we finally made it! we are in north Carolina. I dreaded the 3 days in the car all summer, and now that it is done- it was a breeze! set your expectations low and you will be pleasantly surprised!! the kids did great, and our motto was to beflexiable – we stopped when they needed to- so we missed some cool things along the way and found places we would have never found, and some i could have gone a lifetime without visiting- like the whole state of Indiana!! Let me preface this story with a childhood memory- when I was a child we took a cross country trip similar to this one- and one of our late night stops was in Indiapolis- we all can recall the CHEAP hotel we stayed in- i think it was a Star Light- it was probably $30 a night (early 80’s)- and I am sure it had a weekly rate. I remember walking in the bathroom, i remember the placement of the beds, I still remember exactly what the creepy guy standing outside the joint looks like. I can’t even tell you where we were going- or any of the highlights of the trip, i think DC maybe Kansas?michael says i would not have gone through indiapolis for either of those places- anyway, i think that experience was one of the reasons when I would look up hotels in the AAA guide book for us to stay in- my only requirement was “interior coordidor ” I was NOT staying in a MOTEL–or a place with the doors on the outside!! I don’t know if they even have hotels like that anymore, but if there was any out there- we were not staying in them!!
ok, back to the trip!
We left Morris on Saturday- we decided to leave early, niether of us could take another day in Morris- long boring summer days, and last week was depressing with another set of friends moving. we needed a freshprespective on life, nothing better than the open road! plus the kids need some cousin time-
our first day moved pretty quickly our first stop was the Cabela’s store outside of the cities- the kids loved it- they even had a shooting range where they could shoot at pheasant, deer and other stuffed animals! it has an aquarium, safari display and anamerican wooded display with stuffed animals. we bought the kids some fishing poles and got back on the road. we made it as far as the bottom ofwisconsin- wisconsin was high point, it was a beautiful state and a nice drive. even the town we stopped in for the night was so quaint- it did make us realize how uglymorris is- and how you stop noticing after awhile. next was Illinois, we were glad to leave that state behind- but not without a stop inchicago! or atleast we tried to stop- we made it downtown, we were looking for parking and both boys fell asleep! rather than have cranky kids in the heat we kept on driving- but we did drive downlakeshore drive- very scenic and pretty. ben michael was still asking to go fishing, so we saw a sign in indiana and pulled over. (Ok , if you did not know i was a snob before – let me warn you – i am – so if you have a problem- stop reading.) anyway, this place was a basically a glorified trailer park with a nasty little lake in the middle. but perfect for my kids to cast their poles- but i pretty much had my nose in the air the whole time!! and as SOON as we got out the car it started to rain. which was fine, miles and i waited it out- and the boys fished in the rain- Eli took a swim, and worried the whole time the water in the lake was going to give him some sort of rash! we changed their clothes, and we started back up again- we made it through indiana, and ohio- then we stayed the night outside of lexington, kentucky. sidenote about indiana, on sunday their was a sniper shooting at cars on the highway we were driving on! nice, i don’t think we will be going the same way home! the next day we started out and went through westvirginia- it was beautiful- mountains all around! then virginia, then finally north carolina.
tips to keeping the kids happy:
1. Buy new dvd’s – preferably tom and jerry- it was a hit.
2. have lots of snacks and drinks on board
3. have boys, they can pee in cups!!
we got to chapel hill last night- and ben michael and eli had a blast running around with will and benjamin- eli also enjoyed wrestling with allison, she was a trooper and did not fight back too much!
seems like we will be here for a few days, then go to greenville for a few days- then the beach- with all the family.
