The other 4-letter word

Did you know V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N is actually a 4-letter word? It is.  Don't believe me? Well then think of it as TWO 4-letter words together.  That might even be closer to the truth.

Vacation day one, June 9th, started alright.  We went to some garage sales while Brian mowed the lawn.  Things were packed, snacks had been purchased, pets shuffled off to their vacations.  On the way back from garage saleing (yes, it's a verb. Why? Because I made it up and I say so.  Hey, someone made up "googling",) I saw two wisps of smoke coming over the foothills.  I pointed them out to the girls saying that it looked like another fire was starting up.  Now it's this monstrosity.  I spent the week checking the web, emailing friends, worrying and worrying.  Not good.  Not even close to good.

Then came the two long days of driving there.  Fun, fun!

I hate driving.

The kids hate driving.

The audio book we brought, The Hobbit, was read by the slowest, most boring man alive.  I'm pretty sure the kids got lost somewhere around disk four.  Hell, I could barely keep up and I've read it more than once and LOVE it.

Driving across Kansas and/or Oklahoma sucks.  Nebraska, you suck too, but we weren't in you this trip so you get a pass for now.  Eastern Colorado, you are no better.  There's just miles and miles and miles of prairie, which is not at ALL how I pictured prairies when I read about them in the Little House books.  No, I pictured tall, green grass dotted with small flowers here and there.  Birds flying around, animals cavorting about.  What it really is? Brown grass broken up only by wheat/corn/soybean fields.  Trees? No.  Animals? Not so much unless you count cows, and I don't.  Flowers? Um, stop laughing.

We were tired, bored and cranky.  The car was trashed as were my nerves.

Then we arrived and the real fun began. 

But you'll have to wait for the next installment of "Vacation, the other 4-letter word" or "trips to see family, don't do it."