We weren't going to go on vacation this year. All year we've been telling Sunshine that we weren't going on vacation so stop asking. In May Hubby got wind of a conference seminar that was going on in Asheville, NC and we decided to make a week out of it. So much for not going on vacation.
Lucky for us, Asheville, altough a very nice place to visit, is not a hot spot and we were able to get a hotel room for a week without too much trouble. We opted for a Days Inn, it was cheap and it was pretty much what you should expect when you don't pay a lot. We were able to have an awesome hot breakfast buffet every morning which was fabulous. I'd drop Hubby off every morning and drive back to our hotel and the kids and I would gorge ourselves. The room was "eh", I didn't let them take their shoes off and I chose to wear my flip-flops in the shower. The ceiling in the toilet/shower part was so low that I could touch it when on my toes, seeing that I'm 5'0" tall, this is a nightmare for anyone who is claustrophobic. It was nice though, we were on the first floor and since it was a motel style hotel, we didn't have to worry about people running down the hall waking the kids up. It also had a pool and did I mention the awesome hot breakfast?
Saturday:
We leave on Saturday with the idea that we'll eat and be in the car by 6:30 - 7:00. Hubby and I are not known for being on time to places so for us to plan on leaving somewhere in such a small timeframe with all 3 kids and pack the car up is asking for somewhat of a miracle.
Well, apparently miracles do happen. We got out of the house at 6:50. Hubby hadn't filled up with gas though, so that added on about 5 minutes. Then when he gets in the car again he announces that he forgot to put the backpack carrier in the car (it WAS on the list). Back to the house. We get the carrier and leave again. This time for real. It is now 7:20.
So much for leaving on time.
About 45 minutes from home Bug decides he's done with being in the car and begins his very loud, very obnoxious screechy-screaming thing that he does. It's supposed to be a 12 hour drive with 2-3 stops. Making that noise so early in is not a good sign. Around this time, the kids have asked when we were going to start playing the games and could they listen to their kid's songs. Kid's songs are great for long drives. If you know how long the CD is, you can tell them that you will stop or be somewhere when the CD is over. We don't own or watch TV in the car and Sunshine gets carsick when she reads so CDs are a nice alternative. So to quiet Bug, I make my hands into little hand mouth guys and have them lip sync to the music and try and chomp on the other hand. It worked for quite a while until my back began to ache from twisting my arms around.
We figured out they're hungry and we start the give-them-food-to-shut-them-up process. You know, here's some food, now be quiet. It worked and I do think it was part of the problem.
We managed to get to our hotel in roughly 12 hours with no blow-out diapers, no puking, not getting lost, and all 3 children were still with us (you never know!).
Our first glimpse of hills. Pretty impressive when you come from flat lands.
This is after they ate. Notice they are fairly happy.
Ooh, I'd say those are considered the Smokeys. Only 4 more hours!
Vicky
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