to finish the blog and go to bed.  The internet wouldn't work and there were no sheets, pillow cases or towels!  I ended up putting on yoga pants, socks and a sweatshirt and covered myself with two beach towels to go to sleep!  Mark found a crappy old comforter straight out of a Motel 6 to cover with.  We just had to look at each other and laugh!  This morning we made the executive decision to get the hell outta Dodge.  We found a nice beachfront hotel that happened to have a room available and we moved on in.  It is sooo much better!

We booked a tour of the far north end of the Outer Banks and the wild mustangs that live on the beach there.  The exact origin of the horses is unknown, but it is believed that Spanish settlers from the 1500's, left the horses ancestors in the area when they were driven out by the Indian tribe that lived there. They are completely feral, but live amongst the people of the area.  It is against the law to go within 50 yards of the horses, to feed or touch them.

 Our driver, Byron, took us in a monster truck out to the beach and the sand dunes.  As soon as we got to the beach, it started to pour!  And our monster truck was "open air"!  We got wet, but it didn't last long, so we were able to enjoy the remainder of the tour.  It was interesting to see all of the homes on the ocean that are only accessible by 4x4 vehicle on the sand.  No paved roads there.  Because of the weather, many of the horses were hidden away sheltered from the rain, but we did manage to find two different groups of them.

 

 

 

We even got to see Dennis Anderson's(of GRAVEDIGGER fame), beach house.  Of course, it's green!

We ended the night with one of the best pizza's we have had in a long time!  Yummm.

Where is Myrtle Manor????

Yesterday started off with a few hours at the pool.

 It was time for the van to get an oil change, so we left the pool to visit the car dealership.  Yes, we have gone well over 3000 miles now! 

Then we were off to Myrtle Manor!  For those who don't know their reality T.V., Myrtle Manor is a show based on life in a trailer park in Myrtle Beach.  DISCLAIMER:  I have NEVER seen an episode...but Jane and Rose have seen EVERY episode!  We pulled into the park and they saw the main character Becky come walking around the corner, they both screamed!  We stopped and talked to her and her dad, Cecil, the park owner.  They told us to head down to the opposite end of the park to see the other "scenes" from the show.  As we get out to take another picture, Jane sees one of the other "character's", Taylor, coming out of his trailer, I think she may have stared tearing up!  It was hilarious...

After the culture lesson at Myrtle Manor, we went to the Boardwalk to ride the Sky Wheel.  It was VERY cool.

 That was about the only thing that was cool about the Boardwalk though!  It is basically like the Midway at the MN State Fair multiplied by 500.  Not really my bag.  Definitely good people watching though.