Heading Home

We actually started heading home on Wednesday. Because we were in no hurry, we were able to visist the Forbidden Caverns as mentioned in the previous post which included a trip through a really cool covered bridge. Then on the way, we hit some really nasty weather which slowed traffic to an extremely slow pace.

I guess old age is catching up with me (39 this year) because we did not make the trip all in one day. Instead, we decided to spend the night in Frankfurt, Kentucky before finishing the trip.

Here is how Candy saw me for the almost 2000 miles of highway:

And this is how Lily viewed Candy during that same time: And I never thought that I would appreciate the Chicago skyline as much as I did on Thursday afternoon:It was a GREAT vacation and we had lots of fun but we were glad to get back home.

I forgot to mention that on Monday as we were going from Winston-Salem to Gatlinburg, we stopped in the little country town of Hiddenite, North Carolina to check out the Hiddenite mines. You can either dig for gems, sluice for them in the creek, or (like us) buy buckets of ore and go to sluicing tables and search for gems that way. Lily got all into the action. I put the ore in the screen and she would start shaking it in the water. When that was gone, she would say,"I need more dirt." We all had a blast and I would recommend doing it if you get the chance. The cool part is that you get to keep whatever gems you find like the clear Quartz crystal, the Amethyst, Ruby, Emerald, or the "Dog" rock that Lily found (a large spotted rock).

Trip to the Caverns

On Wednesday, we decided to check out Forbidden Caverns before heading home. I think that it is so cool to see some of God's handiwork up close. Check it out:
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Aquarium Time

On Tuesday, we hooked up with my mom and sister and her kids to go and take a walk through the Gatlinburg Aquarium. It was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!! There was one tank that had nothing but various different types of rays. Lily enjoyed the part where we stood on the moving floor and was surrounded by the tanks of fish. I was awed by the different types of fish.
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Family Pics

Here is a link to the family pictures from North Carolina (for those Westerners who are impatient).

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Still Going

Well, here it is day #6 and I still have pics to post from the SciWorks where we went Saturday.

There was this really cool green picture on the wall that if you looked at it just right, you could actually see the telescope in it.

And if you looked at it at yet another angle, you could actually see through the telescope.

There was lots of stuff for the kids to play with including the electric globes that make your hair stand up and if you put your foot too close to the person touching the globes, you can see the current arc and feel the shock (personal experience talking).

That is all for now.

National Bafoon's Family Vacation Update

Here we are on the third day of our excursion. Day two yielded itself to the women going out shopping while I stuck around and was just plain lazy. The third day was the reason for our trip......Melissa's graduation. It is hard for me to believe that she is old enough to be doing that. Anyway,

here she is walking tall and proud with the diploma in hand. WAY TO GO MELISSA!!!!

After the ceremony, it was time to head to the house so the Grad could open her gifts. Jacob had to be the jokster and buy her a cowbell and stick and then tell her that the only cure for her fever is..........MORE COWBELL!!!! That was followed by lunch at the church in honor of all the Graduates from the congregation. It had been a while since I had roasted pig and let me tell you it still tastes great.

Later, Candy and I took the kiddos (Jake, Hannah, Lily, and Christian) to a place called SciWorks which is a hands-on kids place where they have all kinds of stuff to do including "Stuffy". Stuffy is a giant doll with all the guts hanging out so that you can put them back in. And when I say guts, I mean Guts. Here are the latest round of pics for you to enjoy.

STUFFY!!
There was a lot more but I'm too pooped to add them. Maybe I'll do it later.

National Bafoon's Family Vacation

Well, I can't believe it's finally here. Time for the family to load up the "Family Truckster" (a rented Kia Sedona) and hit the open road for a few days of fun, festivities, food, and all the other stuff that goes along with putting three kids in a van for a few hours at a time.

The trip started on Wednesday, June 4th with little troubles. Traffic around Chicago was a lot better than I anticipated. With Candy riding "shotgun", we breezed though and was into Indiana in no time at all. The kids were really holding up well.

After many miles and several hours, I had just about taken all I could and decided to camp out at the world-famous Winchester Holiday Inn (where the towels are oh so fluffy). The next morning, we got up and had breakfast. Because we were not in any BIG hurry, we decided to check out a Civil War "Fort" we had seen signs for.

Well, after hiking up this MOUNTAIN for what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived at the "Fort". It was the command center building that was now being used for personal relief purposes. There was also a couple of "Fortification Ditches" where the soldiers would fire from as well as.....

That's right, a REAL Civil War era cannon. And of course, the kids couldn't help but to climb on it and strike a pose. This thing stills rolls and is able to elevate and lower the barrel (just in case).

I then had Hannah take the time to pose solo for me so that I could try out a feature on our camera.............PANORAMIC!

I forgot to mention that this particular excursion was plagued by about one million (give or take ten) locusts. These things were EVERYWHERE!! Lily surprised me the most because she never freaked out while they were flying all around us. We also figured out what there was to defend:

A River Invasion from those pesky Yanks. I just thought that the scenery was really beautiful.

Anyway, after returning to the van and then the road, things went smoothly throughout Kentucky and into West Virginia and then Virginia. The whole trip was surrounded by absolute beauty that only God Himself could create. Lily didn't much like the idea of looking out of her window and being able to see a couple of miles down into the valleys but it was GORGEOUS! We even had to go THROUGH the mountains a couple of times via the tunnels that had been dug out.

Lily asked why it was so quiet in the van and we got to explain to her that we were inside the mountain and that not even the radio worked.

All in all, it was a great trip down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to spend some time with Candy's sister Mary and her family before heading over to Gatilinburg, Tennessee and a chance to hook up with my mom and sister.

Check back as we should be posting about our adventures as wonderful things happen.