after a week on the road, our van collected some major grime. So I put our 3 boys to work today washing it. Of course, I know it probably cost more in water alone than to have it professionally detailed, but it was worth every cent to see their joy. After the van was finished, they moved on to our Toyota, affectionately dubbed "Yoda" by our youngest. They even moved on to the mailbox to wash off the bird droppings. We're now the clean machine!

We are back home so it is time to reveal the identities of The Road Warriors. The team consisted of David & Carolyn Alvey of Richardson and our sons: s10 = Nick; s8 = Sam; s5 = Nathan.

We had a great vacation, but we are so glad to be home to sleep in our own beds.

The minivan has left the highway.

I love Texas! It was wonderful crossing into the great state of Texas this afternoon. During this trip to Disney World, our family continued the tradition of bidding farewell to the state we were leaving and welcoming the newest border with great fanfare. So, in unison, we broke into "goodbye Louisiana, hello Texas!" It was so much fun, we did it twice. The boys got more and more excited about the prospect of being at home, they kept asking how many miles? It wasn't that annoying, "are we there yet" question, it was an exciting, I can't wait to see our house question. 

There is something to be said about going away to appreciate your daily surroundings. I was thrilled to walk into our home. Our oldest son stopped me as I was checking on the temp of the air conditioner and he said, "mom, isn't it great to be in our house and on our stairs?" He felt it too. Home sweet home. 

We all unloaded the car in record time and quickly went to our own areas of the house. Surprisingly, the boys all wanted to be together. We are so fortunate that they are not just brothers, but best friends. They have their squabbles, but ninety percent of the time they are just friends.  

Tomorrow, we will tackle putting everything away. Ugh. The least favorite part of any vacation.  For me, it is better to do it when I am fresh and I am able to focus. I was just to tired and still feeling under the weather to try it tonight. 

Before, I call it a night, I had one observation as we drove across the border into Texas this afternoon. The rest areas on I-20  were closed and barricaded which was an ugly site and distressing. What's wrong with Texas that we can't support rest areas? Louisiana had the same problem and it was so sad to see. I would love to know why all these rest areas are closed. Anybody know? 

Until the next road trip, good night! 

 

From s5:

I saw a few Air Force bases and I thought it was cool. I saw a few planes. We drove for hours and hours and hours and I wanted to stop for a pit stop but I had to wait. Finally we got to stop at a beach. I got to do a pit stop in the water. Let's just say we found 10 crabs in the water. I found lots of sea shells. The sand was white like ice cream. I saw tons and tons and tons of seaweed and I got real close to it in the water.

 

From Dad:

After breakfast we let the boys swim at the hotel pool for about an hour. It was an indoor pool which is a different treat for them. They had so much fun for such a small investment of time.

 

Then we packed up the car and headed south to Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola to visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation. According to their website: www.navalaviationmuseum.org, it is the largest Naval Aviation museum in the world and the most visited museum in Florida. 

OK, as a Navy veteran, I admit to a certain bias...but it was definitely the best aviation museum I've ever visited. The best part is the price: FREE! Multiply that by 5 and you can see why we loved it...especially coming on the heels of a Disney vacation. We spent several hours there and even our youngest (5) would gladly have stayed several more. We would def go back again and spend a whole day there. There was so much more to see and do, but the open road was calling.

From Pensacola, FL to Mobile, AL is normally a breeze at 70 mph on I-10. However, we ran into near gridlock about 3pm shortly after we crossed the Alabama state line. We averaged about 10 mph in stop/start traffic for the next 2 hours. There was no getting off, so this created the necessity for our first rolling pit stop of the trip for s5. Since I was driving, Mom had to assist him with the download while we inched along.

 

Later we discovered the cause of the traffic snarl was an eastbound 18-wheeler had run off the road into the woods and burst into flames. The driver was killed. By the time we came upon the scene there were dozens of emergency vehicles from several surrounding towns. According to a local news report, fire fighters had to literally cut a path through the dense trees and brush to get to the burning vehicle. 

We took a moment to thank God that we had traveled all these miles safely. And we said a prayer for the victim's family and the emergency responders.

 

Once we cleared the tunnel under Mobile Bay, traffic cleared and we made good time to I-65 north, then to Hwy 45. We followed the narrow, 2-lane blacktop through Alabama small towns and deep woods. As soon as we crossed the Mississippi line it widened to four-lane divided and the speed limit jumped to 65 mph. We caught I-20 in Meridian, MS then stopped about 50 miles shy of Jackson to bed down for the night. We have about 450 miles to go tomorrow before we can be home to sleep in our own beds. It'll be a hard day's drive, but the prize at the end is worthwhile. 

Ever wonder why we're so eager to travel thousands of miles on vacation just so we can appreciate our own humble abodes that much more? Sweet home indeed.

 

No, my boys are not asking if we are home yet. But Mom is! I feel under the weather and have been battling some kind of ailment. We are on the last leg of the trip and with every passing mile, I get more excited to find my own bed. I am going to crawl in it and sleep! My sweet five year old crawled in bed with me sometime early this morning.  l love cuddling with him but it sure doesn't do much for sound sleep, especially in these extra small hotel room beds. 

The boys are off to swim and mom will pack up the rest of the overnight bag and load it into the car. Dad wants to go to the National Museum of Naval Aviation. The boys will enjoy seeing the planes and the interactive experience. I am so glad I don't have a girl, she would be begging to go to a Barbie Museum!

I loved driving along the coast of Florida yesterday. It was a very interesting trip. You could still see the remnants of the Hurricanes that passed through here several years ago. Lots of destruction and the rebuilding of communities has made progress but you can tell it has been slow. We heard through people we have met that the jelly fish were so bad in areas, that you couldn't even get in the water without getting stung. Ouch! We were able to find the perfect spot to swim, play in the sand, look for crabs, and collect seashells. It was fun and we got some great pictures!

This trip has been a great experience. We have taken many road trips with the boys, but this one was special. It was has been chalk full of memories, great photos, and enlightening conversations with three little boys. You know, the more I think about it, the more I am getting excited to get home to start the scrapbook instead of taking the nap. Then, all those memories will be safely secured for the family to enjoy forever. See ya in Richardson!

 

From Dad:

After 5 days, our luggage had begun to sprout roots. It was a chore to pack everything up and load it all into the minivan. We left Disney and headed to Aquatica, an incredible water park next to Seaworld in Orlando. As we waded thru heavy traffic to the entrance we discovered an electronic sign at 10:20 a.m. stating that Aquatica was filled to capacity and would remain closed to any more people until at least 3:30 p.m. We headed for the Florida Turnpike and said "Goodbye, Orlando! Hello, open road!"

We drove freeways to Gainesville, where we exited and crisscrossed the state on scenic highways that meandered along thru small towns and endless pine trees until we hit the Gulf coast. These were my old stomping grounds as I graduated high school in a small town in North Central Florida. I remembered miles of beautiful white beaches from Carrabelle to Panama City. I promised the boys we'd stop to swim in the ocean a little down the road. 

I didn't realize how much beach they lost to hurricanes a couple of years back. There was a small strip of public beach left at Carrabelle, then we didn't find more until nearly Mexico Beach several hours later. There were still many abandoned businesses and beach houses that had been damaged in the storms. There were many empty foundations being reclaimed by sea grasses. But there was also LOTS of new homes and businesses along the coast. It was both sad and hopeful.

We tried to find a hotel in Panama City but everything was booked. We drove on to Destin where we stopped at a quaint little family-owned Mexican restaurant. The food was good, but it was so different from the Tex-Mex our boys are used to that they ate little more than chips and salsa. We called Mariott's reservation number to have them check a half dozen different coastal towns for availability in their system and finally found a room in Pensacola. After breakfast, we'll plan the next leg of our journey.  

From (tired old) Dad:

Happy Independence Day 2008! How blessed we are that we have the freedom to play as a family because of the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform throughout the past 232 years. God bless America and those who fought and a re still fighting to keep us free!

We planned all along to do a different Disney park per day for 4 days (Mon - Thurs) then use our 5th day (Fri, July 4th) as a Bonus Day where we could bounce around and just do whatever we wanted. At my boys' ages, their wants are simple enough. Most of their dreams have already been realized in this land of magical dreams.

We started off at Animal Kingdom on safari. It was incredible. Although we all agreed they could slow down a bit. It was all a bit too rushed. We blew thru the actual ride, then we had to wait in line behind several other safari vehicles at the end before we could disembark. A little better planning would make the attraction much more enjoyable.

 

After a hot and dry safari, we headed for the rapids ride. It was refreshing. We shrieked and laughed all the way. We got soaked! So we rode it again immediately.

Dripping wet, we headed over to DinoLand for one of s8's special requests...carnival games. You know...toss the ball..race the prehistoric mammoths, etc. After about a half hour (and $50 of Dad's money) we left with a few cheap (yet somehow priceless) stuffed animals. They already have names and have been promised preferential treatment on the ride back to Texas.

We grabbed a $35 Disney lunch (a couple of burgers and a trio of chicken nugget kid meals and drinks...which would cost maybe $15 or $20 in the free world) and headed out the front gate. Next stop: Magic Kingdom. What a zoo! Being a holiday, the park was already jamming by the time we arrived. We secured a couple of Fast Passes (special coupons that allow you to jump to the front of the line when you return at a given window of time) and headed for Tom Sawyer Island. 

Our boys ran around like wild Indians (and/or wild soldiers) at Fort Langhorn. They climbed the stairs and shot rifles and cannons. With escape tunnels, caves and mines, this place is heaven to little boys. I expressed as much to my wife ,and she smiled and said, "No, it's heaven for a MOM of little boys!" as we relaxed and played a game of checkers on a board set up in the courtyard. 

As we had done most everything we really wanted to do on our previous magical marathon, we savored the opportunity to move at a more relaxed pace. At exactly 5pm, our daily thundershower rolled through, but it didn't send many people running as there were more locals in the mix today. About 6:30 pm we headed to the Jungle Cruise with our Fast Passes clenched in our sweaty little fists. Skipper Sam picked our 8 year old to be a Guest Skipper. He put his big safari hat on s8's head and let him sit right next to him in the front of the riverboat. About midway thru the ride, Skipper Sam invited our son to take the wheel. He was in heaven. Of course, they gave him a Guest Skipper card for the scrapbook. After that, we decided it was time to escape the growing mob of people pouring into the park for the grand fireworks show. We left Disney property and found a Chili's restaurant for dinner. It's amazing what a bargain Chili's seems after a week of paying Disney food & beverage prices. I tipped the waitress 20-percent and we still got out without taking out a note on the minivan.

It has been a grand and glorious adventure, but Disney is a lot like Vegas to me. After a few days, the shine starts to fade and I start feeling like I've been had. I'm sure we'll all look back on this with the fondest of memories (we're just wired that way I guess) but for now I am SO ready to return to the land of the working stiffs.

From Mom:

As Bob Hope always sang, "Thanks for the Memories." We had a great time Disney World, but it is time to part ways and for the Road Warriors to begin another journey on our return to Texas. We will take our time coming home so as to insure we maintain the flavor of our trip...fun, fun, fun. I thought at the beginning of the week I would be sad to go, but I am not and the boys don't seem unhappy to leave either. Disney is exhausting. Go, go, go. The boys are ready to swim! They keep asking when they can go swimming and we are going to take them to the Florida beaches. I am really looking forward to it. We had some great adventures today, between the Safari in Animal Kingdom and s8 getting to drive the riverboat, and s10 winning a big orange dinosaur, the day held something for everyone. I told my husband this afternoon I couldn't wait to get in the car and drive just so I could rest my weary feet!

This blog has been a lot of fun. I have the opportunity each night to reflect on what made the day so special. Although it wasn't much fun after I spent 30 minutes writing a witty and interesting recap, just to lose it to a computer glitch. Oh well, it was probably only witty to me. 

As I watch my three sons sleep, I can't help but well up with tears. Not because they are so dog gone cute, but because I know these days are passing quickly and it won't be long before they will be gone and all I will have is the fond memories of this (and hopefully others) vacation. I am still enjoying the moment.  

From s8, Guest Skipper for the World famous Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida...

I got to be a guest skipper! What that means is you get to wear a safari hat and get to drive a riverboat. The captain's name is Sam and I liked him a lot.  He's a nice man. I think he is 33 years old?