I'm So Tired, Y'all - Branson Christmas Vacation (Saturday and the Aftermath)

I woke up early on Saturday to ensure that everything was ready to go, and mom was up as well. I asked how she was feeling and she said that a day to relax was just what she needed. Since I’d anticipated that it would take much longer for Hubby & The Kiddo to get ready, we were all standing around staring at each other by 7am, so what did we do? We vegged out on our phones for a while until I got The Antsies strong enough to make me get everyone moving. I’d rather veg out at the airport, than risk the chance of missing a flight due to running out of gas, or a car accident, or long TSA lines, or whatever. So, an hour later, we were at the Springfield airport. It was freezing outside (almost, it was 33ºF) as we unpacked the SUV and went inside. Returning the SUV was super easy, so there’s extra time there, too. We found a nice place to sit at the gate to watch airplanes come and go (what few there were). I got up and got a soda (dammit, no bottled Pepsi to be found) and we all just chit-chatted for an hour or so.

We gate-checked our carry-ons and headed on to the small plane. Since it was a 2-seat row, Mom and the Kiddo got a row to themselves, and Hubby and I had a row to ourselves, and he finally got a window seat, and let me tell ya… him watching takeoff was like watching a little boy see a pony for the first time. His whole body was full of excitement and he kept looking at me with a big ol’ grin on his face, totally worth giving up the seat for him.

We landed in Chicago, where it was a balmy 11ºF, but no snow on the ground. The airport was really pretty, but very large. We had more than an hour to kill, so we started looking for food. We found a McDonald’s and backtracked to a terminal walkway where we could sit on deep window ledges and not be in the way. I scarfed down too many chicken McNuggets and just let some of the stress and airplane seat uncomfortableness melt out of my body. Once we were all full of chemicals, we pulled up the AA app to make sure our gates hadn’t changed, and SHOCKER! The Kiddo’s gate had changed, again. Thankfully, it stayed in the same terminal, but just a different gate.

Sadly, once we got to the gate, we had to leave her. We all said our goodbyes and got lots of hugs… and then a few more… and turned around and headed three terminals over to our own gate for our final flight back to warm & sunny Tampa Bay.

Before we took off, I checked text messages one more time, and saw that the Kiddo had yet ANOTHER delay, this time due to “Aircraft Failure.” I don’t have other texts from her to confirm, since she was also texting with Hubby, but I think she finally landed in Milwaukee around 7pm, and she ended up staying over at her friend’s house for the night (rather than driving all the way home). We landed in Tampa around 6pm to the most gorgeous sunset I’d seen in years, and after getting our luggage and finding our car, we dropped mom off at home by 7:30pm. After we dropped her off and got our hugs, we got back in the car and just… exhaled. It was like, fuck yeah, we made it. This massive undertaking of a family vacation, so many moving pieces, and it worked pretty much flawlessly (except for a few hiccups). I felt like I was taking off a 100-pound backpack and could just breathe again.

We hit up Long John Silver’s for dinner, because I didn’t want to have to stop halfway through the trip home. I was already getting dangerously depleted, I felt like a bathtub that was almost completely drained. I don’t remember what I ordered, but I asked for a cup for ice water, then proceeded to fill it up with soda at the machine and waited for my food. Hubby just sat there and looked at me until I realized what I did, then he went back up to the front and paid for another soda and filled it up with ice water for me. I kind of mumbled thank you as he smiled at me with this weird, affectionate smile that he has, that only comes out at certain times. He told me something next, that actually kind of threw me a little bit… He said “I like it when you’re vulnerable; I can take care you when you’re like this.” I wasn’t offended or put out, but it did make me realize that perhaps I take the “Strong, independent woman who don’t need no man” persona a bit far sometimes, and that there’s nothing wrong with allowing the man I love to help me when I need it.

Once we finished dinner, we hit up a Circle K for mass quantities of Pepsi (yes, even on top of what we got at LJS) and made the two-hour drive home. Thankfully, it was quiet and peaceful and totally uneventful (I use this word a lot…). My driveway looked amazing. My home looked inviting. My bed was fucking magical. I think I was asleep before I even rolled over.

The next morning was Recovery Day. You know the drill, unpack, put everything away. Put all the stuff you ended up not bringing with you away. Catch up on emails. All that jazz. I think we stayed in bed until 10, just snuggled up and enjoying being alone. I could have stayed there all day, but real life was kicking back in… I had to do laundry and get ready for the upcoming work week.

So, would I do this again? Yeah, I think so! Mom even joked on the way home about where we gonna go next? I think we need a bit of time to pay off this vacation though… Mom paid $1,000 for the VRBO. I paid $1.700 for the flights and rental car. When I add that in to everything else we paid for (like meals and experiences), it came out to $2,900. Honestly? For 5 days in a touristy area like Branson, flying from two different locations? Not bad. When you add in the cost of the VRBO, that totals $3900, which is still  $1000 total per person, under $200 total per person, per day (I have a full cost breakdown below, if you're curious). I know you can’t put a price on priceless memories, but damn, we did pretty good! (Okay, I’m not humble, I’ll say it… I did

pretty good. I found all the deals. I booked the VRBO. I booked the flights. I rock.)

But for now, it’s important to notice that it’s about 2 weeks until Christmas, and there’s a buttload of things that need to be done! Decorating, cleaning, shopping, cooking… And that’s just at home! I have two meetings to set up, a Christmas Party to decorate for, and an entire week’s worth of work to catch up on before we close for Christmas.

Maybe next time we do this it won’t be so close to a major holiday!

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For you weirdos (like me) who like to see real numbers, 

here's how much we spent for this entire trip:

HOW Delayed??? Branson Christmas Vacation (Tuesday & Wednesday)

Well, we’re back from our bougie family vacation in Branson, and holy shit, I’m tired!

Oh, and to point out as we start this – one thing you’ll notice is that there’s not a whole lot of photos, which just seems wrong, right? Nah. I ended up just being in the moment and enjoying my family that taking tons of photos never once crossed my mind!

But let’s back up…

On Tuesday, Hubby and I woke up at the ass-crack of dawn, about 3am. We loaded up the car and headed south to pick up my mother. We stopped along the way for a vat of Pepsi, and later, a few sausage biscuits to tide us over through the first flight.

Traffic was light on the interstate and we got to mom’s around 7am. My aunt was still asleep, so we didn’t have to dodge that chatty bullet (I love her, but she chats!). I filled up my water bottle with ice from mom’s freezer, then loaded up her luggage and made our way south again, to Tampa. We got our parking spot and rolled our way into the airport, stopping for the obligatory photo with Phoebe (didn’t come out so well, but it’s a good representation of how tired I was already!) We rode the fun little monorail to our terminal, and went through TSA. None of us got dinged for anything, and they even just waved mom through with no scan or detector!

Yes, that is a massive flamingo statue in the middle of an airport

We had plenty of time to kill at our gate, so we all vegged out on our phones. For those of you who remember the Great Eclipse Dramamine Debacle of 2024, let me tell you about The Dramamine Plan! I bought these cool little pill keychains and filled them with Dramamine and Aleve. I gave one to Hubby, clipped one on my Bagallini, and another to my beltloop. I also set alarms on my phone to tell me to take the damn Dramamine, and I’m happy to report that this plan worked wonderfully, and no airsickness was to be had. I now return you to your previously scheduled vacation blog…

At 8:30am, I got a text from The Kiddo that her flight from Milwaukee had been pushed back 30 minutes. Then another 30 minutes. Then another… The safe, two-hour layover I planned for her in Chicago kept shrinking; I worried about her running through O’Hare like the McCallisters, trying to catch her flight to Springfield!

She then texted that they were able to get her on a different Milwaukee-to-Chicago (MtC) flight that should arrive in Chicago with time to spare, so I felt a little bit better as we got on our own first flight (to Charlotte).

Hubby understood the plan; mom didn't realize I was taking a photo!

When we landed, I texted her to see what was happening, and she said that {because her first original flight was due to land after her second flight took off}, American automatically rebooked her on a different Chicago-to-Springfield (CtS) flight that would arrive at 6:30pm!! She was originally supposed to arrive in Springfield around 2pm (we’d arrive at 3pm). She was able to get on the Standby List (and later on the flight)  for a different flight that would get her to Springfield around the same time, but because her luggage was already set to fly on the new flight, it wouldn’t arrive until later. Not the best news, but we could always check in at our VRBO then drive back to pick up her bags.

She got on her flight at almost the same time we got on ours, and the lucky duck got an entire row to herself in a front row of economy! She landed about 20 minutes before we did, and decided to go check Baggage Claim anyway, just in case, and thank god… her luggage was there waiting for her! They were able to pull it off the other flight and squeeze it on to this flight, which means that there’s no need to come back to Springfield later.

2nd Flight, let's go!

Hugs all around as we met up with her at the baggage carousel, then we headed over to pick up the rental from Hertz. My car was almost ready, and by the time we finished the transaction, they had it waiting for me at the curb, right outside – didn’t even have to go find it in the lot (as small as that lot actually was). We ended up with a 2025 Chevy Equinox SUV, which was very spacious and comfy, and a tank to drive. It got great gas mileage, too… never filled up during the entire trip. I didn’t love it, though. It was clunky to drive, needed large amounts of space to stop, the remote start didn’t work most of the time, and you had to go outside to open the back hatch. The tech inside was neat, like the google map showing up on the dashboard, not just the infotainment screen. But other than that, it was definitely not a vehicle I’d add to my “I’d buy that” list. It cost about the same as my Nissan Altima, and I love her so much more!

The drive to Springfield was quick, though we did stop for sodas and Icees at a very janky Maverick. Checking in for our VRBO only took minutes, and they never tried to upsell me anything like show tickets or the like. Our apartment we booked was on the top floor of a 3-level condo (where the 2^nd floor was actually level with the parking lot). So we had to lug all of our suitcases upstairs, but it wasn’t too bad. Mom got the downstairs room, Kiddo got the upstairs room, and we took the master bedroom in the back. We all settled in to our rooms for a bit then converged again in the living room to decide on dinner. 

A terrible photo of an amazing Ozark sunset

We chose The Farmhouse Restaurant in downtown Branson, which was AMAZING! It was later in the evening, so it was quiet, which worked in our favor, as the dining room could probably only hold 50 people. Hubby and The Kiddo both got a burger & fries (which was delicious). I got silver dollar pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, & a biscuit, and let me tell you… this is a breakfast made in heaven. The biscuit was pillowy and buttery and soft; the pancakes were just the right texture and firmness to stand up to butter and maple syrup without disintegrating, and the bacon… oh the bacon was fatty and salty and unctuous and amazing. Yeah, it was definitely the right choice for our first meal in Branson (but could anything live up to it?)

Burger & Seasoned Fries, cooked to perfection

Silver Dollar Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, and Biscuit

After rolling ourselves out of The Farmhouse, we walked up and down Main Street but by then pretty much everything was closed (typical of Branson, we learned!), so we pointed the car to Walmart to pick up our online order (drinks, snacks, etc). Mom had never done a pick-up before, so she was very interested in the process and how well it worked. She said that she’d maybe do one when she got home, to see how her store handled it.

Back at the house, we put all of our groceries away, and as I always do, I ordered way too much stuff. I’d gotten Pepsi, Mtn Dew, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, and bottled water. I got two types of Little Debbies, some Slim Jims, and a variety box of chips. I even got a package of TP (mostly because mom swore that every time she’d been at a VRBO they ran out of TP. Spoiler alert... we never ran out of TP). Oh, and a box of half-gallon freezer bags. Did you know they made half-gallon size freezer bags? I didn’t! Now I love them and want them all the time. Anyway, we all went our separate ways for the night and went to sleep.

Wednesday dawned cold and blustery, only 45º when we all got out of bed. We decided to do breakfast at a local favorite, Billy Gail’s, and holy moly, I see why it’s a favorite! The Kiddo ordered French Toast with eggs, grits, sausage, and a biscuit. Hubby ordered scrambled eggs with sausage and a biscuit. I thought I’d be clever and get a single scrambled egg, a biscuit, their fancy “Million Dollar Bacon” and a single pancake. Now, this place is famous for their 14-Inch Sweet Cream pancakes, but their menu was laid out so it looked like you could get this massive pancake OR a short stack of regular pancakes. So I ordered one. And, y’all… this pancake was massive. It was the size of a frozen pizza! It took up half the table! Everyone helped me eat it, but I think that ¾ of it stayed untouched, unfortunately. It was delicious, and everyone should get one, but be known that it’s MASSIVE and you’ll be stuffed if you try to eat IT and any other food too. The “Million Dollar Bacon” was “Fifty Dollar Bacon,” not nearly as sweet, savory, or spicy as promised; plus it was a little overcooked and tasted like it sat around a while. Oh well… The biscuits were a tasty runner-up to The Farmhouse. Everyone loved their meals.

French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Cheese Grits, Biscuit

Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Biscuit

Scrambled Eggs, Biscuit, "Million Dollar Bacon," Pancake

When The Kiddo got her luggage from the carousel last night, she saw that she’d broken one of the wheels on it, so today was an adventure to get her a new suitcase. We decided to hit up some thrift shops first, since we’re in a heavy tourist area; if we didn’t get lucky there, we’d head over to Walmart.

Our first stop, Elevate, was lovely, but very small. A little bit of everything, but no luggage to be found. Next, we went over to the Branson Humane Society thrift store, and we found a great, barely used, Samsonite carry-on roller bag for just ten bucks! No stink or smell, no little bits of detritus in the seams. We also found a really nice leather computer briefcase/roller bag that could be used as her Personal Item, so we snagged that up as well. Twenty bucks for two pieces of luggage that will keep her travelling for quite a while? Yes please!

On the way back to the VRBO, we stopped at Hurts Donut  for some treats to bring back. Everyone picked up three donuts (I think it cost about $30, oof). Now, I say this with love, but… it didn’t feel the same in there. Like, when we were there in 2021 there was this fun, funky vibe to it, but this time around, the vibe was “Yeah, we’re super-cool and you know it so give me five bucks for a donut so you can feel cool too.” It’s hard to explain why I wasn’t nearly as impressed with them as I was last time… maybe I was expecting too much?

Butterfinger Chocolate Cake, Lemon, Slim Shady, THE Brownie, Jesus, Birthday Cake, Jesus, Maple, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, and German Chocolate
(I don't remember what the two missing ones are!)

Back at the house, we all just vegged out on the couch and ate a donut and chatted about nothing important (seriously, getting The Hubby and The Kiddo together is like a nerdy ComiCon) for a few hours. We threw on some layers, as we were heading out into the cold to do some shopping and ziplining at Branson Landing.

First up, we went to Dick’s 5 & 10. I expected a small, tourist-tacky type store, but this was something else. There were probably 30 aisles, 3 deep, that just kept going back and back. Everything you could think of was in this store. Some touristy, some kitschy, some quirky, some useful, some nostalgic, some silly… some of everything! Originally, I was hoping to get some bottled beverages for a Weirdos video, as well as some nostalgic or wacky foods to try – I had a vision of all four of us trying weird stuff and making a video. But it seemed like the choices were “normal candy that was marked way up” or “shitty candy from Japan that none of us want.” At some point, Hubby and The Kiddo split up from me and mom, except for when Hubby came back to tell me that there was something The Kiddo kept arguing with herself about buying but didn’t want to blow so much of her budget on that item. So I snuck over there, hid it in my coat and bought it for her for Christmas. I think, all in all, we were in there for about two hours, and I honestly could have stayed for more. Maybe we’ll go back before we leave.

Our next stop was Branson Landing to ride Parakeet Pete’s Zipline. Mom had thought that this was a good zipline to try out first since it seemed ‘calmer’ (?) than the Shepherd one. Now, I do have to point out at this time, it was about 40º outside, and at night. Right? Okay, let’s go. We walked up to the booth and asked to ride, and the two attendants looked at us like we were insane. But gladly took our fifty bucks. They put us in the seats – which were too shallow for adult butts and extremely cold – and then made us get out so they could fix something… yeah, that’s a vote of confidence right there… Back in the seats, they strapped us in with simple lap belts and told us to have fun, and then we were pulled backward and upward to the other side of the Tanycomo. It was a LOT faster than I was expecting, and those shallow seats felt really shallow with gravity doin’ its thing. At the top of the lift, we were let go and we zipped back down over the river, again at that insanely steep angle, and after about 15 seconds, we ‘landed’ at the bottom. It was a bit of a rough ride, and scarier than I’d expected. It totally gave me "Unsafe County Fair Ride" vibes. Mom seemed to enjoy it at the time, but she didn’t really say much about it, now that I think about it now…

After we got out of the chairs, I asked Hubby and the Kiddo if they wanted to do it, and The Kiddo was all “HELL NO!” but Hubby was open to it, so I immediately got us paid up to do it again. I gave him a few heads’ up about what will happen and then back we went. He wasn’t a huge fan of the backward part, nor the waiting at the top part, but then they let us go and we zipped back down, and he really enjoyed himself. I wore a GoPro for both of the trips, but like a dumbass, I wore them facing OUT (like a POV shot) instead of pointing it at us so I could record our reactions instead. I’ll share them below, anyway.

We walked around Branson Landing afterward, but it was very cold, and very empty, so we gave up and decided to hit up Billy Bob’s Dairyland for dinner. I think we got there within an hour of them closing, because it was mostly empty. We all got burgers except for Mom who got onion rings and a bowl of chili (she said it was delicious). Burgers were okay, but tough and overcooked. Fries were delicious. Shakes were meh. Definitely not the best meal we’d had in town, but they can’t all be winners!

Cheeseburger & Crinkle Fries

Chili with Cheese & Onions

Tired and full, we headed home. When the Kiddo went upstairs to potty, mom casually said that she’d brought a card/money for The Kiddo for Christmas and wasn’t sure when she should give it to her. Hubby had also brought a gift card for the Nintendo Store, and I had the Funko Pop that we bought for her at Dick’s, so when she came back down, we showered her with our little impromptu Christmas. She and Hubby stayed up a while longer, taking Nerd Stuff, but mom and I went to bed.

Tomorrow is one of the two things that I’ve most been looking for this entire trip, and I can’t wait! 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 1 (Flying for the First Time)

It's finally time!!!!!!

If you're new here, howdy! Last year, we made the decision to fly for the very first time, to go on vacation to view the Total Eclipse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Stick around to read all about our adventure in the northern Southern US and the Midwest! 

For the past few days, Hubby's been fighting some sort of cold (hell, could have been Covid for all we knew...). Because of this, he'd been sleeping badly the past few days, too. Also because of this, we'd not been eating healthy dinners, and last night was no exception! I was going to make scrambled eggs, but the eggs were too old to use, so we ended up with a super-healthy dinner of ice cream and chocolate milk... On the bright side, it's full of calcium and protein!  

I was fully packed, showered, and in bed by 8:15pm, watching some TV until I had to force myself to go to sleep. I set my watch alarm for 4:45am, and was out of bed by 5:15am. I set about doing all the typical morning tasks (brushing teeth, doing hair), then drank some OJ and took Dramamine. I woke up Hubby and we were out of the house at 5:55am for our 7:05am flight, via our small, local airport that was 3 miles away. 

The parking lot was pretty full when we got there; we parked about 6-7 rows from the front door, and when we got inside, there were probably 10-15 people already in line for TSA - with only one TSA agent checking people in. I took out all of my stuff like liquids, electronics, and was then chastised by the TSA agent that I didn't need to do that (hey, how about telling us this somehow, like posters or announcements?) I made it through the scanner, but Hubby got flagged because he forgot to take his wallet out of his pocket. I got flagged for my stainless steel water bottle that I'd frozen the night before (3/4 of it was a solid mass of ice), and also for the small bags of Epsom Salts in my toiletry case. They had to take those out and test them for, well, whatever they test them for. Whoops! 

• Lesson Learned - Don't bring frozen water in an opaque bottle
• Lesson Learned - Don't bring Epsom Salts in your carry on

All in all, it took about 30 minutes to go through TSA, and we were already facing Last Call for Boarding when we got to our gate (there were only 2 other parties behind us to get on). And of course, by this point, there was no overhead bin space left, so after all of my planning and packing, we had to gate check our carry-on suitcases anyway... 

On the bright side, we did save $100 for not paying to check them beforehand, so I got that goin' for me. 

• Lesson Learned -  Boarding Time is much more important than Departure Time
• Lesson Learned - Gate-Checking is a smart way to save money (if you want to check small bags)

This plane had about 30 rows of seats - 2 on one side, 3 on the other - and those seats were tiny! Okay, maybe they were smaller than normal and I'm bigger than normal. But they were small enough that I couldn't maneuver my body to get anything out of my Personal Item bag that was stuffed under the seat in front of me, so it was a good thing I had my tiny Baggallini cross-body with my most urgent personal items (glasses, phone, etc). 

• Lesson Learned -  have an easily accessible small bag for your most urgent personal items

We started taxiing down the runway, but got stopped at the end because of heavy traffic in Atlanta, as well as some bad weather, so we had to camp out for about 15 minutes before we finally started take off. I was curious how Hubby would handle it and how terrible I would feel. Thankfully, he did great and I didn't get too sick - it kind of felt like an unfamiliar roller coaster... I didn't know when the dips or rises would happen, so I was at the mercy of the track. If I looked at the wing, I was fine, but if I looked anywhere in the cabin AND I could see out the window (via my peripheral vision), my vertigo issues would kick in, and I'd have to close my eyes a few minutes to 'reset' myself. 

Once we got settled, I was just enthralled with watching the clouds and they were so freakin' beautiful when we got above them, like cotton candy below us. I spent way too much time looking at - and photographing - the clouds, which really was a great way to distract myself from turbulence. Oh, speaking of turbulence; someone a long time ago described turbulence as Sky Potholes, and it really stuck in my brain... The plane was fine, it just hit a pothole! There was no WiFi or seat-back entertainment, so I spent the entire flight (when I wasn't taking photos) playing Free Cell on my phone. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Florida

We got into Atlanta about 20 minutes late, with an additional 20 minutes to deplane everyone. Using the Plane Trane to get from our gate to Concourse A was very fast and easy. Our connecting flight was loading Main 2 when we got there (we were Main 3), but I had to pee! Luckily, this gate was right next to a restroom, I I peed the fastest pee I ever peed, and by the time I got back, it was our turn to load. The cabin was mostly full at this point, but I was able to find a place for my carry on (well, my Personal Item that became my Carry On), but Hubby had to shove his under the seat again. 

We attempted The Middle Seat Game, where you book the window and aisle and hope that the middle seat stays empty, but we lost... We ended up with a young man between us, but he just slept for the entire flight, so maybe we won? 

This plane was bigger, with better overhead fans, and a little more legroom than the other, which was nice, since we had to wait in a long line of planes before we took off. It was cool to watch them all just line up like cars, to take off one after the next. I think we were about 20th in line, with another 10 that I could see behind me. Takeoff was much more powerful, since it was a bigger plane, too. I was able to get WiFi on this plane, but still no seat-back entertainment, so I stuck with FreeCell again. The Tiny Snack Lady came by and I got a tiny bottle of water and a tiny bag of tiny SunChips in Garden Salsa. They were meh. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Georgia

We landed on time and, because the Memphis airport is so small, it didn't take long for us to 'park' and deplane. Since we gate-checked our suitcases, we had to go down to Baggage Claim, and then trek over quite a ways to the Rental Car area. As we stepped outside, we were hit with chilly weather! It was about 55º outside! It was 70º when we left north Florida at 7am! 

Avis assigns a car to you in the app so that you can go right to it (no need for employees and check-in desks), but also gives you a few options. We were assigned a Mitsubishi Outlander, but could also have chosen a Chrysler 300 or a Buick Enclave. We didn't even think to go check out the other options (they were in other random parking spots), and just stuck with the Outlander, but in hindsight, I wish we'd gone with the Buick. On the upside, this Outlander is brand new, like It Only Has 5 Miles on the Odometer new, which was nice. Didn't have to worry about any previous scratches or smells.  

• Lesson Learned - Check out all of the rental car options before choosing one

We pointed the Garmin to our lunch destination and headed out of the garage. Oddly, the Garmin said it would take two hours to get to where we were going; that seemed... really wrong. But we got on the road and followed the directions. However, when we got to the Mississippi State Line, we knew that something was fucky. 

Actual data from Garmin BaseCamp showing our (very wrong) route

I'd left the Garmin on "Avoid Highways," and for some reason I couldn't comprehend, it was sending us southeast instead of northeast! The map above is from Garmin BaseCamp that is the actual route we drove.  I pulled over to the side of the road and used the Outlander's Nav system to take us to lunch (with highways!) Included the backtracking, it only took an hour to get us back to where we needed to go originally. 

The "normal" way to get to where we were going

• Lesson Learned - Check your Garmin settings before getting on the road!

Finally at Tacker's Shake Shack, Hubby got a club sandwich with potato wedges, and I got a Bacon Pepper Jack cheeseburger with Tots. Hubby still wasn't feeling well and could only eat about half of his sandwich and a few wedges. Mine was tasty, but bacon and pepper jack cheese don't really mesh well together as well as I'd hoped. 

Our next stop was a nearby Walmart to get our grocery pickup (I was smart and set up an online grocery pickup order last night before we left) then finally get ourselves over to the VRBO and unpack. Hubby immediately went and face-planted into bed once the car was unpacked - he's really not feeling well at all (fever, stuffy, sneezing, etc). I turned up the heater to warm up the house, and threw a few extra blankets over him once I realized he was dead to the world. I set about putting all of the groceries away, setting things out to charge, and chilling our sodas. I curled up in bed with him around 5pm or so as he dozed on and off. At this point, it felt like I'd read all of Twitter, so I played more FreeCell. Had some truly random and incoherent discussions with Hubby during those times when he was awake. 

Dinner ended up being two bags of lunch-box-size chips, two Little Debbie snacks, and two bottles of water. By the time 'dinner' was over, I was assuming that going to St. Louis was out of the question for tomorrow... But that's okay; we'll play tomorrow by ear and do St. Louis on Friday. Him getting better is most important, because otherwise this entire vacation will suck for both of us.