Today I asked a friend I had not seen since May, "So, how was your summer?"
And she replied, "Oh, is summer over?"
It is difficult to tell down here in the land of endless summer weather...but school has begun in most places-for friends and family, not me, of course, and it was a little cooler here yesterday morning, and the snowbirds have begun returning, so I would say, "yes, summer is done."
We had a great summer. It really did go by quickly. In honor of all those students who have probably been asked to write an essay, here is my photo journal of "What I Did on my Vacation."
In June, we took a road trip north. First stop, Chattanooga, TN. Not far from our hotel was Ruby Falls. (Those AAA guide books are really handy!)
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After taking an elevator deep underground we walked about a mile in a cavern to see the tallest underground waterfall.
Next stop was Bardstown, KY, the Bourbon capital of the world. We stayed two nights, touring two distilleries with tastings, yum, and I bought a cookbook of recipes using Bourbon. I wanted to do all 7 distilleries on the "Bourbon Trail" but not enough time. Maybe we will return sometime and I will get the tee shirt for completing the whole trail!
(This is the world's largest barrel, according to the sign.) |
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| This is the antebellum plantation house where "My Old Kentucky Home" was said to have been composed by Stephen Foster. We toured it inside. Beautiful and huge! |
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After leaving KY, we drove to Iowa to spend a few days while visiting son #2.
We found a small hiking trail along the Des Moines River. |
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Then we drove north to visit dear friends in Minnesota. We played Euchre, Quirkle, had a movie night, visited an historical village and history museums, and drove with them to South Dakota where we visited a zoo and an art museum.
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| at the zoo |
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| DH said we could stop and see the largest ball of twine. Who knew, it
was just down the road in Darwin, MN! There is a little museum beside
the gazebo sheltering the big ball of twine. |
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| Here we are saying goodbye. That's Joel and Julie's church, Zion Lutheran, in the background. What a great visit that was! |
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| As we were driving the highway, DH saw a sign that said "Iowa's largest skillet" and took the exit. What a guy! |
We drove to Pennsylvania, staying with the in-laws for a week, visiting family, then went to Virginia Beach to see my sister's family and some of our friends. We only had a 3 nights, so, sadly, not enough time to see all we left behind.
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| Last stop north of Savannah, GA. This big rocker was outside the restaurant, so we had to take a picture, of course! |
It was a great three weeks, 13 states, and 4000 miles!
