hayes' summer vacation days 1 and 2

we are finally here!!!!  we are just outside washington, d.c. in vienna, virginia.  it's hard to believe that just yesterday we were in tulsa, oklahoma.  we've been in 8 states since noon yesterday!  wow!

i'm going to try to keep this short and sweet, but knowing me, that probably won't happen! 

let's get started, shall we?

may 31, 2009

photo of the day #150

here we go!

we left tulsa around noon with chuck and martha riding shotgun along with daryl and me.  chuck, as you know, is my rubber duck disguised as a chicken.  martha is daryl's gps device that he got for his early father's day gift.  we decided to name the garmin martha after martha washington since we were headed to d.c.  {she's done a fabulous job guiding us!}

the first 'attraction' we saw on our adventure was the mc donald's that stretches across the highway.  when daryl said, "look there's the famous golden arches that goes across the road," colby disappointedly said, "that's THE arch you've been talking about?" {referring to the st. louis arch!}

missouri was not that exciting to travel through.  there were TONS of antique stores and antique malls in missouri, but of course we didn't get to stop.  this leg of our trip was strictly for traveling to d.c.  no unnecessary stops! boo hoo.  however, i managed to get daryl to take a little detour in springfield.  i told him about this store there that abbey and gina absolutely LOVE, and he drove there!  the sign on the door said it was open on sundays, but apparently not this sunday.  i still took some pictures of it though!  

for supper last night, we took another detour in st. louis to find a restaurant recommended by guy on food network's diners, drive-ins, and dives.  i was a bit skeptical about eating there because it was in a rough-looking part of town, and there were two security guards at the door! but since this was an adventure, i decided to suck it up and not worry!  i'm glad i did because it was yummy!

the place was called sweetie pie's, and they served mississippi soul food.  i had fried chicken wings, stuffing and green beans with new potatoes (they also had something stringy in them.  i'm guessing it was some kind of meat!)  the portions were GINORMOUS!

on the way out of st. louis, daryl managed to snap this picture of the arch as we were flying down the highway!  he promised we'd stop and go up inside the arch on our way home.  i'm holding him to that!

next we travelled through illinois and indiana.  most of those two states looked like this:

we also DIDN'T stop in santa claus, indiana.  another place to visit on the way back!

we finally rolled into kentucky around 11:00 p.m.  louisville is amazing looking at night!  i was very impressed!  we stopped in shelbyville, kentucky around midnight to get some shut-eye.  thank goodness!

june 1, 2009

day 2 started with breakfast to go from mc donald's at 8:00 a.m. our hotel was out of fruit loops, so daryl didn't want to eat there! 

it wasn't long after breakfast that one of the hayes' family members had to go potty!  i'm not naming names, but it's one who can't go on the side of the road.  luckily there was a rest area nearby.  as i was walking out of the little travel center, colby came running up to me shouting, "mom! mom!  come here!  you gotta see this!" 

 spencer and daryl were standing by an older couple's truck, and spencer had something tiny in his hands.  when i got closer spencer said,"these are puppies that were just born last night!!!"  my immediate thought was, "and why are YOU holding one?"

the couple saw daryl and the boys, and asked daryl if they could see some puppies.  how kind was that?  mr. and mrs. baker said they have grandkids, and they thought our boys would enjoy the puppies.  

i got to hold one, too.  look how little his paws are!  it was such a magical moment!  daryl took this picture, and i love it because he got the precious little puppy and the "life is good" logo on my shirt all in one shot.  how right that is.  life really is good.

photo of the day #151

new life

i have much more to share from today, but the troops are getting in bed now, and i was instructed to join them!  it's 9:46 p.m. here, and we're getting up early in the morning to catch the subway into d.c. {i'm a little scared about that, too.}

quote of the day:  "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" ~on a sign in WV!