And Then There Were Four...or Five...

We are at the end of the end, Tim and I, and as always, the school year has flown. Thursday is my last day with students; Tim's is Friday. We stopped and started all the way through May with vacation plans because the significant event of my summer will be knee replacement surgery on June 4. That, of course, will wreak havoc on our usual two to three week vacation. I will spend most of my summer recuperating from the surgery. Tim will spend most of his taking care of me. I'm not sure who is getting the worse end of the deal. Especially since every time the subject of the surgery comes up, Tim breaks into a cold sweat and gets sick to his stomach. I'm not kidding.

In order to make a clean break from the school year, we're going to get eight days in before the surgery. That's the shortest (and earliest) vacation we've taken in a long time. (I know...some of you are out there right now rolling your eyes and possibly whining a little about the luxury we have of getting to take extended vacations during the summers. All I can say is, "Go teach. I dare you.")

For those of you who know us, we had been talking about The Tetons or Key West, but neither had quite settled in as the place.So this morning, as we were headed out and about, the trip materialized out of nowhere. I'm not even sure how it happened or even where it got started, but by the time we got home, we put this together--Memphis, New Orleans, then Panama City Beach (or really any beach on the panhandle). Memphis is worth the stop just for the barbeque. New Orleans will provide some culture (and good food). Panama City Beach? Yep, a beach. I have some great memories of Panama City Beach, where my dad's side of the family had many family reunions, so I'm hoping we can find a spot there. I was not planning on blogging since the trips we were originally planning really did not include an actual road trip. Those trips were more about getting somewhere in a hurry and staying put. This one that we've decided upon is another bona fide road trip.

One week from today, we will hit the road again!

On another note, if you have not eaten the brisket at Sugar Fire barbeque in St. Louis, you should. It's awesome.