Big Fat Family Roadtrip

I know it seems that Spring Break is a long, long time away, but really it's right around the corner.  Last year, I had the insane great idea to plan a roadtrip with the kids.  Yes, just me and the kids.  Alone.  In a car.  For 12 days.  (Insert horror film music here.)

We had a GREAT time!!!  We drove from Minnesota...

(Hahaha, this is in Miss Lucinda's front yard in Bemidji.  WAAAAY north of me.)

To my Dad and Step-mom's in Chicagoland...  Thru Indiana...

(That's the water tower in Crown Point, IN.  I was born in that town.  I took the picture as I was driving by on the interstate.  The kids thought I was crazy, but hey, I came from there...  Many, many, many years ago.)

We drove through Kentucky (I had no idea it is so pretty there!), and ended up in Nashville for a night. (Definately a place I'd like to take a grown-up trip!)  From there we went to Chattanooga, TN/Rock City, GA. 

We went to Atlanta and saw Stone Mountain, which is super cool!  If you've ever seen Mt. Rushmore, you HAVE to see Stone Mountain!  It is so much bigger!  And the coolest part is taking a Swiss cable car to the top of the mountain and walking around!  (Despite what Hollywood tells you, you can't do that at Mt. Rushmore.  Disappointing, I know!)

(Three important Confedrate guys.)                   (1,683 feet above sea level!)

From there, we spent 2 days in Orlando.  We did the usual, Disney World!  We had been there once before as a family and had a great time.  This time was equally as amazing.  Even at the ripe "old" age of 31, I LOVE Disney!  And from Disney, we headed to FarAwayGrandma's house in Ft. Myer's.

We went to the beach, spent time with MY grandma, played at FarAwayGrandma's pool, drove the golf cart, and the piece de resistance....  Went on a pirate ship!!!  Ok, so it was a commercial pirate ship manned by men dressed up as pirates, but we really went for a ride in the Gulf of Mexico, and it was super cool! (And they had a full bar and my mom was driving!!!  So I got to have a couple beers!)

On the trek home, we drove back through Georgia, through Alabama (I saw Talladega!), and Mississippi (on a road that doesn't exist, according to my dad's GPS), to Memphis!  In Memphis, we went to Graceland (which was awesome!).  Sadly, I have no pictures of that, as the aforementioned camera was new and I didn't know how to turn off the flash...  Sad panda...

We were going to stop in St. Louis to see the arch, but I decided that I was ready to get home and sleep in my own bed.  So, in all of my insanity brillance, I decided to drive straight through from Memphis (we left at 2pm) home.  Somewhere around Peoria, I decided I was probably going to need some help staying awake.  I stopped and purchased 3 Monster drinks (I don't drink energy drinks.  Yuck!) and 4 rolls of Spree candy.  I pulled into my driveway at 4am and was sound asleep in my own bed by 4:15!!!  (I had gut rot for a week after all of that sugar!!)

So, after all of that, the point of this story is to tell you that I've begun to toss around ideas for a 2nd Annual Big Fat Family Roadtrip.  The Girl wants to go to Ireland (cough, cough).  I told her if she can come up with money for airfare, I'd be happy to pay for the rest.  Otherwise, I'm trying to plan an equally exciting roadtrip for 3 to somewhere in these great United States!  Wish me luck!