Road Trip, Days 1-3

The Monday after Easter, we started from our home as early as we could (8:30, if I recall), after I had packed and my husband had loaded everything.  The last thing I packed was our fresh food.  I had an assortment of cooler bags (I don't like big, bulky coolers and I can't haul them anyway) and an iceless refrigerator cooler that plugged in (a gift from a friend!).

We headed to Springfield, IL; and, my husband headed to work.  It rained that day, off and on (more on).  We got caught in a couple of downpours; but, drove out of the worst of it after a bit.  It was drizzly in Springfield; and, we quickly found our destination:  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum (http://www.lincolnlibraryandmuseum.com/lincoln-tour.htm).  We parked our car and crossed the street to an old train depot, where we used the bathroom, looked around a bit and decided to eat lunch in the shelter of the pavilion.  Then, we went to the museum.  It was neat; but, not a destination alone.  My 8yo did not learn much that he did not already know.  My 5yo was not engaged and kept asking to leave (but, his favorite part was the "theatre":  they did a "show"--behind glass to protect the archived items--and, they told a story where they made the actor a ghost from the Civil War).  What was interesting (and unknown) to me, was how disliked the President and Mrs. Lincoln were.  Some books we have read only alluded to that fact, but never really to the extent they enacted at the museum.  Another neat thing is that they occasionally put a real, loose penny in the center of the floor, under the dome.  Each of my boys found one at different times of the day.

So, my goal was to leave by 3:00.  We were running late; but, that is not why this was MISTAKE #1.  It is because I FORGOT that we were traveling to Indiana that night, where they are on EST!  AND, I estimated it would take 2 hours to get there, not 4 hours and not in the rain!  Oh my!  Great start, Melissa!  We made sure to give my youngest enough snacks to tide him over because I knew he would fall asleep in the car.  We ended up getting to my niece's house at about 9pm EST (UGH!); and, her fiancée was kind enough to get me some ingredients to top the gluten free pizza crust I had prepared and brought with (and had planned to buy before we got there). 

My gracious niece had everything ready and even made some chocolate covered strawberries for the boys.  We carried in what we needed the next two nights (and my sleeping son) and made dinner, visited for a bit and went to sleep (exhausted!).  The next day, we decided to go to the Indianapolis Children's Museum (http://www.childrensmuseum.org/) with my niece and her daughter.  It was fun and very big.  The best part may have been the ramp that goes to each floor, which my boys loved running up and (especially) down.  The other neat thing was that the lab was working on some dinosaur fossils; and, they had the windows open and said, "Please, touch".  So, we did!

My niece also found us this great place near her house called, "INgredients" (all healthy, majority local, yummy food, more info at, http://ingredientsindy.com/)...we perused there a bit and got some chocolate/spinach/almond milk shakes (YUM!).  We stopped at Trader Joes on the way back and got dinner fixings and some things for the road the next day.  We enjoyed this leg with family and found Indianapolis spread out and similar to St. Louis in some ways.

The next day, we headed down to Louisville.  We had planned to do more in Indy; but, frankly there was not much more I could find that was cheap/free and on our way (MISTAKE #2:  I thought their Earth Day Fair was ON Earth Day, but was in fact the following Saturday).

Road Trip 2014, Post #1

So, last fall, I had planned to take a month-long road trip, visiting family in the Southeast and ending up somewhere on vacation.  But, that did not work out.  Then, we got pregnant.

But, I decided I was still up for the trip this spring.  We traveled during weeks 21-25.  We stopped every hour or so (chiropractor's and midwife's orders), even if it was just to get out of the car and stretch (but, most of the time, one or all of us had to use the bathroom).  The easiest "travel days" were about 4 hours.  The hardest one was from Charleston, SC to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, when we did not arrive until late at night to our vacation rental.  Thankfully, my husband had joined us by then (he flew into Charleston and enjoyed it with us for a couple of days before we headed up).

We are home now and have almost everything put away.  And, I can honestly say I really enjoyed it!  I would totally do it again!  I would love to take a camper or RV to the Northwest.  I would also take a road trip (or camper) to the Northeast.  Heck, while we are at it, we might as well plan a trip to the Southwest, too!  I have visited Texas, Arizona and Nevada a few times; but, the rest of my family has not (and I would love to explore Colorado, Utah and New Mexico). 

Anyway, we learned a few things for when we do it again. 

Lesson #1:  I packed too many clothes.  I am so thankful for being able to wash clothes at the homes of my family, at the hotel in Georgia (a Holiday Inn, no less!), and, at 2 of the 3 vacation rentals.  I don't like packing clean and dirty clothes together, either.  We brought enough for 8 days and for between 40 and 90 degrees.  We could have done with 5 days of shorts and shirts and just two extra pants/warm shirts and a jacket/sweatshirt.

Lesson #2:  My kids ALWAYS bring more than they will play with/read.  They rarely play with what they bring when we visit a new place.  They either get a souvenir they like much more or they are too interested in our surroundings.  We also got gifts from our generous family!  Next time, just one bin with toys and books and backpacks (if we are in the car).

Lesson #3:  It is IMPORTANT to be flexible.  We ended up not visiting family in Pensacola, instead heading from Atlanta to Charleston.  This cut out three total travel days and enabled us to relax more.  Since we made the decision late (and, it is hard for us to eat out a lot with all of our allergies, not to mention the expense), we looked for a vacation rental last minute.  Not only did they give us a deal because of the last minute booking; but, it ended up being one of our favorite places (we stayed at Seabrook Island, near Charleston; so, we got to enjoy the beach every other day!).  Also, we (I)sometimes make mistakes (like, not booking us anywhere the night of May 13); and, that ends up being a blessing.  Even though we wanted to stay one more day at the beach on the Outer Banks, we decided it would be better to stop in Raleigh (Hotwire.com!) on our way to Asheville (to avoid another loooong travel day).  The hotel we got was right downtown and some people we met at the beach recommended a great free museum in Raleigh -the Museum of Natural Sciences.  It was the COOLEST museum any of us had every been to.  The boys got to work in a lab, meet some live animals and go through a butterfly conservatory; and, there was so much more to see (but, we had to get to our next destination...shucks!).  We were impressed with Raleigh and will return!  And, heading home after Asheville, we decided to go to Louisville (instead of visiting family in Nashville).  This put us closer to home for our final travel day (and, we did not change time zones until the day we arrived home...which, "kind of" gave us an extra hour; but, more importantly enabled us to readjust when we were already home).

Lesson #4:  I remember why I like traveling in the "shoulder season".  Before kids, my husband and I often traveled in May and September, to take advantage of the nice weather, but avoid the crowds.  For some reason, we got away from that (my husband's company, Edward Jones, often offers travel in December, March/April and June/July/August, to accommodate families and school schedules...so, I am guessing that is the biggest reason we have gotten away from that).  Thankfully, with homeschooling our children, we can travel during other months.  Another blessing!

I look forward to describing our travels in detail to you over the next few weeks!  It was a lovely trip and I hope to share some of our special memories!