While I had to be outside in the extreme heat to get whatever spotty internet connection I could get to stay connected to the ‘outside world’, at least I had a nice view. The grassy area used to be all trees, but Rob cleared it out to create a nice yard, and for a nice clear space to build their house:
They still have several acres of all trees, they have plans to thin them out some so the kids can play without worry of moccasins or black widow spiders (shudder!):
The future plans also include removing these last few stumps and putting an in-ground pool there:
So at least I had some nice scenery to look at as I was melting in the heat and playing that ‘hurry-up-and-wait’ game.
I didn’t get a chance to make nice with the horse I scared with the flash from my camera, but at least they didn’t run away when I snapped a picture of them munching:
The guys bought fireworks, so on the 4th we enjoyed a little of this:
Princess Nagger didn’t like the loud noises, so she went to hide in the house. Luke was nice enough to keep her company and convinced her to watch from the door:
Yes, she’s wearing vampire teeth. Aren’t you scared?
It is so good to be home. It’s great to go on vacation, and even better to visit wonderful friends like we did, but you have that moment of relief when you get back home and can relax and get some actual sleep in your own comfy bed. Even Princess Nagger was glad to be home – in spite of her tearful protests on Sunday being our last day and attempting to negotiate an extra day. When she was brushing her teeth Tuesday night after the eternally long drive home, she looked around and said “I sure missed this place!” She spent all day Wednesday reacquainting herself with her toys while I got a bazillion loads of laundry done and the coolers unpacked and hubby mowed the jungle that our grass had become. I didn’t get to ride the tractor in the Back 40 like I enjoy doing because apparently he still needs to buy some belt for it – or the blades will only do a half-a$$ job…and we can’t have that. 😉
The 2-day drive home was fairly uneventful – except for Monday, when I was driving and Mother Nature decided it was the perfect time to send torrential downpours our way. It gets really unnerving driving on the freeway when you can barely see in front of you – particularly when Hovering Hubby is in the passenger seat proclaiming gloom and doom. I would have smacked him upside the head if I hadn’t had a death grip on the steering wheel…or if I was that kind of person, which I’m not. 🙂
It was particularly harrowing when there was a ‘wide-load’ being hauled on the freeway – it took up 1-1/4 lanes of the 2-lane highway…hubby was freaking out when I got to a straight stretch and decided to floor it and move on past. I don’t know about you, but being subjected to driving 45 miles per hour or less in a 65 or 70 mph area doesn’t bode well with me. Sure, I had to go slower because of the rain, but not that slow. If I hadn’t been driving, I would have taken pictures. 😉
The rain of course limited our rest area stops – we figured it’d be better to wait and see if we could drive out of the rain before stopping. Of course by the time we drove out of the rain, rest areas were few and far between. I ended up driving a full 350 miles of our 550 mile drive for Monday all in one non-stop shot. I didn’t mind, though, I really don’t like being a passenger in my own vehicle, and since there are no OMG bars to hang onto on the passenger side, I preferred to be a passenger for less of the trip than the driver. I’m just sayin’.
We did our usual stop at a pet-friendly Motel 6 in Tennessee – the halfway point between our friends’ house and ours. Makes for a much better state of mind driving the remaining 600 miles home. We got there early enough on Monday to take advantage of Applebee’s ‘Carside To Go’ option so we could have an excellent meal instead of engorging solely on fast foods for the two days of travel time. We couldn’t do an ‘eat-in’ place because of the dogs – can’t leave them in the car, nor can we leave them at the motel unattended, so options are limited. Thank goodness for Applebee’s – that salmon never tasted so good! 🙂
Speaking of the dogs – they were excellent travelers. Travis didn’t get carsick, even though he swiped a pizza slice from the garbage right before we left…ugh! He couldn’t decide if he wanted to be in the second row seats with the Princess Nagger, or in the third row seats with Elvis – so he hung out for a while on the top of the seat looking at the world going by out the back window:
Yes, he is a dork. Fits right into our family unit with no problem. And yes, Princess Nagger is 6 and still sucking her thumb on occasion – I’ve tried everything to get her to stop, to no avail. If anyone has a great way of getting them to stop, please let me know. Whenever I bug her about it, she tells me that she’ll have to stop when her top 2 teeth come out. Why? “Because then I won’t have any teeth to prop my thumb on anymore!” Alrightythen!
I did get a few nice pictures of the beautiful landscape when I was playing the part of passenger and we were flying by at 80 mph:
It’s a beautiful drive, but 18-22 hours (depending on the number of stops along the way for leg-stretching) is definitely tiring. I am definitely glad to be home.
Edited to add:
Sounds like you had a good time on your trip. After a while of being gone it's always nice to come home to your own house ! Loved seeing all the pictures.
There's no place like home, there's no place like home! LOL! I hate driving in the rain, and also driving at night! Every time that I take a trip, it seems that I drive through heavy storms!
Glad you got home safely and enjoyed your vacation! Those are some beautiful pictures indeed!
There are some beautiful photos there. This is my first visit so where the hell is this? I like the idea of building a house on land like that!
Great pics, Stacy! Hey, just think… maybe by next year's trip your friends will have that inground pool in! Then you won't have to die in the heat!
Justine 😮 )
I know how you were feeling on the way home- you just wanna get there. Shelti's are great to travel with. I had a lab that would howl and bark the entire trip- ahem- 22 hours- to my parents house….
Great to see you back and in the swing of things 🙂
Gorgeous photos!
My kids love those vampire teeth.
Happy FF!
Beautiful pictures, and I guess MJ and PN will just have to Be Thumbsuckers for a bit. he's 4 and not giving up, I dont'knwo but he sleeps better then the rest. 🙂
What a fun time your family had….
my grandmother used to have woods just like those and love the fireworks
Great fireworks pictures – I wish mine had come out that clear!
sounds like you had a great time. Great photos! Have a wonderful weekend
You are too kind 🙂
Love the vampire teeth!
I'm a big fan of structure in the day and having the kids in bed (or at least in their rooms) by a certain time. After a while, I just need my own space, ya know?
Thanks for joining in. Good luck catching up 🙂
Such pretty land your friends have. But, yes, the heat down in these southern parts has been quite unbearable the past few weeks.
No pointers on the thumb-sucking. I've always heard to use tabasco sauce, but really I think that's kind of cruel! 🙂
I am SO glad that you are back to slave over my wine!! :o) Tee hee!
Your pics are beautiful and it sounds like your friend's home will be great. I think it's funny that we both mentioned "black widows" in our FF posts! (Also, I gave you an award in that post.)
Have a fantabulous weekend, my friend!
My now-ten year old just barely stoppped sucking his thumb last year, and even now will sometimes do it instinctively in his sleep. So I have no tips, sorry.
Your photos are lovely!
Fantastic pictures!
I wanna go on vacation so bad I could scream!! Seems like there is always coming up or somebody is visiting us. With hubby's business it is so hard to get away.
My daughter sucked her thumb until she was almost 4. The dentist told her she would have buck teeth if she didn't stop. Well that scared me at least! We took away her security blanket (nite-nite is what she called it) and when we did that the thumb sucking stopped. Don't think this will help in your case, but the dentist part might.
Good luck and have a great weekend!
Love all your pictures, especially the fireworks, did you use a slow shutter speed?
Glad you had a great time away, we are going in a week…for two weeks without internet!
Sometimes I think the best part of vacation is the return home! It feels sooooo good!
Beautiful pictures…and sounds like they have what I have….I hate HughesNet…if that's what they have lol..
Those are the bluest skies I've ever seen in my life. Great shots, did you Photoshop those? 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by the other day! I LOVE this blog 😀 Your pics were great. OH and as far as Princess' thumb sucking….my sister(16yrs old now) sucked her thumb until she was 13! She only did it when she was tired….but geez…c'mon 13. We tried everything from the thumb stop…drenching her thumb in tabasco sauce…this really awful tasting stuff…she didn't care. Would just get sucking til the flavor was gone or her mouth stopped burning. Yeah, we have a stubborn one in our fam too 🙂 So anyway, my Mom stopped bugging her and said your friends are going to make fun of you if they see that…so at 13…starting puberity…apparently thumb sucking wasn't cool anymore. So good luck! Hopefully your daughter is NOT as stubborn about that as my sis…oh and when she lost her 2 front teeth…she still found a way to suck….haha
What beautiful photos. It sounds like a lovely trip.
I love rain, but not driving through it. I just never feel at ease on the road when it's raining.
My boss took her kids (7, 4 and 3) to the orthodontist last week to get tips on getting them to stop sucking their thumbs. I don't really remember the advice, but maybe you could do that with PN?
It sounds like you had a great vacation! I loved all the pics, thank you for sharing! Isn't car riding with dogs SO FUN? (rolls eyes) At least yours was well behaved– Mine is NOT. ha ha ha.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and saying the nice things you said!
Enjoy your week!
I decided after my 8 hour drive that I also prefer to drive!!! I'll split it with my husband next time. He drives kinda slow for me.
Thanks for stopping by my place on Friday! Your vacation looked great! I would say about the thumb sucking you could threaten her with a month long stay in the hospital eating bananas only. According to my dad, that's what happened to him or a friend. (it could've been because they chewed on their nails though) The germ factor was enough to make stop as a child. Have fun with that!
Gorgeous pics……
Looooonnnnnnggggggggg drive! Wow!
I, too, floor it to get by semi's.