My Vacation

This past weekend, my kids went on their annual vacation with Aunt Kirsten and Sara.  The Aunts took them to the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio, and have been doing this on a regular basis since 2003.  In the past several family members have gone, but it's always been Kirsten, Sara, and the kids.  I went last year, but after the year I had this year I was told that I was not allowed to go along and that I should plan something fun to do for myself.  So, I decided to tour some of my favorite spots (one place was chosen for me when I decided to go visit a friend for lunch) and I used Kevin's apartment in Buda as a jumping off point.  This way, I was able to spend time with him and his girls.  So on Monday we went to Corpus Christi to visit his oldest daughter and have lunch with her.  After that we went to the USS Lexington and toured it.  I'll be honest, it was fun to go with them, but at the same time bittersweet because the last time I was there was our last family vacation before Jason died.  I made it fine and had a lot of fun.  Tuesday, I went to Fredericksburg (another place Jason and I used to like to go).  I toured the Nimitz Museum in Jason's honor and only broke down once.  I am saddened to say that Fredericksburg has changed since I started going.  I used to be able to search through many antique stores in the downtown Main street area, but over the years it's become somewhat artsy fartsy with little or no antique stores.  Not as fun.  I stopped off at Wildseed Farms and spent some time there.  After spending time in Fredericksburg I traveled to San Antonio to visit with the kids and to give the Aunts a little breather.

All in all it was a good vacation.  A saying good-bye of sorts you could say.  Here are some of the things I noticed while on the road (and I was on the road A LOT!):

* You see more out of state license plates on the North/South Interstates rather than the East/West ones (this could have just been for this time though).

* A lot of people are still traveling.

* A lot of people need to remember that THE LEFT LANE IS PASSING ONLY!

* My kids are good for everyone else BUT me.

* I used to think that if you stayed within 5 mph of the speed limit you were okay, but from observing everybody else it's now within 10 mph.

* A lot of 18 wheelers with cargo thingys were coming up from Corpus Christi heading to Maine.  That was weird.

* I counted 31 out of state license plates and 3 Canadian provinces.  That represents 62% of the states in the United States.  I thought that was pretty cool.

* The Hill Country is breath-taking...and hot!

* I might like to (someday) go on a wine tasting tour of just that area.

* Home is where your heart is.

* Traveling by yourself can sometimes be a good thing.

* I witnessed an event in Corpus that made me sad.  But I understand the moral dilemma that the people who tried to help out faced.  It still made me proud that the people who stopped to help pushed aside their fears and helped out a stranger.

* I realized that life is too short to miss out on certain experiences.  Your work/job will go on without you for a day if you need a mental health day. 

* Spending time with your loved ones, regardless of what is going on is what life is all about.  After all, it's way too short to put it off.  You never know if you'll never get the chance to do it tomorrow.

* Recharging ones batteries is an underrated thing.  I need to do it more often.

* People on the road can be CRAZY and RUDE.

* I had a TON of fun doing what I wanted to do, but I'm glad my kids are home.