The Family Vacation - Day 8: Travel (3 of 4)

Well, it was time to start making our way back toward the normal routine.  It's been a good vacation but I think it is best we call it now.  The kids have been great and it will be nice to end on a good note.  Yet we just couldn't make the trip home simple.  That would be too easy.  Instead, we decided to tackle a couple of extra hours of driving today.  That should make tomorrow easier and give us a chance to catch up on a little necessary laundry.  Oh, and we couldn't waste an opportunity to make one additional stop.

We had packed what we could into the car last night, leaving only the necessities to use and pack away.  That still left us with about half an hour of final assembly and stress to get on the road.  Having committed to a long day it was a little frustrating to corral everyone -- myself possibly the worst offender trying to make sure we didn't leave anything, even a mess, behind -- and get going.  However, we made it and left without major conflicts.

Before we left the area it was a treat for my wife and I to have the opportunity to visit the Naval Aviation Museum.  Thankfully the kids were also enthralled so that we didn't have to rush through the exhibits and I was thankful for the opportunity to start guiding them to an appreciation for what our service men and women have sacrificed for us.  Videos scattered throughout the exhibits drew my kids attentions.  My son likes planes and enjoyed that aspect but he's just too young for much more.  I believe my daughter, given some of her questions, may have started to see that there is more to learn and that there are times when we must help each other under sad circumstances.  Good for her; she has a great heart.  We spent a little longer in the museum than we originally anticipated.  It helped that there was a recent addition for the kids: an internal play area.  Yay!

On the way out, we stopped to eat peanut butter sandwiches by the gulf at a small gazebo along an exercise trail.  It was a little chilly but it was still nice to be outside with a little quiet time before leaving the base and getting into the long driving segment of the day.  Food and other stops later, we pulled into the hotel around 11pm, making for a long but simple haul.