Call me sentimental...

...but I have to say, that was one of the best vacations ever. We set the bar high, my friends. And despite the stress of having a two-year old and two whiny school-aged children, it was actually a lot of fun.

I also have to say that I could not have taken this vacation with ANYONE - and that anyone includes my husband - and enjoyed it as much as I did traveling with my sister. We are just similar enough that we get along smashingly, and managed to get along smashingly for the entire trip. We have the same odd sense of humor, and that helped. We were able to laugh at a lot of the same things, and laugh at each other, and laugh at eacher others' children, and it just worked out really, really well. I assure you, my husband would not have been nearly as amused by my mini temper tantrums as my sister was, and when I would have a bad moment it would make her laugh, which would make me laugh, which would make it all better.

So, shout out to my sister: thank you, Jen, for putting up with me, and with my kids, and for making me laugh so hard that I nearly wet myself (and for making me have a spit take, and for making me spew powdered sugar, and the myriad of other times I laughed until something somewhat unfortunate almost and/or did occur). I had an amazing time. We must do it again sometime.

Rock City, GA

I don't remember the name of the waterfall, but straight ahead is Lover's Leap. On a clear day you're supposed to be able to see 7 states from that vantage point.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This was taken from a walk-out along the edge of a road. It doesn't do justice to how VAST everything is. The weather was gorgeous, as you can see.

Smoky Mountains, NC

We entered the Smokies on the tail end of a particularly nasty storm. Everything was grey and wet. These were by far the tallest mountains we encountered, and spent most of the drive through them on the way to Cherokee, NC gawking up like tourists in NYC. This pic was taken through the windshield. :)

Boalsburg, PA: People's Choice Arts Festival

This arts festival was held on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Military Museum. This is where Val got the fresh brewed ice tea she blogged about. MMMmmm....

Our home away from home

This is Mary's front porch, with all of our children (including Mary's 2-legged and 4-legged children) draped about. She has a beautiful, historic Victorian along the main drag of town - in fact, we arrived about 4 hours after their 4th of July parade went right past their house!

State College, PA: Festival of the Arts

Banners hanging above the very considerable crowd. Lots of people, and LOTS of heat!