Road Trip: Phase One Complete!

Well, we've made it to New Jersey. It's been a looooong trip. The kids have been super-troupers, generally not making the adults too crazy. We did have one incident where all the kids had hit someone else (including me!) in the space of about five minutes. This ended up with them on the curb, losing their stuff for the rest of the day. The picture cracks me up:

So busted.

So here's some more of what worked on the trip:

• The shoe box: After each stop, the kids put their shoes in the "shoe box". After nine days of travelling, there were only two occasions where shoes weren't immediately found. This is a major coup.
• Walkie-talkies: It is really fun to talk car to car. My sisters and I are especially enjoying this, and it makes coordinating two cars a cinch.
• Rotating kids from seat to seat: Kids are able to get time with mom, time with each other, and generally enjoy not having the same person to persecute (or be bugged by) the entire day.

And what didn't:

• Rotating kids from seat to seat: The only problem with this is stuff. Each child has a backpack which, theoretically, is used to carry their stuff from seat to seat. However, they are not very good at keeping their stuff in their backpack, or even packing it back up before they move.
• Bow and arrow in the car: how can a $2 toy be so annoying? Every time Collin let one of his arrows fly (always toward a window, thankfully), it sounded like the window was breaking. Not a good sound. The bow and arrow found a suitable burial in a wayside trash can.

What we did:

• Rest stops in Texas: the wagon wheel picnic areas were so fun to climb on, and everyone wanted their picture taken!

• Alamo: the gardens were lush and beautiful, the weather hot and nasty. The interior of the Alamo was cool (thank heavens).

Almost all of us under a live oak in the gardens

• Driving through the swamps: I have great compassion for the group that put that freeway over the swamp. The kids swore they saw alligators, and we saw boats driving through the swamp. We loved seeing all the trees growing out of the water.

• New Orleans: beautiful little city. The kids and I only drove around, leaving the adults in the caravan to a lovely luncheon in the French Quarter. We enjoyed Sonic Burgers instead.

• Driving across Lake Pontchartrain: Whoa. This is a long bridge across the lake, where water and sky melt together, leaving you in a strange halfway land. Loved it, although it was a bit scary.

• Northlake Nature Center: This was just over the lake, a shady place to enjoy a walk through the trees. The kids were mesmerized by turtles that had moss growing on their shells.

Rippavilla Plantation in Tennessee: We only stopped and enjoyed the grounds. Driving with kids (think: endless bathroom breaks) doesn't leave a lot of time for sightseeing.

The back gardens where we played for a moment

• Fred Miller Park in Morristown , Tennessee: This was a quiet place to stop for dinner, as well as a great place for the kids to play. Stopping did make us get to the hotel very late...but the kids were happier.

• Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive: I've been wanting to take this drive for awhile now. Funny, it was like driving through most of the east coast: lots of trees, with brief views of hills covered by trees. A view now and again of the Shenandoah Valley was nice, but overall, not a spectacular drive along the lines of driving through the Utah national parks. Sometimes I am such a westerner.

See? Trees. And the caravan, following us.

• Washington DC: the older kids and adults saw many monuments. My sister and I watched the younger kids run around the Washington Monument. The kids and I went to the National Zoo. And Bonnie got to choose lunch, because it was her birthday (she chose Sonic, but settled for Wendy's when the nearest one was 85 miles away).

• Beach house: Finally! We arrived at the beach house...where we can unpack and not pack up again for at least six days. Ahhh.

Sophie and I enjoying the beach

The beach house. It is seriously huge.

Funny story:
My kids love to have their back scratched (okay, who doesn't?). Sophia's aunt was trying to get Sophia to stretch with her: "Stretch, Sophia!" and Sophia came over and scratched her leg. Thanks, Sophie.

And check out Jack, sleeping with one eye open in the car. Freaky!