That's right I was on vacation and I'm glad.

But, the best thing about being "out" was spending time with my boys-- Rams and Jazz.

We had planned a family get-away in advance but as with all "plans" things changed. At the last moment, Kade was unable to go so the boys and I ventured out sans Dad.

Prior to leaving, the cell phone rang with a story idea about no water in Jasonville. Aah... vacation.

On our road trip to southern Indiana, we noticed high water but continued anyway.

When we arrived at Santa Claus, Indiana the phone rang again and again. Several callers warned us about Linton possibly losing its water. Hmmm....vacation is getting better.

While playing putt-putt someone called and requested that I update the Web site. I happily replied, "I'm on vacation with my boys."

Later on that evening, Rams played navigator as we found our way to Reo, Indiana-- the home of a drive-in movie theater! (Let's put it this way...Reo was not on the map. And we still made it.)

But, en route, Jazz asked, "Can I take these snacks inside the movie theater?" You should have seen his expression when I told him, "We're taking the whole car inside."

While the boys happily watched, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", I stretched out on a blanket and stargazed/dozed as well as frequented the bathroom with Jazz the entire time.

It was a wonderful experience-- little things can be just as beautiful as those larger than life.

After finding our way back, we settled into our RV at Lake Rudolph, which is next to Holiday World.

The next day we hit the ground running.

It was a day of 95 degree-weather, sunscreen, Pepsi products and loads of fun.

The lines at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari were short and Greene County was the farthest thing from this writer's mind.

Rams and I rode the Voyage-- hands up in the front. Jazz frequented Monsoon Lagoon-- his all-time favorite spot at Splashin' Safari. (We even negotiated with Jazz and got him to ride the Zoombabwe with us!)

Oh yeah and we ate, took lots of photos, and spent most of the day cooling off at the water park.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted and sun burnt but that didn't stop our road trip.

Next stop the little river town of Leavenworth. We had reservations to stay at the Leavenworth Inn-- which is right across the road from the Ohio River.

The Inn is beautiful to say the least. It's a renovated turn-of -the-century home nestled into a gorgeous landscape. I spent the next morning with coffee in hand snapping shots of its beautiful greenery.

That morning, a surprise was awaiting us while enjoying breakfast at Leavenworth's Overlook restaurant-- which has a grand view of the Ohio River.

Upon entering that quaint spot, two Lintonians were wrapping up breakfast. (In fact, no other souls were there). So we happily chimed into a conversation about the flood back home as well as exchanged other tid-bits of information.

What's a vacation without running into someone from home, anyway?

This being the last day of our trip was also the most trying.

We were all tired, a bit cranky and Jazz didn't feel well. But, we still made it to our final destination-- Marengo Caves.

Once there, we decided on the Dripstone Trail cave tour. At this stop, I was able to take lots of snapshots of what I refer to as Mother Nature's underground artwork.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to take the Crystal Palace tour or go canoeing so we headed home.

Just in time for U.S. 231 to re-open.

Happy Trails!