Vacation!

Neal and I just got back from what was easily the most epic roadtrip we have ever undertaken. And, if we've learned our lesson, the most epic roadtrip we will ever undertake. It looked like this:For those keeping track, it was over 2800 miles. That's right; Neal got the oil changed shortly before we left, and will need to get it changed again almost immediately. We saw a lot of great people and did a lot of fun things but seriously, next time we go to Texas from Wisconsin, we are flying.

I'm pretty bad about taking pictures, but I do have this photographic proof that Neal has now been to the A&M campus.
I could also give you photographic proof that we saw Nancy, but the picture of her and me is, to speak only for myself, very unflattering.

I'm totally willing to show you this one of Neal posing with a gigantic quesadilla, though.
Here's what happened: Nancy took us to a (very good) Mexican restaurant in Houston. Nancy and I ordered small quesadillas. As he explained, he thought that if we (dainty women) were getting the small, he should order the large. But then it turned out to be hilariously large.
Once we got to Kansas, the pace of our trip got much more relaxed. (We were in Montgomery, Houston, and College Station for one day apiece before we drove up to Bison.) But we did get to be touristy when my parents took us to Dodge City.
Outside of town, there's a "scenic overlook" which overlooks . . . wait for it . . . a feed lot. You can't see all the cows very well in this one, but here's us pretending to be really psyched:
And here's my dad demonstrating the "scenic overlook" 's most noticeable feature:
(OK, full disclosure: it was actually a cool day and the wind was blowing in a nice direction, so it didn't stink at all. It usually would, though!)

We visited the Boot Hill area and got to witness a real live fake gunfight!

These were some pretty suspicious characters, I tell you what.

We also stopped by the new casino outside of town. Here's my dad illustrating the before and after of casino funtimes:
Although, again, full disclosure, I made money at the casino. That's right! I played the slots for about three minutes, won $139, and immediately stopped playing the slots. (I knew that once was as many times as I was going to be that lucky.) Admittedly, I then "reinvested" $40 playing blackjack, but still!

In conclusion, during those periods in which we were not trapped in our car, good times were had by all!