Ok, I sure hope this doesn’t blow my data allotment for this blog! In a nutshell: Vacation was awesome, the reunion was fun — very casual, just a cook-out with about 15 of the 23 members of my graduating class, time with Mom was WAAAAY too short, time with my in-laws even shorter. Driving was WAAAAAY too long — even Squid said we should fly next time and he was the main “let’s drive, flying is too expensive” proponent. Now, on to the pictures.

As I mentioned, we drove aaaalll the way to Kansas. The first leg of the trip was 12 hours, to Kansas City. One of the rest stops had a cute little play area, with a super-wide teeter-totter, swings, and a climbing area. You’ll notice a theme in all the pictures — I’m usually taking them so you won’t see me much!

After staying the night in Kansas City, we had a late breakfast, trip to Walmart for things we forgot, and a leisurely trip to Stafford. There is no hotel in Stafford except for the establishment affectionately known to the natives as The Roach Motel. No thanks! But a few years ago a former resident bought up several old Victorians and has opened 4 bed-and-breakfasts. The one we stayed in was probably the most recent acquisition and still has a lot of renovations to be done.

See those stairs? Those go up to the ‘Gentlemen’s Suite’, which was where we were staying. It was a very interesting suite of rooms, two bedrooms with two beds each, a strange little hallway and a private bath. With three children (one potty training), a shared bathroom would have been asking for disaster!

Now, I didn’t take any pictures of the Oktoberfest parade float — it was very elaborate: Hay bales and a sign that said “20th Reunion Class of 1986″. Yeah, we’re not one of the super school-spirit classes, we just wanted to hang out! There were pictures taken, but I seem to have deleted the e-mail. As soon as I get it again, I’ll post the uber-float here!

OK, this is getting long — I think I’ll post part 2 later!