Vacation Memories.

Last Saturday we took off for Markle, Indiana, where I grew up until I was 12. Mom and Dad still own the house Dad built back in 1954 for the family, and I wanted to see the place again before they sell it. As I expected, the house was a LOT smaller than I remembered it as a child. The trees had grown a lot, though, and were amazing. We had a great time visiting with Mom and Dad (who met us at the house) and telling stories about things that happened in that house including the scratch on the floor from taking the TV out of the living room to avoid the rising water outside and the telephone pole "launching pad" that Dad built in the backyard for us kids to pretend we were astronauts and the remote controlled lawn mower. This picture was taken from the hill where we used to go sledding down into the street in the winter. Those were the good old days of sleds with metal runners and safety by "look-out" posted in the street to make sure no cars were coming before you started down the hill. The sandbox and the monkey swing were hours of fun under the big tree in the front yard.

Saturday afternoon we drove over to Huntington, Indiana, and visited with my Uncle Gene and Aunt Marcille who had never met Greg . . . it had been a long time since I saw them. We had a great visit catching up on my cousins Greg and Anne Funk and their boys Brian and Kevin. More memories of summers at the lake and Thanksgiving dinners and Grandma Elsie's house just made me promise to catch up with the family more in the coming year.

On Sunday, we drove to Columbus, Ohio, and picked up Melanie and headed down to Caryville, Tennessee, to meet up with Brian and Emily and Katy at the lake house we had rented. It was a beautiful place, and we were really glad to land somewhere for a few days. Monday morning we decided to go out on the lake after lunch. Katy fed the ducks at the bottom of the steps below the house. The drought has made the lake about 25 feet below normal for this time of year, and we had to walk on the rocks to get to the water. (The walk BACK to the house was the killer, though.) We got out on the water and were in the lake for a swim when it started to rain. The rain settled in, so we got back in the boat and headed home. The ride back was cold and loud (Katy was crying). When we got home, we ate Greg's shrimp and grits for dinner and started our marathon of watching the first season of 24 on DVD after Katy went to sleep that evening.

Tuesday morning it was still raining. Try as they might, the guys could not find a wireless internet connection! They even went out looking for a Starbucks so they could check their e-mail. Emily and Melanie and I decided to take the rainy day and drive to Pigeon Forge to the outlet mall for some shopping therapy. We took off in Greg's Nissan in the rain and headed for Knoxville. On the way around Knoxville heading for Interstate 40 toward Sevierville, we were in the left lane of three lanes of traffic and hit a pool of water. The car hydroplaned and swerved about three times as I struggled to stay in the lane, but we impacted the jersey barrier on the left head on and the air bags deployed. There were some really nice people including an off-duty policeman still in uniform who were there immediately to help. We were all okay (miraculously), but Emily was having chest pain and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the St. Marys Hospital emergency room in Knoxville. Brian and Greg and Katy were there with us, and we all headed back and got some dunch or linner about 3:30 at the "best Red Lobster in the U.S." At this point, we were really grateful to be alive and unhurt except for bruises from seat belts and air bags. The car was totalled.

Wednesday we were determined to have fun or bust! We took the boat out again, and this time the weather cooperated. We took the boat clear to the dam and saw the beautiful scenery. We swam in the lake and I rode on the tube for a good long way. We enjoyed the sun and finally took the boat back to the marina in the late afternoon. Then Brian grilled out dinner at the house and we had a fabulous meal before settling down for a few more episodes of 24.

On Thursday, Greg and Brian got a rental car to get us home and Greg settled up with the Erie claims adjuster on the car. Then our guys stayed with Katy so that we girls could conquer our shopping. It was a dry day, and Emily drove Melanie and I to Pigeon Forge Outlet Mall for an afternoon of shopping. We made it this time! I think there is something kind of sick in the fact that we still did this, but oh, well. :-) When we got back that evening, we ate at Rickard's Ridge BBQ in the park near the lake house. It was probably the best ribs and smoked chicken thighs I have ever tasted. It was a wonderful way to finish our week at the lake. We drove back to Pittsburgh on Friday by way of Columbus to drop Melanie off. It was good to be home last night.

This morning we went to the north hills to return the rental car and deposit the insurance check Greg got for the Nissan. On the way back through Wexford, I asked him if we could stop at the Chevy dealer and drive an HHR. I have been looking at cars all summer intending to replace the Taurus. And we had discussed on the way home that we would swap cars and go ahead with a "crossover" vehicle. The main motivation is that I wanted something like a PT Cruiser so I could get my string bass into it easily. The HHR is Chevy's version of this type of vehicle. The dealership had four 2007 HHR's in stock and were offering some good factory incentives for clearing out the 2007's before the 2008's arrive. The short story is, I drove home in a new car. It is a 5-speed manual transmission that is a lot of fun to drive. Greg has plenty of head room, and it is really roomy for trips to Ohio carrying presents for family members over there. It looks pretty good, don't you think?

I really hope future vacations do not include air bags and emergency rooms. But I am really thankful that this one has ended well. I am so glad to get to spend time with family last week, and it was nice to visit, to eat together, to watch TV together, and to spend time with Katy singing "Old MacDonald" and "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain." Even though the comings and goings and the not-so-good parts of this vacation took up some of the time, it is a vacation I will never forget. And it is as much because I got to watch Katy share Greg's breakfast every morning and try to eat with the spoon and crawl into the cupboard beside the TV set. We hemmed a dress for Melanie to wear out later in the month, and we drank Brian's morning coffee with him and spent a lot of quality time. I hope these are the things I will remember forever.