Vacation, The Fifth and Final Dose, Finally

We left the St. Pete area, headed back towards home with a van full of white sand, four tanned kids, and Mr. Hernia.  Unfortunately, Gary started feeling rough the night before we left.  Poor guy.  We remembered how crazy fast and vigorously he had been digging in the sand with the little plastic kid claw diggers he found at the beach and thought maybe that was the cause.  Or was it from wrangling the barracuda on the fishing trip?  After learning more about it, though, we realized it was something in the works over some period of time and he has done plenty of recent things that could have contributed.  Moving a refrigerator into and out of his truck, alone.  Lifting massive hunks of logs from the woods up into the Gator.  Those are just a couple. 

I drove most all the day and then we pulled off at Clarksville, Tennessee around 9 p.m. to stay a night since we still had four hours to home and night driving is not my best skill.  

Turned out, all hotels (except one) were filled in Clarksville and any other exit anywhere near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky since soldiers were returning from Afghanistan the following day and understandably many families were staying the area. 

The Country Inn was the one place that had two rooms available.  One was a King Suite and the other a King Jacuzzi room.  Those both get you one king-sized bed.  With such limited choices, I happily took the suite since it definitely offered (slightly) more to accommodate the six of us.  It included a couch. 

The desk clerk also kindly offered up extra pillows and blankets so we could make pallets on the floor.  Turned out, no need.  Jack took the sofa, Sam was happy to sleep in a chair, and Grant took the other chair with footstool and extended it in length with the ironing board. 

Never mind his expression, he was happy.  Caroline slept with us in the big king bed, and there you have it, a family of six fits in a one-bed room. 

 

We took a swim right before bed, our last pool of the vacation.  Well, Gary didn’t since he was laid out flat in the big bed trying to recuperate from a fourteen hour ride in a sitting position with a brand new hernia. 

 

Next day we got up and had our breakfast and hit the road, honking as we crossed the Ohio River into Illinois.  I might add, I was thisclose to getting on my family’s last nerve since I enthusiastically honk at every state line and they’d had about enough of that. 

I especially love that little stretch near Chattanooga where you are in Georgia, then Tennessee, then Georgia, then back to Tennessee.  Woo hoo!  Honk, honk, honk!

Let’s see, our whole trip had us crossing state lines at KY, TN, AL, FL, GA, TN, GA, TN, KY, IL.  That’s not that many honks, people. 

We reached home in the early afternoon.  Even after thirteen days, I can’t say I wasn’t wishing we were still on vacation.  It had been a really good one.

  

 

But this guy was relieved to be home.

 

              THE END