Road trippin'

This week we are road trippin'.

As our "last hurrah" of the summer before school starts, we embarked on a 7-state road trip from Ohio to Arkansas and back to visit Barry's sister and her husband...and obviously, because we just couldn't get enough of the oppressive heat and humidity in Ohio. I mean, really...who goes to Arkansas in the SUMMER?!?! Ummmmm, yeah...that would be us. We really live on the edge around here, man!!

I had stocked our van with plenty of picnic food and water, movies and activities for the munchkins, and a pound of Twizzlers. We were ready to hit the road! We set out on late on Saturday afternoon after the hubster got home from a golf outing, and headed south to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where we spent the night. Nothing exciting going on there, just some swimming for the kiddos and a good night's sleep. Well, relatively speaking...I didn't sleep well at ALL, but everyone else seemed to. The next morning we headed out after breakfast to Land Between the Lakes for some fun (and to break up the long hours in the car that day). There was definitely lots to explore there, but man, I'm tellin' you...it was HOT that day. We caught a planetarium show on black holes (VERY cool), drove through an elk/bison preserve (even cooler!), and were going to attend the Hummingbird Festival (it ended at 4:00, so we were too late!), and had a picnic lunch. We all agreed that we'd like to come back to the area to camp and explore some more! Canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, mountainbiking...there is so much to do there! Definitely check it out if you're in the area!

When it was time to get back in the van (and more importantly, the A/C!), we headed southwest through Tennessee and into Memphis, stopping along the way for dinner. By the way, did you know that at Chili's happy hour means "Buy one, get one free" beer? Oh yes, indeedy! I ordered myself a Blue Moon, and the waitress brought out two. I laughed and told her I only ordered one, and she replied, "It's happy hour!". Still not getting it, I asked her what that meant. "Buy one, get one free!" was her answer. Well, who am I to turn down a deal like that?!?! I blame it on the heat. :)We spent the night in Memphis before heading on to Bentonville the next day. Oh look at me now...I can't even remember what day was what. I've reverted to using "the next day". I must be in vacation mode! Hahaha!!! Aaaaanyway...we're sure having fun and the kids think it's so cool to have been in so many states already. They cheer every time we cross a state border. They are so easy to impress sometimes! (Note that I added "sometimes" there...)

Well, the kids are waking up, so I need to take them down to get breakfast. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll attempt to update again tonight or tomorrow with pics from our fun time in Bentonville!