Home again, home again

jiggety jig. Stopped in Marietta/Woodstock on our way back to have a sleepover with Grams. Kids went with her to get donuts for everybody early in the morning so we could return the Mazda5 rental car by 11am.

And I got the car to Budget at 11:01 without any problems. We logged 4,748 miles during our two week jaunt across about 11 states.  It was an incredible trip that we'll all remember for a long time. Wonder what our next adventure will be?

After unpacking and repacking - with all the kids' camp stuff - we jumped into Homer and made the quick hour trip up to Lake Lanier to celebrate 4th of July with the whole Close Clan. A jump in the lake made our return official. On Sunday, the kids start their next journey with their weeklong stay at Camp Toccoa.

One last stop

So we left Nashville this morning and headed 45 minutes south to see my cousins Travis & Diane - along with her husband Scott and son Asher on their farm in College Grove.

I was a little fuzzy from the drive but this is everybody in Diane's kitchen. Travis was standing tall and looking pretty good.

 

Here are Scott, Diane, & Asher. Asher's starts UT-Martin in the fall.

Snoopy was one of the 3 noisemakers roaming the house.

As we left, we saw these wild turkeys wandering by their driveway.

Made it to Marietta about 7 pm to hang out with Russell & Mom for the night before returning the rental in the a.m. Hope we get there by 11am!

Reunited and it feels so good

We wrapped up our Nashvegas excursion with a family dinner reuniting the cousins.

 Aunts Jeanne & J.B. had everybody over to their house for dinner. Wendy & Amber toasted a great visit.

Pix didn't turn out real well. Fortunately, we got to see the aunts, Helen, Rich, Ryland, Casey, Clay, and Tristan. The meal was served on the back porch and many stories were told. Too short a time together but it was good to catch up. All the kids are getting so big.

Downtown Nashville

We went to Loveless Cafe for breakfast and it was fairly good. Got our faces stuffed and didn't eat  lunch. 

mmmmmmmm............

Downtown Nashville was full of boot shops, bars, museums, and lots of music.

Wendy and Deacon just had to stop and pose with a shirt that says "Team Deacon Nashville."

It was like it was meant to be!

We stopped at a music store and there was big cardboard Taylor Swift. Keely wanted to take a pic so we did, and of course Deacon Photo Bombed. 

All in all, it was a fun day on Nashville. Tomorrow we head to see Boyd's family and then head home to HOTlanta!

Welcome to Nashvegas

Only about 9 hours on the road yesterday. No real sites seen - other than more buffalo on the roadside. Made it to Nashville and relaxed with Cousin Amber, Bruce, & Tristan on their deck. Great dinner and discussion ensued... very highbrow intellectual type stuff.

Wendy showing off pix from the road.

Mizzou

Driving across Missouri, and suddenly came upon the legendary Wiener-mobile!

Pretty neato! Or should I say, Hot dog!! On our way to Nashville to see cousins galore. More to come later...

Finally leaving the Badlands

Driving the desolate roads of South Dakota to Pierre last night we were lucky to make it unscathed. TWICE we had deer jump out in front of our car in the dark and we just missed them. Must have been more of Wendy's birthday luck keeping us safe.

We got a late start since we got in so late and we lost an hour due to the time change. By 10 we were on the road toward Kansas City. But there was a side trip on Wendy's mind...

 Mitchell, South Dakota's Corn Palace of course! Yep, that theatre is covered in corn. Pretty cool, huh?

Lunch afterwards at Taco John's made us pine for a good taco place in Atlanta. Maybe Burrito Deacon's? Quesadilla Keely's?

By dinnertime we made it to Kansas City and took recommendation of friends to go to Arthur Bryant's famous joint.

A rack of ribs and pulled pork sandwich later and we were refueled and ready for some fun. The Sleep Inn in Liberty had just the answer.

Best hotel ever! Indoor waterpark with waterslide that goes outside the building. This is the way to enjoy Kansas City. A good night's sleep not sharing a bed makes the day brighter.

Tomorrow - Tennessee. Franklin & Nashville await.