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Just made it in few hours ago. My family and I went on a 3 week Summer Vacation/Road trip.
Longest vacation I have ever taken and by far the funnest

Left San Antonio on Monday June 29th.

Made our way to Slidell, La. about 9 hours away. I love traveling thru LA. The swamps are so beautiful from the Interstate. I know they are not the true swamps that are closer to the Coast but still nice.

Tuesday made it to Atlanta. Stayed 2 nights there. We have Six Flags season passes at Six Flags over San Antonio ( Fiesta Texas). But you can use them anywhere in the US. So spent two days at Six Flags over Georgia . And it is a great Park especially if you like Roller Coasters. A top notch Roller Coaster Park. They also had a great Magic Show

Made it to my parents in Knoxville, TN. on Thursday

Stayed 12 days. Saw my brother and its been 2 years since I last saw him. He has a beautiful baby boy now . And this is the first time meeting my new nephew. : >)

My two girls just fell in love with him. And they wanted to pick him up and hold him whenever possible
We got to celebrate his second birthday at my parents house. Ate out at several really good restaurants there and went to endless summer splash pads in Knoxville.

For 4 days we went up to the Great Smoky Mountains where my parents rented a Chalet. Went to Gatlinburg and hung out eating awesome hot wings at the Smokey Mountain brewery. Also, we had a spectacular time at Dollywood. Which is Dolly Parton's theme amusement park.

Really a great Park/ Fantastic shows. The Bubble Show was
unbelievable. Yeah I know what you are thinking, " Rob, really?? A bubble show ??"

Unlike anything I have ever seen before. What one man can do with bubbles that our kids do in the backyard was miraculous !!


Left knoxville this past Tuesday July 14th. Went thru Nashville and stopped at Little Rock for the day and night.

Little Rock is a cool little town with a really neat River Trail in downtown. We ate at a place called the Flying Fish which Bill Clinton has frequented on many occasions. The best hush puppies I have ever tasted.

Anyway, made are way down to Dallas. Where we stayed with my Wifes brother for 4 nights. We had planned to just pass thru a night on way back to San Antonio.

But we enjoyed ourselves so much we stayed 4 nights. We went to Six Flags over Dallas. Fun but hot as hell. 100 degrees and humid. We also went to Ft. Worth Zoo and the splash Pad there.

A really great ZOO.

Last night , our final night we went to the famous Stockyards at Ft. Worth and ate at this amazing Mexican Restaurant/


We left today. We were going straight to our home in San Antonio.

But going by Austin we said to ourselves "what the hell lets live a little more" and keep the vacation going. So on a lark we stopped off at Austin, TX. We went to a splash pad there. Austi n is really cool. I haven't stopped their until today.

We ate a a world renowned BBQ place called Salt Slick which Rachel Ray likes so much.

I had the $25 all you can eat Meat Platter. And ate super delicious Ribs until I could barely move. My wife had to roll me out the door. lol
This place was remarkable. Its huge and they allow patrons to bring their own beer. The first restaurant where I have seen tailgaters in the parking lot. Seriously


Anyway, just made it home about 3 hours ago here in San Antonio.

Its about 2,500 miles we put on the Camry.

A great , great trip. I feel like Clark Griswold. But he aint got nothing on me as we hit 3 major amusement parks on our trip and he did just the one ( Wally World)

I got to spend quality time with my 80 and 85 yr. old mom and dad.

They are still going strong. Dad goes to workout 4 days a week at his health club, religiously.

Also got to see my brothers and my one brothers newest addition to our family, little Eli

Which was really such a Blessing

And best of all I got to spend unbelievably quality time with my two girls and wonderful wife.
And ,yes, even going to MCdonalds every 4 hours on the road was also a blessing ( in disguise lol)

Life is pretty decent about right now

Anyway, sorry to ramble on but decided to share the experience with some of you guys. I have to admit in some weird, convoluted and totally 'Claudanian' way I kind of missed some of you guys. I know scary,
right ?? LOL


Okay enough already with the mushy stuff...
you all have a good day/night and as incredibly awesome this Summer Excursion was it sure feels
good to be back
  • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
    Welome back. Seems you certainly enjoyed the road trip!
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      Good read. I'm glad you and the family had a good time.

      I seem to have missed the Facebook link with the vaca. pics...


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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Sounds like an awesome trip, Richard. You'll remember that quality time with your kids for the rest of your life and they'll remember it for the rest of theirs.

    Now, I want to hear more about those wings...
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      Sounds like an awesome trip, Richard. You'll remember that quality time with your kids for the rest of your life and they'll remember it for the rest of theirs.

      Now, I want to hear more about those wings...
      Yeah those Wings were really hot. And it was a flavor of hot that I have not quite tasted before. Hard to pinpoint but it was just different . But in a good way.
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      • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
        Wow, that makes 5 people on this forum now.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          That sounds like a great vacation - I love just being able to stop when I find something interesting or move on when I want.

          Welcome back - you didn't miss much here
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

            That sounds like a great vacation - I love just being able to stop when I find something interesting or move on when I want.

            Welcome back - you didn't miss much here
            Hey...HEY!

            He missed me.

            Welcome back. Now that the gangs all here, we can get back to solving the world's problems.

            And (vomit in mouth), I agree with Riffle. Those memories will stick with you forever.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Sounds like lots of fun. I'm jealous.

    Mark
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