Back from vacation and ready for another -- Pt. 1

David and I took a vacation these past two weekends. I was off for about 9 days and took two trips, celebrated my dad's birthday and Fathers' Day and played our first two sand volleyball games. I got a lot done. There wasn't a ton of rest involved.

It was fun though.

June 7-8 we spent in Cincinnati visiting Thomas and Beth.

We left around 5:30 a.m. hoping to be in town by the time Beth got off work, but what should have been a 6 hour drive was extended to 9 hours due to insane amounts of flooding in Indiana, especially in Terre Haute. Because a portion of Interstate 7o had gotten washed out, we were rerouted 30 miles back toward Illinois and listened to a local radio station as we passed through the town, which was in a state of emergency. We only hoped we would make it.

We finally did and were given a tour of the new Richards household. (Very nice, by the way.) They were very hospitable.

We ate at Mongo's (Mongolian Barbecue) and watched the Belmont horse race in hopes Big Brown would win the Triple Crown. (Well, they did.) He didn't. Then we crossed over the Ohio River into Newport, KY.

We explored their little downtown area, which is really nice there by the aquarium, and took photos in front of Cincinnati and from a walking bridge over the river. The sites were beautiful.

We checked out Game Works, which was a bit like Dave and Busters, but decided not to stay. If we wanted to play video games, we'd just go back to their place and let Thomas beat us (which he did) at MarioKart for the Wii.

The next day, we got up and had lunch at P.F. Chang's, which (other than my beloved QQ Buffet) had the best Chinese food I've ever had. Better check out their St. Louis area restaurants... Then we went shopping at IKEA, which I loved. God, I wish I had a new, empty house and lots of money to spend on furniture. I'd never seen anything like it. And I needed new pillows, so I was in luck. After that, we stopped at the mall and they showed us the crib that his parents bought their baby on the way, little T-Rex Richards or whatever they end up calling him. Thomas barbecued for us, and then we headed home a different route. In no way were we ready for Indiana again. That was Cincinnati.

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/viewsfromlalaland/.

Monday through Thursday we got a lot accomplished at home. David still had to go to work so I spent a lot of that time at my parents'. I washed the car (which had a coating of some chalky substance, no doubt from living down by the river) and the dog. I baked Dad a birthday cake. On Tuesday, my mom and I took Dad to the St. Louis Zoo and to Ameristar Casino to spend a $10 gift card they had sent him. We ate at a little dog-themed bar and grill in historic downtown St. Charles, then I headed back for volleyball.

Friday morning, it was time for another road trip. This time, we headed north to Chicago. Stay tuned for Part II of this epic saga.