Family Road Trip

Friday night after work I met my parents in Meridian for the long drive to Decatur, Ala., to visit Grandma. Thursday was her 86th birthday, so a road trip was definitely in order to celebrate with her. Derek stayed behind and spent the weekend at the lake, which he probably really needed. Plus, I had the whole backseat and hotel bed to myself… not too shabby. :)

Once we hit Birmingham just as it got dark, the weather started getting pretty rough. Before we knew it we were driving through a storm strong enough to knock out power in almost all of central and north Alabama. Not pretty… I, being a nervous backseat driver anyways, was on edge the whole time. If it wasn’t for the wine my mom had packed (neither one of us was driving, of course), I don’t think I would have made it. About two bottles and two hours later, we made it to the hotel in Decatur by about 10:45, and we were all worn out.

Saturday we got up bright and early to pick up Grandma and head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Because of the weather Friday night, we never stopped for dinner, so we were pretty hungry, and a big country breakfast was just what we needed to start the day off right.

The plan for the day was to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Yes, indeed, and it was totally worth it just to see my dad act like a kid at Christmas. He used to beg us to stop at the U.S.S. Alabama on the way to Destin every summer, too. He’s into that stuff. Big time. Here are a few pics from our space adventure…

Here's my dad, the rocket man...

Here's Dad giving a space lesson to the rest of us...

Here's a short video of my mom and dad on the Space Shot ride. If you listen closely, you can here Mom yell a not-so-kid-friendly word. She was next to a six-year-old. I think it scared the poor little girl. :)

Afterwards we explored downtown Huntsville for a while and then enjoyed some Mexican and margaritas at Rosie’s Cantina, which was like the Disney World of Mexican restaurants. We had a quiet night in the hotel Saturday night and hit the road about 7:30 Sunday morning to head back home.

It was a very nice visit, and I think Grandma had fun, too… so much fun that she fell asleep during the first two minutes of the IMAX movie on space exploration. :)

I think Mom and Dad are still sore from the rides, but it sure made for some fun memories. We traveled 630 miles in less than 48 hours… talk about some fun, family bonding time!