"I never looked for trouble, but I never ran.."

Wow. It's already the end of June and we just got back from taken Ben to school out in Orlando. I love family vacations and this was definitely one to remember. Like Mama said, we you have been everywhere it's hard to think of places to go that's different. So this time we did all the stuff we have always wanted to but had to cut out of our previous vacations because of time.

First stop. Cadillac Junk Yard.

We have driven by this place sooo many times. 10 half buried Cadillacs just waiting for us to graffiti. We got out and walked up to them and I happened to find a can of white spray paint and I definitely wanted to leave my mark. To commemorate our vacation I tagged it up with Swapp 2011. This was the first stop but we knew we had hundreds of miles left to go.

We had to drive about 900 miles each day to get Ben to school at 9am on Monday morning and we did just that. We woke up early so we weren't rushing around trying to find the place and had enough time to eat breakfast before hand. We had our day planned out while Ben was at orientation. We need to find Ben a bed and that was Sarah's task. She looked up on Craigslist and found a bed frame, mattress, and box all for $60. What a steal! Now he was set!

Ben tried to act tough when we were leaving that night but maybe he was just ready for it all to be over. For us to leave and him to be a man in the world. Making something for himself in a new place full of new opportunities.

We drove until it was about dark and stopped for the night. The next morning was going to be a long day of driving so we had to get up early. We were out the door around 6am and went to gas up. Gas up says it all too. Some of BP's handles are green and without even thinking Daddy put $100 worth of gas in our diesel excursion. Big No No. We had to get it towed to the dealership and spent the whole day and half of the next waiting for them to fix it. Even in the 100 degree heat of Florida in June we still managed to have fun. We went to see Green Lantern and played games in the hotel room. Mama always made sure we were having fun even when life didn't seem to be that great at the time.

Finally, we were off to our next stop. Dalton, GA. One of our Great Grandfather's (R. J. Neely)had served in the Confederate Army during the civil war. Mama and Sarah had been doing some genealogy and knew that he most likely was buried at Dalton after retreating back from Chattanooga, TN. They were going off a hunch that he was there and bingo bango he was. They had recently built a memorial for the 421 soldiers that had died from wounds there.

After visiting the cemetery we went to Chattanooga. There we saw Lookout Mountain. You can see Seven states from this spot and it was used in the civil war for strategic planning. Mama, Sarah and I got out to see it and Daddy and Nay thought we were trying to climb down the mountain. They came running after us faster than a coyote on a rabbit. They didn't believe we were just taking a picture!

Graceland was next. Boy was I excited. I love Elvis!! We just took the tour of the mansion and it was like a blast from the past. Totally 70s and nothing updated. I loved it. The music and the history was so fascinating. He had so many accomplishments in his short life, that is, if he died when they say he did. ;)

After that it was a long drive home. I drove in the middle of it because Daddy had to load his truck at 8am the next morning. There are some crazy drivers out there in the middle of the night. One seemed to be "riding the bull" as they say and it was tough to get around him. We made it home safely and had the weekend to recover. 4000 miles, 10 states and tons of memories I'll never forget. We're gonna miss ya, Ben!