Pensacola Beach Vacation Days # 9 and #10

 These last two days are our travel days home! 

This was just before we headed out.  We had the luggage cart all loaded, had checked everything off the list and needed to load the truck.  Our view and our week were amazing.  Breathtaking.  

This is the iconic Pensacola Beach sign that you see just before crossing the bridge to the Island.  We were sad to drive by one last time! 

So, when we were driving down to Flordia, both kids said that visiting Mississippi was on their bucket list for this trip because we woudl be so close. Well, it would have ben an "easy" thing to do if the bridge wasn't closed but with the closed bridge it took some work to make this happen. We ended up driving through Mobile, AL which has not only some amazing bridges over the water, there was also a tunnel under the water.  

Yes, we made it to Mississippi.  From the sign, we now headed home with a first night goal of Nashville, TN.  As we were driving along, Nate's phone alarm goes off and he says, "Mom, did you get that Amber Alert?"  I'm like, no??  Then he says, "MOM, it's a TORNADO!!"  Yes, we were in the middle of a Tornado warning . .. not just one warning but several due to a big storm system.  Do you know how hard it is to figure out where a Tornado is when you have no idea where you are??  Well, it is hard!  Ironically, one of the things on Josh's bucket list was to drive through a tornado because he said that all the rest of our family has fun stuff happen to them but we never do HA!   

Our other adventure was that we stopped for gas and snacks at some out of the way town.  I was inside in line with lots of other people when a lady came in and started an argument with the cashier.  She was threatening him and he was threatening to call the police and they were both screaming as each other.  Well, Darryl was outside filling up the truck and couldn't figure out what was taking me so long and was concerned that something was happening.  He started to walk toward the building and I waved him away . . he was mouthing to me "Get out of there!".  Well, as soon as their was a path behind the screaming woman, I was out of there!!!  Uuugg.  

We stopped for dinner about an hour from our hotel at Waffle House (we needed one last Waffle House fix!).  We finally rolled into our hotel at about 9:00.  Darryl did much better on this hotel - it was brand new with perfect beds and all the bells and whistles.  We even got to enjoy breakfast in the breakfast room . .. in the middle of . .. a TORNADO warning!! For real!!!  I glanced at the TV where there is a Tornado warning flashing and the weather people all stressed out and noticed it was a local station.  Needless to say, I want to the front desk and asked - do we need to take cover?? She promised me we were fine because it was "in the next town over".   Crazy Tornados!!  

One last request from the boys was to stop at the Tennessee Titan Stadium again so they could go to the gift shop which wasn't open last time.  We did and picked up some fun stuff before heading for home.  Now, we are not effecient travelers.  I mean, if my brother Ken was riding with us, he would literally go insane with the amount of time it takes us at stops.  (He's like the speed demon of trips - no stops and you better have a strong bladder HA!).  At one point someone asked how long until we get home and the response was 3 1/2 hours.  We drive, made a bathroom stop, got back on the road and noticed that it was . .. 3 1/2 hours until we got home.  That happened 2 more times LOL  I guess what they say is true, the last 3 1/2 hours are always the longest!  

I think we pulled in at about midnight so we didn't do much except hug the dog and go to bed.  We unloaded in the morning and (sadly) had to return our amazing vehicle.  It kind of marked the end of vacation.  

We are all hoping and planning to go back to Pensacola Beach next spring break because we loved it so much.