This year we took a driving trip.  We left Jacksonville with 2 1/2 weeks to kill and headed north.

First stop: Maggie Valley - The Great Smoky Mountains

Our first night on the road was in Maggie Valley, NC.  We met Dana’s parents and two of our nephews, Shawn and Wes, there to spend the night.  Evan loved the idea that we had two eighteen hole putt putt courses right outside the front door.  So after dinner we all went out to play and Evan's round was the one to brag about.  He had 3 holes in one (honest ones at that).  The next morning we set off to Indiana via Tennessee.  Here is a picture of Dana and Evan

outside a rest area with the beautiful mountains as the backdrop and
the reason they call them "Smoky" or as Evan would say "The mountains are burning daddy!".

Second Stop: Modoc, Indiana

Our second day got us back to my hometown, Modoc Indiana where we stayed with my parents.

we built this house the summer before I started 5^th grade.  Modoc is one of those small farming communities where if you blink, its gone. It was beautiful weather and we spent a lot of time under the shade trees with the cool breeze blowing...  that is until the wind changed direction and you realized that you were indeed in the heart of hog country.  Evan had a great time with his maw maw and paw paw Brown. Here is a picture of Dad

getting friendly with a gator at the petting zoo at a nearby orchard as Evan really wonders about how alive that
gator really is.

Third Stop: Chicago, Illinois

After a week or so we left Modoc to go to Chicago to visit some friends there.  We stayed with Lucy, Gabriel, Christian and Steve,

whom we love dearly.  They are some of the finest people you will ever want to meet.  We were honored to stay in their "Notre Dame Room", though Dana (who’ll pick any team over Notre Dame) was no where near as honored as Evan and myself.  While in Chicago, we visited some more friends, Micheal, Gayle, Caroline,

and William 

and Samuel. 

They have a beautiful home on a lake outside of Chicago.  Evan and Samuel had a great time and Evan was particularly fond of Samuel's electric Jeep.  We spent the day fishing and playing with the kids.  Here is Evan waiting to net the really big one.

We also got to go to the Shedd Aquarium where we saw beluga whales and pacific white-sided dolphins to name the biggest surprises.  It is really a great place to go with the kids since there are so many fish, birds and animals to see.  The weather was beautiful.  Here we are outside the aquarium with the Chicago skyline as our backdrop.

 Here are some of the gorgeous flowers

outside as well.  We had a great time.  After a few days there, it was back to Indiana to start our trip home.

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