Hornucopia SC

It's that time of summer again...Hornucopia! 

But how did we get here?

Due to various scheduling constraints, we once again headed to South Carolina for a week of fun with family. We had just come off our road trip to Colorado, so we were pretty focused on just getting the miles behind us, but Jeff did pick out a few (mostly food) stops along the way.

Florence, Mississippi

Home of the biggest plate of fajitas!

Birmingham (a lovely place we really should tour!)

Atlanta, home to the worst traffic on a six-lane highway

Varsity Hot Dogs!

What'll Ya Have? What'll Ya Have? (Pimento cheese, please!)

Once we arrived at the house (on Lake Hartwell in Clemson - a different side of the lake than the Christmas lake house) it was all cousins, all the time! And this time, the weather was conducive for water activities! Three kayaks, 2 paddleboards and lots of noodles.

Mysterious Black Box...it must be moved out of the water and inspected!
(Push and shoving this, along with hair-drying, was likely the source of Danielle's sudden, debilitating
back pain later that day.)

Danielle suffering bad back pain (see above), which thankfully dissipated with rest, ice and ibuprofen.

The excitement did span beyond the house with a variety of activities!

Treetop Quest aerial adventure park

Ziplining

Cousin bonding at new heights

Falls Park: American Beech "Medusa" Tree 

Six The Musical at The Peace Center
AWESOME SHOW!

A flight of specialty ice cream from Jeni's (GENIUS IDEA!)

Grateful for Mimi & Pa's Party Bus that took us to all the fun!

Pelican's Snoballs

At Walmart...an honorary Hornucopia family member!

Barbie...yes! In luxury seats.

Summer Birthdays! (squat down a little...hold it...hold it...)

Nine and Seventeen

LOVE Love love my family!

UPDATE: The party bus drive home was supposed to be uneventful, however it turned into its own adventure! 

All was well at the overnight in Mississippi - not the greatest hotel, but it was a brief stay and it did have an indoor swimming pool, fitness room and an awesome self-making pancake machine!

We managed to time our stops so that we could take advantage of the Buccee's in Leeds, AL.

 And all was going well into Texas.

But at some point, we did hit something in the road, which unbeknownst to us, had punctured a tiny hole in a pipe that takes coolant to the rear heater. It was a slow leak that ended up draining all the coolant and overheating the engine. Lights and warnings started going off, so we did the immediate to slow down, drive on the shoulder and turn on the heater to try and suck heat off the engine. Thankfully, there was an exit within 1 mile with a very nice roadside travel stop, which we came to love: Duke's! 

It was a blazing hot day, so the cousins headed inside to eat treats and play cards, while Jessica and I considered all options (tow truck, uber, re-fill coolant and drive, etc). 

The winning solution was to call David, a local mobile auto mechanic! David and his 14 year old son were able to remove the damaged section of the pipe and replace it with a rubber tube, just to get us home. 

It was about a 3 hour and $175 delay for the whole process (including an extra quick tire plug to remove a bolt that we likely picked up while driving on the shoulder), but Jessica and I now have Duke's t-shirts to commemorate the unexpected! We were super grateful to Duke's for being in just the right location and for letting us hang out for so long in their cool A/C!