Trip report, pt. II

It took so long to get caught up after the vacation that I'm just now getting back to the blog. Picking up where we left off, the second show we caught in Branson was called "Six". It's six (of 10) brothers who form an a cappella group and put on a fabulous show! Not only are they talented singers (with some good vocal percussion, to boot), but the show itself was very entertaining. They had some pretty slick choreography, a good range of songs, and a nice stage humor. We highly recommend it.
We spent the rest of the weekend at Stacey's grandparents, playing in the lake every day and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. They sure rolled out the red carpet for us and we had a great time!




On Sunday we headed south from Branson to Dallas (en route to San Antonio). The highlight of the day was probably eating at the Cracker Barrel. Yum! In keeping with the Retro theme of our trip, we enjoyed hanging out in the Old Country Store. We got some jawbreakers, which are one of my favorites!
Monday was the highlight of Sarah's trip, as we got up and went to the American Girl store in Dallas. It was pure Nirvana for 90 minutes as Sarah got to see all the merchandise that she had previously only beheld in a catalog. We enjoyed not paying postage for our couple of purchases! From there, we swung by the Dallas Temple (about 5 minutes away) and snapped a couple of quick photos, then headed South to San Antonio, with the kids enjoying the evening in their swimsuits at their cousins' house. Interestingly, San Antonio has a paucity of street signs. There was no way to find our way around without flagging down a local police officer and going with his best guess. Thankfully, he guessed right and we ended up at Stacey's sister's house.


On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Schlitterbahn, largely acclaimed as the coolest waterpark in the country. We can't deny it, because we had a blast. The highlight for many was the sky coaster, where they lift you way up in the air (180 ft, I think), then drop you into a free fall out of which you swing for a few minutes. Hannah did it twice (Stacey gave her "permission", as long as Hannah met the height requirement, which Stacey thought would never happen. Well, it did), as did David and Stacey. Devin got to ride, too, but Sarah took a pass.



Thursday morning we piled back into the minivan and headed to Corpus Christi, where we spent a few days on the beach at Padre Island. The Gulf of Mexico is incredibly warm, and Stacey and I loved the nostalgic taste of the ocean salt water. We were able to celebrate Stacey's birthday on the 14th at the Texas Roadhouse in Corpus. She got to sit on the saddle as the waitstaff sang and wished her a happy 22nd birthday! She said she'd sit on the saddle anytime they want to wish her a happy 22nd.

Let me say a word here about Whataburger, where we stopped for lunch on Saturday. Its corporate headquarters is in Corpus Christi, and I am not exaggerating one tiny bit when I say that there was a Whataburger at EVERY EXIT! Their billboards (between the exits) say "There's one near you!". At any rate, they've got a new fan in me. For a fast food burger, it was good--I'd put it up there with In-N-Out and Good Times with regard to taste--and the service was THE BEST service I've ever had in a fast food restaurant. Very, very nice.

On Saturday we went back to San Antonio, spent the afternoon and evening at the Alamo and the Riverwalk, spent the night at Stacey's sister's home, then Sunday we were back in the car and headed home. We drove through a neat part of Texas which was founded by Germans in the 18th century, and some very clean towns with a lot of German relics (including the street signs) remain. We spent the night in Amarillo, ate some good Mexican food, then finished the trip home on Monday through the Oklahoma panhandle and Eastern Colorado. We were met outside of Denver with a womdiginous hailstorm which, miraculously, did not leave dents in the car. We couldn't even hear ourselves talk during that storm.

All in all, a great vacation. The kids had their swimsuits on every day for two solid weeks, and we all got some pretty good tans. We had fun visiting with family, who all gave us the royal treatment. We put 3372 miles on the minivan in those two weeks, and saw some new things. Now we're broke.