And, we're back!

It was a nice trip. I prefer the midwest to the stifling heat of the Gulf Coast. And it was a nice drive through rural Arkansas we took today. We decided to take a little detour on our drive home and do something site-seeingly. The great thing about Arkansas is that they have all the things a real state has, plus something rather unique in the United States. We took the kids to dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park. It was only about an hour and change off course, and we only stayed a couple hours, but long enough to annoy Surly Old Guy, who threatened to have the Apple removed from the park for touching his dirt (I'd like to say there's more to this story, but really, that's about it. The Apple touched the dirt in SOG's bucket, which he was going to pan for diamonds, which he wasn't going to find in there - it literally was the dirt the Apple grabbed). We found a bunch of Agate, a couple quartzes, small quartzes, like tiny, and a few something else, but nothing worth keeping, really. It was fun, though, and something the kids will remember for a while, and which I'll never forget. But I don't think I'll go back. It was a neat one-time thing, and I don't really have the patience to pan for the hours those serious folks do.

Then it was back on the road. As beautiful as Texas is (there, I said it, can I never say it again?), it's a freaking pain to drive on highway 59 at night. There's no lights, there's few towns, there's a ton of trees on either side, so you get lulled into a highway hypnosis state, and the State, in its infinite "wisdom," decided to pave the road with coarse gravel, which has a nice loud effect to go along with the constant vibration for 120 miles that had my hands numb by the end.

And, now we're back in Houston, where we get to start worrying about whether or not Hurricane Dean is going to run up on us. I will fill my car's gas tank tomorrow on the way home from the Y, I think, just in case.

Now, it's time for the sack.