Road Trip - Stop #2: Jackson, TN

We left the dogs behind with my wonderful sister and hopped back in the car for the 12 hour drive to Jackson on Tuesday morning.  We arrived around 7pm with a cheese log and crackers waiting for us and Mom's favorite chicken casserole ready to be popped in the oven.  My Grandma has lived in her current house since before I was born and I have such wonderful memories of this house.  I still remember long days in the car when we were little, getting excited when we'd cross the big bridge over the Mississippi River into Memphis because it meant that we only had a few hours left.  This time was a little different - we were coming from a different direction and this time I was bringing my son to meet his Great Grandma for the first time.  Still, there's nothing better than arriving at Grandma's house - it had been WAY too long!

We had a nice relaxing few days in Jackson, extended one day more than we originally planned because of snowy, icy weather along our route.  Great Grandma Rose and Jack became instant buddies and Jack spent most of the last day we were there cuddling with his Great Grandma in the rocking chair.  My sweet Grandma worked way too hard and made me all my favorites to eat while I was there - roast and homemade noodles, biscuits with sausage and gravy, waffles, caramel pie and of course cheese log!  We ventured out of the house a couple of times - to Target so Great Grandma could spoil Jack with some new clothes and a Johnny Jump Up (he's not quite big enough yet, but soon!) and Chick-fil-A for lunch, and a quick trip to Uncle Roy and Aunt Beth's house so I could see it for the first time.  It's beautiful!  Great Uncle Roy and Great Aunt Beth got to meet their Grand-nephew for the first time and were over often for dinner and to visit.  It was so good to see them!

Now for a few photos...

Jack meets Great Grandma Rose:

and Great Uncle Roy:

Just hangin' out:

Four generations:

As I said earlier, a couple of things didn't go as planned.  My 2 wonderful furry sons decided that they were angry at their Mom for leaving them in North Carolina and decided to make their mark all over the carpets in my sister's house (I did chip in to clean the downstairs carpets after we left!).  Katy also spent one night sleeping on the couch with Albert who had thrown up and refused to sleep in his crate.  Katy and Ian, I owe you big time!

The weather also didn't cooperate with us on the way home.  Snow hit on Friday, so we extended our trip an extra day and started out for North Carolina on Sunday.  We hit a couple of icy spots on the road between Tennessee and North Carolina, and Ian had to pick us up at a parking lot right off the highway so we wouldn't have to brave the icy side roads of Durham (his car had chains), but overall the highways were very clear and we made it safely back to Stamford late Monday night.  I took Mom to the airport on Tuesday to head back to Texas.  We were both ready to be home, but we had a great trip.  I can't believe I start back to work in a little more than 2 weeks.  Yikes!  Right now, I'm just enjoying every minute with my baby boy!