Fall

Summer is over, and I'm wondering where it went. My last post was in July, right before I put 6,000 miles on my Honday Odyssey. (It did really well, might I add) Yes, we again drove...that's right, drove...to Kentucky to see our beloved family. This time we sent the girls ahead on a plane (smart move) and packed up the Wild Child, threw him in the van, and took off. It's a long 2,000 miles to Louisville, Ky, but we are overwhelmed by the beauty of this part of the country each time we do it. The deserts of Arizona and New Mexico are breathtaking, the big sky of Texas is amazing, the barbeque in Texas is delicious, the green hills of Oklahoma always surprise me, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis continues to thrill me and offer the "we're almost there" second wind, the flat farmland in Indiana bores me (sorry Indiana) and the view of the Ohio river from the hill in Indiana with my beloved Louisville skyline ahead of me brings tears to my eyes.

It is so good to be with family. We desert dwellers miss each and every one of them so deeply. This year we all packed up the kids, there were 16 of us this year, and drove on to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. We don't just stop in Kentucky. No, this family drives coast to coast to coast. My big brother sent 2 kids and stayed behind to care for my sister-in-law who had badly broken her ankle and decided that crutches and sand didn't mix. We missed them and their 5 year old sweetheart, but we still were able to eat, drink, overdo the sun, celebrate a birthday and be merry.

After a week in the sun, it was back to Lousiville and Cincinnati to do more visiting before we made the drive home to California. This is hard for me to say, "home to California", but that's what it is now, and that's what we did. A big thank you to Gran for assisting in this effort. She took on the task of co-pilot to me, a driving control freak, and offering encouragement when I wanted to stop on the side of the road and leave at least two of my offspring somewhere in Texas when I couldn't take "don't touch me, don't touch my stuff, where's my Nano, did you take my DS game, I wish I didn't have siblings" any longer and found myself in the middle of a primal scream. Hats off to you, Mom.

Bottom line, I made it back to the desert with four children and my sainted mother. If there was any question about her sainthood, she now deserves the title for driving 2,000 miles with us. Enjoy the summer pictures.