The Other Vacation Stuff

I have really enjoyed telling everyone about our vacation.  Even though I have had some longer posts the last few days, I figure it beats having everyone over to watch a slide show with over 4000 pictures.  That is more than one picture for every mile we drove on this trip!  On this final day of my remembrance of our trip, I thought I would tell you about the other stops we made along the way.

The first stop we made was just a couple of hours down the road in Waco, Texas.  We made our way to the Dr. Pepper Museum.  We had been there once before many years ago, and even though I like all 23 flavors I could not imagine look at the same memorabilia a second time.  So, I looked over the website and found a special tour that would allow us a chance to create our own sodas.  For just a couple dollars more than the normal admission fee, we were able to have a guided tour and then the creative juices were flowing in their "lab."  The children and Michael divided into two teams and really enjoyed this time.  Zaira and I just watched and colored pictures on labels.  They came up with some tasty drinks...we finally decide on the top two drinks (one for each team)...Lemon Lime Green Apple (AKA Emerald) and Blue Raspberry and Green Apple with Vanilla (dubbed Ocean Breeze).  I personally loved the Vanilla Mango Root beer.

After having our fill of drinks and floats, we went to have burgers at Health Camp.  This place has been in the same place serving up hamburgers since 1948!  We heard about it on a show called Daytripper.  The burgers were really as good as he said they would be and made fresh while we waited.  This gave Sean and Edward a chance to venture off and find a geocache.  They were proud of themselves for finding it alone.  Too bad we did not have time to get out of the van to eat our food, but we chose to eat on the go because the youngest two fell asleep after a busy morning.  And, anyone traveling with young children knows...when the baby the is asleep, the car is in motion!

We crossed over our first state line, and I promptly lost my camera!  I was so sad when I realized it and no attempts to recover it were successful.  I hope the person who has it now will use it as much as I did.  The only thing I really am sad about are the pictures lost.  After the initial upset was over, I realized I was glad it happened when it did.  I only missed one day of pictures and I had just removed all my old photos before leaving home to ensure lots of memory space for vacation photos.  I guess I will be camera shopping soon. Thankfully, we all had cameras on our phones and Henry never leaves home without a camera in hand.  We just bought him a larger memory card, which of course made him happy.

We found our first hotel of the trip and then headed to a small doll museum held within the walls of the local library.  Zaira and I enjoyed seeing all the dolls.  Henry took pictures and the others put up with us as they were just glad to be out of the van.  There was not a lot to see but it was a good way to end our first day!

The next day was probably one the biggest highlights of the trip.  I saved this surprise until we were directly in view.  It was one of those chance finds on the internet that I KNEW everyone was going to love!  The largest soda bottle we have ever seen...and it was on the legendary Route 66.  The only disappointment of this experience was not seeing it lit up at night!  Imagine the best food ever eaten at a roadside cafe...and being SURROUNDED by over 600 different kinds of "pop" from around the world!

I usually do not brag about restaurant food on my blog but this food was amazing!!!  I was trying to eat "healthier" on this trip so I ordered a seven layer salad.  The waitress asked if I wanted a full or half salad...thinking it was "just" a salad, I ordered the full...Oh my!!!!  I opted for avocados instead of grilled chicken...it was delicious...I did not even need dressing as the creaminess of the avocados along with the blue cheese was just enough.  Did I mention it was in a quart size glass bowl?  It was the never ending bowl of salad but I ate it all!  Then Michael ordered a hamburger that was served on a yeasty cornbread...I have never seen that before but want that recipe!  It was delicious!


Add to all the wonderful food...the staff were all so kind and did not rush us out the door.  The children (and adults!) were fascinated by the outer glass walls that were covered in shelves of soda bottles.  And, then they were all promised the chance to choose one flavor from the various options in the store before we left.

Did I mention that large bottle standing outside the cafe?  Well, we saw a photo opportunity that we could not pass up!

Even I did not see the full potential of this place when I found it.  We stayed here an extra hour then planned and could have stayed longer.  Every one agreed that this place needed a second take.  If we are ever in Oklahoma again (a new trip is already in the making!), we will go out of our way to make this happen!

As we were driving away from Pop's we looked for a post office and found a round barn instead!  We got a picture but decided we would need to explore this site another time.

Our next small treasure was actually a skyscraper.  What is so unusual about a skyscraper?  One designed and erected by Frank Lloyd Wright in a small town above Tulsa dubbed "the tree that escaped the crowded forest."  I found a children's book about Wright before we left on the trip and Michael read about him as we passed by and on to our next adventure.

Sometimes, in my master plan, I forget important things...like eating meals!  The was mostly true for the mid-day meal because we wanted to see so much along the way, it never seemed a good time to stop.  On our fourth day of travel, Edward asked if we would see any of the Amish country.  If ever there was foreshadowing on our trip it was at that moment (although I told him it was not likely!).  We were looking for a place to eat, when we happened to see a sign stating Amish Country Store (how fitting, right?) and decided that was the place to stop.  We immediately saw a horse drawn buggy going down the road, and the store (also a restaurant) had a spot for buggy parking.  We had a nice meal and wandered through the store with home-made pieces of furniture and crafts.  A nice surprise for all of us!

Then we raced across Iowa to the National Balloon Museum dedicated to hot air balloons.  I LOVE hot air balloons...I have always wanted to ride in one.  I have never found anybody to go with me.  So, (for now) this was my chance to at least look at one up close.  The only problem was we arrived ten minutes before closing.  The volunteer at the desk was very nice and offered to try to find a person who could keep the museum open a little longer.  I told her we would just look for a few minutes and leave.

It turned out to be a smaller museum than we expected, and all I really wanted to do was stand in front of a basket and let somebody snap a picture.  Sure enough...there was a mock balloon set up for just such a photo opportunity!  We look at several of the displays and we were heading back to the van.  Half the family was already buckled in, when the woman told us she had found someone!

I felt terrible...but for anyone who has traveled with a little one knows...if the baby is happy...keep the vehicle in motion...I was not taking Zaira out of the van.  We really had seen all we wanted to see.  Michael did go back in with our little crew and take a photo.  The woman insisted after hearing our story of the LEGO people who were along for the ride.  But, then we were back on the road.

And, with that written...I realize that we have just done too many things on this vacation.  I will have to post about an amazing time with kaleidoscopes tomorrow and finish up my tale.