On The Road (Part Two)...

After a few weeks breather from our long Texas journey, it was time to hit the road again.  This time we were off to Nana and Papa's house in South Carolina for a family reunion we have missed every year since we lived so far away.  It's still a long drive now, but not quite as bad as what it had been in years past.   

We liked the idea of leaving super-early in the morning again, so we were out the door at 4:00am.  Whereas the trip back from Fredericksburg worked well with that, the kids falling asleep shortly after getting in the car, this time we were not so lucky.  They stayed awake the entire trip, save for a few minutes of sleep from Riley which was interrupted by Jackson.  So much for that idea.

We got there just as Papa was arriving home from work, so that pretty much made his day to see the kids playing in the drive way as he pulled up.  We spent a lot of time playing in and outside, riding Riley's scooter down the road...everyone got a turn...including more than a few for me.

The second night there we went down to the square on main street and enjoyed some live music.  Riley was a dancing machine, even getting Papa up to dance with her as well.   While there we ran into a few familiar faces, most notably Uncle Robbie and Aunt Joan.  I think we could have stayed there all night watching the dancing, but the kids were still running on fumes from the lack of sleep the day before so we called it a night a little bit early.  The next night we took a trip up to Greenville for some delicious California Dreaming (still the best prime rib sandwich ever) and downtown for a stroll along the river walk.  

On Saturday it was time for the family reunion.  A chance for me to see a lot of faces I had not seen in a while and a chance for everyone else to see a lot of faces they had never seen at all.  We had a great time, even though the day was threatened with rain.  As it turned out the rain worked to our favor, keeping everything cool and comfy for most of the day.  We had what was quite possibly the best grilled chicken ever...anywhere (If you happen to read this, kudos Jeff).  

Riley and Jackson warmed up pretty nicely to just about anyone who paid attention to them, but Riley was really waiting for and wondering where her favorite second cousin..."Uncle" Michael was.  The kids, and especially Riley, had been looking forward to seeing him and taking a ride on his boat.  He finally arrived and off we went.  Riley took a turn driving the boat even and was clearly enjoying herself.  Jackson took his turn as well, though his turn behind the wheel ended up with him falling asleep...sitting up...while Michael drove the boat.  

Prior to going over for the reunion though, we took a short drive over to Horseshoe Falls, a hidden gem of a swimming hole/waterfall that I had gone to many times growing up, so I thought it would be neat to take them there as well.   Had a great time playing in the water, checking out the falls, and collecting (and throwing) a lot of rocks, some of which Riley of course had to bring back as souvenirs.  We will definitely have to make that trip again when in SC.

After those two trips we are taking a break from road trips until Thanksgiving when we go back to Texas, though I'll be making one or two to SC for a Clemson football game in the fall and (probably) my 20 year class reunion.  Twenty!!