We woke up in Hayden’s house refreshed and ready for the day. The beds were great and the hospitality even better! The kids were already up and playing with their cousins. We told them that we had to leave today for our next destination, but they were not too happy about it. After breakfast, we talked for a bit and got ready to leave. I found out that Hayden had a 9:00 am eye doctor appointment where they were going to dilate his eyes. I told him we would stay and babysit so Jennifer could go with him and drive him home. Hayden insisted that he didn’t need help and would be fine, but we used the kids playing as an excuse to stay a bit longer and help out.
When Hayden and Jennifer got back Hayden’s eyes were a mess. He said, not surprisingly, that there is no way he could have drove back from his appointment. We decided before we left for our next destination that we would call my parents. Mom and dad were leaving KC that morning with a “quick” stop in Wichita and then on to have lunch on the 6th with Hayden and Jennifer. They were between three and fours hours behind us on the road and we decided that we didn’t want to wait. Danelle and I planned this vacation with the kids in mind. Our goal was not to spend more than four or five hours in the car any day if we could help it. That was part of the reason for our hops seeing different family instead of taking the direct route to the wedding from St. Louis.
So we took off after pleasant goodbyes to Hayden and family since they were not going to the wedding. We were now on the road straight to Austin, Texas. But it didn’t take long before we had our first detour. Right after leaving the air force base, there were numerous old planes on display. It was prohibitively hot outside, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from seeing the planes. I won’t bore you with more than two pictures, but there is at least 1 photo of every plane there and the placard describing it.
Trying to keep the drive interesting, I saw a sign for Turner Falls and decided to detour off the highway to give the kids a break and look at a waterfall. I drove for close to 40 minutes before I ended up on a peninsula of a large lake wondering where I went wrong. After a short discussion with a local, he set me straight. 40 minutes back to the highway and the next exit down was Turner Falls. Be warned that if you go here, it does cost money to get in. There isn’t a lot you can see from the road and the kids will only complain about how that is ALL they want to do the whole trip!
After much complaining we were back on the road. But eventually, we gave up and got the kids something to keep their mouths full so they couldn’t complain. Somehow, that ended up being ice cream…
Of course, ice cream and drinks can only lead to a bathroom break. And we found the worst bar-b-que in Texas when we stopped!
Somewhere along the way, I ended up getting on contact with my parents on the phone. By attempting to be on time, they broke a Haake Law of Physics by trying to be on time and were punished! Just like last year’s vacation, their van broke down in Oklahoma City. They had to wait a while for it to be rush fixed. At this point, we were glad that we didn’t wait for them to show up in town. It was nice to finally arrive in Austin, Texas and check into our hotel room for some needed sleep!