Family Vacation, Part 1

Last week, we loaded up the family truckster and headed out to explore the great US of A. Our mission was to find a beach and spend lots of time playing on it. After lots of research (and some luck of a last minute deal that changed our lodging from a hotel to an awesome condo), we left the comfort of home on our trek to Gulf Shores, Alabama (more specifically, Fort Morgan, Al). Saturday started with us making a stop at Jen's Mom's house to drop off Bailey for the week. Next, it just so happened that a) Canton was on our travel plan and b) it was First Monday, so we stopped for a little "thrift" shopping. We didn't find one item we were searching for (a new dog bowl set for Bailey), but we found some other good buys.

After Lunch, we were off for our big drive of the day. We decided to break up the drive into 2 days and had a room booked in Lafayette, LA. With no traffic (especially in LA where there was no one) we made good time and found some dinner. The girls, as expected, were extremely excited to be in a hotel room. They have so much fun playing around at a hotel.

The next day took us for a side trip to New Orleans. Neither one of us had visited the city before, so we wanted to see what the French Quarter was all about. After some beignets and coffee (perfectly timed during a brief shower) we headed out for a walk around the Quarter. We didn't stay too long as the girls were ready to find the beach. Next up, we got to experience the wonderful Mobile traffic. We saw a westbound backup that lasted 9 miles on I-10.. and then for another 8-10 miles coming out of Gulf Shores. Luckily, we were going the opposite direction. Never thinking we would find it, we finally made it to the Gulf Shores Walmart for food supplies and then the 20 mile trek to Fort Morgan.

Once we arrived, the trek was well worth the wait. First, the girls took the new sand buckets we had not allowed them to open and played for a good 20-30 minutes on the porch with the pieces. After a quick dinner, we headed out to check out the beach. It was beautiful. Our condo sat on a private beach, away from the busyness of gulf shores and the girls set out to find some sea shells.


More to come....