Road trip!

I have been fully converted - I am now a road tripper!  We drove from NC to PA to MA and then back through NY to NC a few weeks back and can I just tell you what a gorgeous ride it was?  Of course, that was my view from the back seat with little man, but boy oh boy was it pretty.   I have always been a ‘just get there’ person and never really appreciated the trip itself. 

I guess I can attribute the reluctance to drive to too many road trips as a kid in the good ‘ole yellow paneled station wagon.   At the time it’s what people did (yay ‘70s!), but I did spend many, many hours stuck in my tiny corner of the bench seat with no seat belts to help contain my brothers.   We had ‘lines’ on the seat that defined our areas.  God help you if you went over your line.  I cannot imagine how my parents retained their sanity on those trips.  But I digress…

We originally began our plan simply motivated by the sheer volume of stuff that a 6 month old requires to exist for 10 days– and honestly we were driven out of fear of hauling all of that on to a crowded airplane with absolutely no status to let us board early! 

So we were wimps – I’ll cop to that.  I will.  But the bottom line was, by driving we were able to see people and things we haven’t seen in years!  I saw my Godmother!  Yay!  I loved our visit – even if it was just a blitz.  We stayed with friends and family on the way up and back – which was so nice and again something we’re very unaccustomed to…we typically stay at a Hampton Inn.  It was so sweet to wake up and spend quality time visiting with everyone and little man in his PJs – he’s so much fun in the morning!

B & B @ a Rest Stop in PA
Stretching their legs!

We got to really enjoy the ride too because little man was actually a good traveler.  He really did sleep much better than expected and I think really adapted well to being strapped in to his car seat for long periods of time.  We tried to break things up when we could and get out and stretch our legs.  But in reality, I know the drive was hard on B.  He drove the entire thing – from start to finish.  Ouch. 

Of course he had the option to share the drive, but stayed up front in the ‘grown-up seats’ while little man and I stayed in the middle row – his choice.  Does he need a massage to work out the kinks, probably?   But in reality, I think driving was the right choice.  Breaking it up into three days instead of two was nicer too – but that all depends how much time we have to get away.

Going forward I think I would do it again – I didn’t realize how homesick I was for up north – driving through the mountains and seeing the gorgeous scenery certainly made me want to head to Amish country again….who knows.  Maybe I’ll convince B to go on another road trip to Maryland….would be good to see the old stomping grounds again.

Happy Monday Ya’ll!

We're Car Schleppers Now

Taking a baby on vacation ain’t for sissies.  It is seriously a huge challenge my people.  (I’m laughing at myself here in case you can’t tell.) I was getting all misty this morning thinking about my awesome Diamond Status with Hilton – and even that silly Silver status with US Air had its benefits.  All of that is long gone…sniff…sniff.  These days, we’re car schleppers.    I can’t even think about an airplane with a car seat, Baby Bjorn travel crib, diapers and food – and that’s just the carry-ons! 

The days of just heading into NYC for the weekend are long gone but gosh they were great while they lasted.  The idea of going to NY now makes me shudder not to mention what would happen if we walked into Tiffany’s with a stroller!  EEK!

So, heavy sigh, it’s a car or nada.  Since we haven’t been on vacation in “I don’t know how long” except for a long weekend, it is now time to get away and truly relax.  Not that it’s the same definition of relax that it used to be – relax now means Blake is fed, cleanly diapered, and chilling out on his activity mat for a few minutes.  It means you have time to clean the bottles without holding a baby or singing silly French songs.   

It used to mean, reading a book and falling asleep with a toasty afghan on a Sunday afternoon or driving aimlessly around the Cape going where the whim took us.  Now, we have to plan; probably one activity per day; at least for now.  And odds are we won’t even get that in.  Blake will set the tone.

All I’m hoping for is that he actually sleeps.  I don’t care where.  The car ride up to the Cape (15 hours!) in itself could be a total nightmare as he is not a huge fan of his car seat, is too young to be occupied by videos and lastly, very rarely sleeps in the car.  I am afraid Mommy’s singing voice will be taxed before we even get out of the state of NC!   Good times.  So, instead of stopping for Mommy’s bio breaks, now we will be stopping to get Blake out of his seat, feed him, change him and just find a bit of sanity.

Any tips from you experienced traveling Moms and Dad would be greatly appreciated!  For now I will try not to over pack and remember there are stores on Cape Cod.  We will try to get him used to his travel ‘bed’ and continue to pray a whole lot that we get to the Cape in one happy, cohesive family unit! J

Happy Monday Ya’ll!