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We're back!

This morning, hung out at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Knoxville. Okay hotel, but...well...the carpet was not what we would call clean. We waited as long as we could stand it, then headed for an early lunch at Cardin's Drive-In. As I said, no website, but here's a shot of it in Google Maps Street View (a very cool thing indeed). Gives you some idea of the character of the place. (I see now that it's not working right - if you can't see the image, click on the "view larger map" text below it - you'll get the image.


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Being our last meal of this vacation and all (and with Steph and I fully intending to eat a lot healthier on our big trip) we splurged. Good bacon cheeseburgers. Mari liked her hot dog, and the babies and Faith liked the grilled cheese. Good fries, good rings, good cheese sticks, good tater tots (hey, I told you we splurged) and good milkshakes. I had read good things about the peanut butter milkshakes so I got that - was NOT disappointed. So, Cardin's gets my seal of approval - if you're in Knoxville, a fun local dive to stop by.

Rest of the trip was totally uneventful. I am proud to say that we drove from Cincy to Jacksonville to Hilton Head and back to Cincy and only put in 2 movies the whole time we were driving. And very little TV during the week as well. I feel like a successful parent for that. And really, we are so blessed - the girls were GREAT during the trip, and the babies were so agreeable and pleasant most of the time. We have a great travelling family and it's a good thing.

Coming home...well. I think it's an indicator of a really good vacation if when you come home, your house seems a little unfamiliar. And it's not a question of being gone a long long time or anything...it's about where your mind has been while you've been away. If you've been just sitting there thinking about stuff back home then probably you won't feel like you've been gone. My mind has been completely in the moment for a week and a half and it's felt great. My house looked a little strange to me and I like that feeling. It's probably also a function of me already being mentally on the next big trip, too.

So now is the weird turnaround. Three days at home, trying to keep the house nice and neat and trying to get ready for a monthlong cross country trip. Also mentally switching from being with Steph's family to being with mine. No need to get into specifics - we love them all, but they function very differently and it's a different way of existing.

Keep checking in!

Matt