Summer Turns Me Upside Down

The last trip of the summer was by far the best. It started out with Mr. Lane and I trying to decide where to go, how long to stay and how much money to spend. Agreeing on Starved Rock was easy. There's beautiful scenery and jet skis. The best of both worlds for a family like ours.

We looked online for a place to stay and then we found Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge. It has an indoor water park, with slides, waterfalls, a lazy river and a wave pool. They also have an arcade, mini golf, snack bars and restaurants. The resort just opened in May and that was the first we'd seen or heard of it.

We called to book a room and their computers were down. The girl took our reservation anyway and said, "I'm sure we have a room for your family."

Before getting off of the phone, her computer was working and she discovered she didn't have a room. They were overbooked. She felt bad and wanted to make it up to us. She gave us a free upgrade to a villa. Bonus!

Through the entire summer, we have been trying to get my mother to go on a trip with us. She always says she wants to go but never actually does. So, we kidnapped her. At least she thought she was kidnapped.

When we picked her up, she was ready and her "luggage" was packed. Mr. Lane and Lane 1 carried all of her Target and Walmart bags and put them into the back of the truck. Once the truck was moving, Mr. Lane told her we weren't headed to a posh resort. We were going to Tennessee instead. The kids played along, only they didn't know they were playing. We hadn't told them about our mini vacation because we didn't want them spazzing out before we got there.

"Oh hell no! You guys are not taking me to Tennessee."

"Yeah we are," Mr. Lane and I said in unison.

"I'm gonna hang my bloomers out the window as a distress signal."

"You'll slow the truck with those parachutes," we said.

For miles we had her going. We even lied and said her "luggage" flew out of the back of the truck. She fell for that hook line and sinker too.

There's a dozen or so new photos from our trip on my Flickr account. The pictures taken with my camera phone are blurry and crappy. My new digital worked pretty well, I just didn't always have it with me. I still have some film yet to be developed.

More photos and stories about our trip are coming soon to a blog near you.