We just returned from a vacation. It was a bus tour with a group from a church...the gal who organized it all is the youth director. It was a fabulous trip and we had a nice time.

She gave us a heads up almost 9 months ago...we figured she had something planned and had been saving for over a year...so, other than the $20 we charged for something, every single thing has been paid for as far as the trip. Our bus, hotels, and a few meals were part of the "package" and the rest was paid in cash that we had saved.

We visited Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, and Niagara Falls. We saw places where we started our country over 200 years ago. We also visited two memorials of tragedies that happened over 11 years ago.

Flight 93 Memorial

We saw the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA, and the 9/11 Memorial in NYC. Both were sobering to think these innocents got up and went to work like normal and didn't return.

9/11 Memorial -- NYC

As we get close to celebrating our nation's birthday this Wednesday, let's remember all the heroes, sung and unsung.