Jack in Tennessee

One of my favorite vacations was last summer’s trip to Tennessee. The ride takes two days to get there, so we stay at one of my uncle’s houses that are at about the same latitude. We would begin the trip by waking up as early as we can then packing up the car with more than a week's supply of cloths and enough snack food for the trip. Once we got to my Uncle John’s house we would stay overnight to get some rest before starting the next length of road to Tennessee. The final stretch is the most exciting and uncomfortable part of the trip, for I can’t wait to be there and my body is fed up with the cramped space of the car. Once we arrive we have to go to the old house and visit whoever is there. The house is a piece of land that my Great-Uncle Leon owns. The actual house is a little shack that my Great-Aunt Joyce, Leon’s sister, and her husband are renovating because it is where they, my grandpa, and their other brothers and sisters grew up. One or two years before this we had a reunion at my Uncle Leon’s actual house where I discovered that I had a very large family. It was full of great uncles and aunts and cousins and second cousins to the point where I got confused. This year not everyone was there so I didn’t have as much whiplash, but still I was throwing my head this way and that trying to listen to everybody’s name as Grandpa introduced them. My Grandpa is practically my hero, for he is one of the nicest people I know. He grew up in that old shack that his sister is renovating. While we were in Tennessee we met one of Grandpa’s child hood friends, a woman named Joyce. We also learned that Grandpa was planning to move down there from South Bend, Indiana. He did and this fall he and Joyce surprised us by getting married. It one of my favorite vacations and I will never forget it.