After Baseball Season one fall,  Don, Ann, and Todd and his wife jumped in a van,  and Steve and his wife Deb, packed their little car,  and off they went to drive Todd back to Bible College in Indianapolis.    Steve and his dad had a running joke about gas usage, AS IF the van would be as easy on gas as Steve's little car.    But, Don had two gas tanks,  so in the mornings when everyone would go fill up, Don would fill whichever tank needed the least gas.    Steve, not to be beaten, started getting up at 2 in the morning and sneaking to the gas station and filling his car half full....   at fill-up he needed very little gas.  Don caught on and he started getting up at 3 in the morning and filling the van mostly full.    This worked fine until one morning Steve overslept and they met each other at the gas station!  Always a competition!   

They drove from Fairbanks to Indianapolis, deposited Todd at college,  then decided to swing through the southern states since that was one area not well traveled.  Ann had been to Miami, as she sold real estate  foreclosures for a bank there,  but had never been to the Florida Panhandle.  Unfortunately they passed through during the night.   She has a video  "My Trip to Florida"... showing nothing but black and an occasional oncoming car light.   

Speaking of competitive.....

Everything is a competition.   They go into an antique store and everyone rushes to be the first to find a piece of good pottery.   The boys and Don driving in two cars, always have to be "first guy"  to get there and will go to amazing lengths to beat the other person.   Now the grandkids are in on it.  Don and young Tom have a huge competition to see who can memorize the most Snapple Factoids, out of the lids of Snapple Drink bottles.  They test each other in great competitions.

THE SNAPPLE DOWN

From the beginning, "who is the fastest typist" was a big competition.  Ann preferred an electric typewriter and Don preferred his old Underwood.  It was a draw as to who was fastest, but Don played dirty.   If he knew he was losing he would type like crazy and then throw that loud carriage return often, as though he was way ahead, and it always completely destroyed the other typist!   The competition usually ended in more laughter (and a few paper wads thrown across the room)  than typing.     

Being raised on "muddy bottom catfish"  from the spring-fed lake by the farm house,  Ann has always been crazy about it.   Don and the kids learned to love it after the first baseball trip that took them to Amarillo, Texas.      There is a little one room business beside the road called "The Catfish Shack"  and they make the world's best catfish!!   Anytime they are anywhere near Amarillo,  they take a detour to get some.    Driving the bus across country once,  they each bought a pound and ate as they rolled down the highway..... finished it...  turned around and went 30 miles back, and got another pound!      Don't miss the Catfish Shack if you are ever near Amarillo!