Drivin' N Cryin'
We decided to try a cheaper alternative to flying this year and drove to Georgia. We figured what with getting to the airport early, going through security, dealing with delays, flying, dealing with cranky children, driving to Carrie's parents house we were usually looking at about 8 hours of travel time. The internet listed the trip time between us and her folks at about 15 hours. We thought it was close enough to be worth a shot. Of course 900 miles driving like a trucker is not the same as 900 miles with three kids in a mini-van.
In the end we made the trip in about 20 hours. We probably could have shaved a few hours off with a little better planning but I can't imagine doing much better than 18 hours. We drove it straight through and didn't have any traffic but we took two very long meal breaks and lots of pit stops. We also had to extend every rest stop to allow for nursing Jonah. Amazingly there was only one time where Genevieve said she had to use the bathroom as an emergency.
The kids were mostly good but when it came to bed time they were fitful sleepers. Anytime Sophie woke up she would scream. At about 3 AM in South Carolina I carried her around a gas station parking lot for 25 minutes while she screamed her head off. In the end we all made it and nobody was left behind.
On the way back we decided to turn it into two days which was a bit better. We stopped at a hotel to sleep. We made the mistake of putting both girls into one bed. Sophie was so excited about sleeping in a big girl bed that she kept wiggling and poking Genevieve. Rather than split them up I decided to sleep in the middle of them. I am the first to admit that in hindsight this had to be one of the dumbest decisions I have ever made. For the next two hours the two of them were busy touching my face and arms "cuddling" me. By midnight I made G move into bed with Carrie so that I could at least cut the caressing by half. Sophie passed out shortly after that but Jonah was up at 6 AM. Rather than have him wake the girls he and I took an early morning swim in the pool. We were back on the road by 8:30.
We'll definitely try driving down again. Next time we'll do a little more planning and might even try taking a few days to go down instead of powering through it.
Having fun at a rest area on the way down.
Loving the crib at the hotel. In fact he pulled up to standing himself for the first time in this crib. Oh and true to form Georgia brings the locomotion out in our kids. Jonah went from barely being able to push up to all fours to full on crawling while we were down there.
I also took the girls blackberry picking. Sophie and Genevieve had a ton of fun. I spent most of the time in the shade relaxing.
In the end we made the trip in about 20 hours. We probably could have shaved a few hours off with a little better planning but I can't imagine doing much better than 18 hours. We drove it straight through and didn't have any traffic but we took two very long meal breaks and lots of pit stops. We also had to extend every rest stop to allow for nursing Jonah. Amazingly there was only one time where Genevieve said she had to use the bathroom as an emergency.
The kids were mostly good but when it came to bed time they were fitful sleepers. Anytime Sophie woke up she would scream. At about 3 AM in South Carolina I carried her around a gas station parking lot for 25 minutes while she screamed her head off. In the end we all made it and nobody was left behind.
On the way back we decided to turn it into two days which was a bit better. We stopped at a hotel to sleep. We made the mistake of putting both girls into one bed. Sophie was so excited about sleeping in a big girl bed that she kept wiggling and poking Genevieve. Rather than split them up I decided to sleep in the middle of them. I am the first to admit that in hindsight this had to be one of the dumbest decisions I have ever made. For the next two hours the two of them were busy touching my face and arms "cuddling" me. By midnight I made G move into bed with Carrie so that I could at least cut the caressing by half. Sophie passed out shortly after that but Jonah was up at 6 AM. Rather than have him wake the girls he and I took an early morning swim in the pool. We were back on the road by 8:30.
We'll definitely try driving down again. Next time we'll do a little more planning and might even try taking a few days to go down instead of powering through it.
Having fun at a rest area on the way down.
Loving the crib at the hotel. In fact he pulled up to standing himself for the first time in this crib. Oh and true to form Georgia brings the locomotion out in our kids. Jonah went from barely being able to push up to all fours to full on crawling while we were down there.
I also took the girls blackberry picking. Sophie and Genevieve had a ton of fun. I spent most of the time in the shade relaxing.
posted by daniel @ 9:08 PM
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