Buffet Breakfasts & Interstates & Bed Bugs, Oh My

We left Mississippi in the early morning after partaking from the hotel's "free" breakfast.  We (well, "we" meaning me) purposely chose hotels that included breakfast, and we (yeah, OK,  I) have made an art out of making that breakfast pay for the hotel itself!  I do make the kids actually go down to the buffet which varies from hotel to hotel, but always includes waffles, fruit, cereal, yogurt, pastries and sometimes bacon & eggs.  They are not big breakfast eaters, but they usually cram down 8 - 10 mini powdered donuts and maybe a yogurt.  I, however, come armed with "the backpack".  Into it goes as much fruit as I can get without people starting to stare, little boxes of cereal, bagels with little packages of jelly and cream cheese, and waffles. Yep, you read it correctly -- waffles!  I make 2 or 3 waffles, put syrup  on them and stuff them in a ziploc and they are perfectly wonderful 10 minutes down the road or whenever the kids start yelling, "I'm hungry"!  I also carry in my biggest coffee mug, and fill it up for the road.  Basically between the random car snacks and the backpack breakfast, we don't have to stop until we get to our destination (unless, of course, there is a diner, a drive-in, or a dive)!

 We crossed from Mississippi into Alabama and finally into Georgia after about 5 hours of fairly torturous driving due to the old "s/he touched me" game!

Before checking in at our hotel, we stopped at a famous Atlanta restaurant (found, of course, courtesy of the Food Network!) called the Varsity.  The food was fast, fun and (sort of) cheap.  If you ever get here, order the orange creams .... mmmmm.

Of course, no day is complete without a dip in the pool.  It took us a little longer to get there tonight because we had some problems with our room.  NO, there were not bedbugs, but the room was a little, shall we say, "dirty" and Joy had to have her say at the front desk!  I will let that conversation up to the imagination of those of you who know Joy!  The kids are now snuggled in their beds ready for the next adventure!

On the road again ...

We all had a hard time saying goodbye to our family, Ethan had an especially sad goodbye with his favorite 4 legged friends, and Joy & I mourned leaving the fabulous coffee machine which greeted us each morning in Texas.  We did stop to buy some authentic cowboy boots on the way out of town to guarantee our future return.

We drove 450 miles from San Antonio, TX across the Texas/Louisiana border to Sulphur, LA where we enjoyed playing in the hotel pool, and the in-room hot tub!

We took advantage of having two TV's and had a healthy dinner of car snacks!

 

The next morning we continued our road trip to Biloxi, Mississippi right on the Gulf of Mexico.  We ate at Louie & The Redhead Lady, a dive from our favorite Food Network Show in Mandeville, LA.  The fried green tomatoes were fabulous, and Ethan raved so much about his grilled cheese that he actually got to meet Chef Louie! We also got to put a push pin on the map for our hometown!

PA is down a little, Hannah!

  Soon after lunch we crossed over the state line from Louisiana into Mississippi.

Luckily, today was our shortest driving day of our entire journey -- a mere 4 hours, so we arrived in Biloxi with plenty of time to play on the beach along the Gulf coast and check out the hotel pool!  The Gulf water was really cool -- you could walk out for what felt like miles on sandbars.  The water was only as deep as your knees, but you were really far away from the shore. 

We ended the day at another Dive we found courtesy of "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives"  -- The Shed in Ocean Springs, MS.  It was a fantastic BBQ place with lots of character.

Then it was back to the hotel to search out the outlets and charge the DSs, the ipod, the iphone, the cellphone, the computer, the camera battery, and the flip cam so we can do this all over again tomorrow!  Georgia ... here we come!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

We ended our time in Texas with a day trip to the Alamo and the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio.  The kids were hot and bored, and did not really care about the history of the Alamo, but we forced them to learn in spite of themselves!  They did enjoy walking along the beautiful riverwalk.

Remember the Alamo

After the swamp tour with alligators in New Orleans, this river ride was not nearly as exciting for the kids, although poor Charlie did provide some amusement.  We made all the kids use the bathroom before boarding the barge for our 30 minute tour.  10 minutes into the trip, Charlie says he has to pee, and we, of course, told him to hold it.  After a few minutes of being on the water and traveling past trickling waterfalls, Charlie was in a panic bouncing up and down with a red face and tears, crying "I can't hold it".  We yelled to the tour guide at the front of the boat that we had a "Pee Emergency" and asked him to pull over knowing that Charlie could not last another 15 minutes.  Either he did not hear us, or he ignored us, but it was clear he was not stopping the tour.  Luckily the people beside us drinking bottles of beer, felt his pain and offered us an empty bottle and a "human shield" so that Charlie could relive himself in semi-privacy.  Well, with imperfect aim, he managed to fill the bottle, and although his shorts and his cousin Jillian's flip flops were a little wet, we managed to survive the rest of the boat ride!

The clandestine pee in progress!

After the excitement of the river ride and walking along the beautiful pathways, we ate lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant beside the river -- it will make eating at El Rodeo much harder when we get home!

The rest of our time was spent enjoying the company of relatives that we do not see nearly enough, and will miss dearly when we have to leave.  Ethan is already trying to negotiate the next get together.  The kids all played so well together that Joy and I actually had time to visit with the grown-ups and relax.

Wii -- Just Dance

We cooked some fabulous BBQ ribs, made some mojitos and ate until our faces were sticky and our tummies were full.

Finger lickin' good!

We also got a chance to play cowboy and cowgirl ... all the kids were thrilled to get to "ride" a horse.

 

I know that I am so sad to be leaving tomorrow, and the kids are all heartbroken as well.  It is amazing to me that we struggled so much with the decision to even make such a long trip, but now we are already trying to figure out when we can do it again.  It has been an idyllic week spent doing all the things that are most important in life -- cannon balling into the pool, staying up too late giggling until tears are rolling down your cheeks (both the kids and the adults were guilty of this), being squished together at the dinner table eating too much food, watching the moon rise with the sounds of horses neighing in the background, watching lifelong friendships develop and deepen, and simply sitting on the front porch saying nothing while being surrounded by those you love.  I know without a doubt that even when my children are adults, they will remember the summer they spent with their cousins in Texas as one of the best ones of their life.