Sunday, August 6, 2017

No Place Like Home

We are home.

It has been an amazing week of soaking in the sun, laughing at Sea World, eating out way too much, and splashing in the ocean. 

Our week began last Saturday. We loaded up the car and headed out bright and early for South Padre Island — Roy’s old stomping grounds. As it was Day One, everyone was chipper and chatty and filled with anticipation for the ensuing days which promised all kinds of adventure. We even bought a month’s worth of unlimited data so that Jace could watch Netflix to his heart’s content in the car. (Darian spent her time reading…) The only thing that dampened the eight hour trip was a ticket in a small town from a small town policeman who had nothing better to do than sit behind a grove of trees and watch for unsuspecting travelers. Behind his back, Roy called him Barney Fife with his wobbly gun and single bullet. 

Gotta love small town policemen. Keene is full of them.

We spent a couple of days in South Texas, loading up on family (Roy’s brother and “second parents” live there), beach and ocean, and seafood. (Ew.)

And then we headed for San Antonio and experienced the riverwalk (a river that flows underneath the city that has been turned into 15 miles of shopping and dining along the riverway). Jared, my adorable nephew who just started med school, joined us for dinner and then headed off to study. We also visited Sea World and swam in the pool at our motel. This pool was an amazing creation—spanning both indoor and outdoor with two hot tubs. It proved a perfect ending to our days.

Finally, we headed over to Houston as I had to work at a convention and host an alumni event at a local Houston restaurant. The kids and Roy visited NASA, played in the pool, and enjoyed some cousin time (as Tami, Lori and Mom were there). By the time we headed for home on Friday afternoon, we were all eager to  get back into our regular.

Vacationing is splendid - no doubt about it. But the truth of it is…


…there is no place like home.

1 comment:

Diamonds Everywhere

I read a study recently that said that greatest single indicator of a long life well-lived is deep social connections. Of course, there are...