Small Town USA

Why do I have a picture of a dog on my blog? That's a good question. The dog pictured here is Tracker and he was the source of fear for me on more than one occasion. He's trimmed up here, but usually his hair is grown over his eyes and he looks like a giant mop. He used to greet me at my car door when I pulled in from work late at night, big hairy creature scared the heck out of me! He's really a gentle giant though:)

I also got to spend time with one of my best friends from college. Her daughter and Taj hit it off quite well:) She showed him the ropes on stairway safety...he didn't even fall once, thank heavens! They even shared a cookie together, now that's a true friend!

This is what I call the swirling torrent of death. Those steps are steeper than you think and you'll come over the side of that thing if you're not careful. I laughed at Brannon coming down it with Taj because I've never seen a grown man look like a beetle on its back with legs in the air and spinning in circles all the way down. They nearly came off it backwards. Karma came around the next day when I took Taj down it and ended up backwards with a monster wedgie. I think there's a reason they don't make slides like this anymore!

This monkey achieved what I couldn't on the playground: he climbed UP the slide all the way back out at the top. I always tried climbing up the slide the "wrong" way when I was a kid...it was the thing to do, a show of superiority at the playground I guess...

I got to spend a couple days with my best friend from grade school on this trip. Aren't her kids gorgeous?! I asked them to make a silly face and Taj didn't know what to think of that:)

This guy lives for the park, so we hit it even when we're out of town.

Last weekend we hit the road again and drove until the black top ended. There is something about a small town that is soothing and healing to some, obscure to others. For us though, going back home to our small towns is like coming home to ourselves again. I guess there's just a part of us that comes alive when we see the city in our rearview mirror. On this trip I decided to take pictures of the old buildings we saw along the way. Really, small towns hold a lot more history than the city sometimes because some things just stay the way they were 50 years ago. I've decided that since we travel so much, that I'm going to do a little photo album dedicated to small towns. I've always loved old buildings and history, so I'm putting my camera to good use. I don't know that Brannon is thrilled to take the scenic route on our trips, but he's a good sport. We always stop and have fun along the way though:)