Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Labor Day Week Travels

We just returned from our week vacation and boy, did we travel! But, I will say, this is probably the most family and friends I have ever seen in such a short amount of time. It was so awesome to see and catch up with everyone. We started our travels on Labor Day weekend by heading west to Jackson. My family does another camping reunion, of sorts, on Labor Day. As usual, Clint was super excited about shooting his gun, fishing, 4 wheeling, etc. I was just happy about seeing family again. While in Jackson, I also squeezed in some time to see my best friend Rachel. We have been best friends since Kindergarten and do not get to catch up near as much as we would like. It was so nice to talk about fun memories and be able to share them with Clint and her boyfriend Burton. On Monday, we said goodbye to my grandmother and dad and packed up the car headed toward Texas. It was a good 10 hours, but we made it fine and were greeted by Clint's super sweet Aunt Wanda and Uncle Larry. Of course, our highlight was visiting with his grandmother. She was the reason for the visit. I had only met her once at our wedding and that was the last time Clint had seen her too. She just amazes me. She is 90 years old but is so sharp and hilarious! Clint's uncle is a retired agriculture teacher who is now farming. He showed us around the fields. I thought the Texas farmlands would be similar to West TN farmlands but I was wrong. It was neat to see how completely different they are. The only sad part was having to say goodbye. We loaded back up in the car and drove a short distance to Dallas. Since neither of us had ever been to Downtown Dallas we decided to stop in. On a whim, we checked into a hotel and stayed downtown. I am so glad we did. We found a great rate at the Adolphus hotel. Once we checked into our room, we found out they had upgraded us to a junior suite which had 3 different city views. So cool! We just so happened to be staying the night a tornado hit downtown. Never a dull moment traveling with the Davis Family! We were fine, of course, and left out the next morning. This time, we were Murfreesboro bound. We did decide to stop in and stay another night with my grandmother to break up the trip. 10 hours seems to be our maximum travel time in a car. It can be so exhausting. After some more generous hospitality from my grandmother, we made our way to Blue Raider Country. We got in on Friday and stayed through Sunday. It was very nostalgic to be back in the stands cheering on our team. Not to mention eating at all our favorite places we had been missing. We certainly put the miles on our car, but I would do it all again. I only hope it won't be so long before we see everyone again.

Catching up on family news at Hatchie Bottom


My grandmother and dad

Me with Rachel and her son Timothy

Clint with his sweet grandmother

Our gracious hosts, Clint's aunt and uncle

Some of Clint's 2nd cousins

This is just one side, the other part of the room had a desk, couch & 2 chairs with the flat screen

Super nice bathroom

One of our downtown views from our room--I was a little disappointed that I did not see one person wearing a cowboy hat or boots.

Getting ready to go to the MTSU game. (They were playing my former employer, Austin Peay State University.)

Carter Family Fold

A few weeks ago we were invited to tag along with Joe, Lo, Robert, Mandy & Ryann to the Carter Family Fold. We had been wanting to make the small drive to Virginia to see this historic place. I didn't know until we were there that it was the last place that Johnny Cash performed live. We are fortunate to live so close to such neat places to visit. Before we made it to the fold, we had to stop in at "Hob-Nob Drive In" for some burgers and shakes. Ryann sure does love her chicken legs. It was hilarious!

Checking to see if they have chicken legs...

Yup, they do!


Blurry, but shows the live music and "flat footin" dancers

Fun Night at the Fold
Photobucket

Backyard Landscape

About a month ago, we did a little more work on our backyard landscape. Most of the back is shaded due to all the trees, so it makes it difficult to get plants to grow. It's a work in progress...


BEFORE

AFTER