In which we drive 1,200 miles with a toddler and a newborn

Phew. The title alone made me tired.

Yes, we are the crazies who drove 1,200 miles this past weekend (yes, 600 Saturday; 600 Sunday) to meet up with some family. Let’s just say, a holiday exchange had to be made. And they had never met our two children before … so we decided to throw sleep to the wind and just go for it!

Here’s a few things I recall / learned from our trip:

• Having a smartphone sure made the miles go by… but it also distracted me from my much-loved reading-in-the-car pasttime. Next time I am turning it off.
• North Carolina / Virginia is a Starbucks desert. Also. I love the Starbucks app for the smartphone.
• No matter how many toys you pack, your child will want the one that just fell under the seat. Guaranteed.
• I-95. Not so scenic.
• Cracker Barrell is the same no matter if you place it on the moon. I love that.
• Christmas songs on the radio for 10 hours. Love THAT!
• I way overpacked on the road trip snacks!
• My son loves peeing in the car. When we got home all he wanted to do was go out to the car to sit on the travel potty in the back of our van. Go figure.
• Ten hours in a car entices you to set lofty goals for yourself … like how we are now doing a 7 day cleanse diet the week before Christmas!
• If you give a toddler a queen sized bed in a hotel room – he WILL fall off of it backwards. Sigh.
• The way back is longer. Because it’s uphill. Just kidding. Ours was because our baby pretended he wanted to be fed every two hours. But really he just wanted to lay in my arms and look up at me and grin.
• And the big highlight of the trip (well, other than seeing family) – apparently the tint on our windows is illegal in Virginia. We found this out after we were pulled over by a state trooper!! We got let off with a warning. Phew!

~~~

I think we amazed ourselves by managing to drive halfway down the eastern seaboard and back in two days – without major incident. It’s got us thinking about what other trips we might want to take in the coming year!