The Adventure Begins - Day 1

It was a busy day yesterday at the Walk for Autism... and an even busier night as I tried to wrap up the details and get packed for our trip.  It was close to 2:00 am when my head finally hit the pillow so I made the executive decision that we would sleep in the next morning.

I woke up around 8:00 am with just a few things to finish up before we got on the road.  The kids were up and the truck was already packed so it wasn't long before we were ready to go.

Unfortunately the kids got in a bit of a disagreement while Scott and I were finishing up a few things inside, and Sammy was NOT happy.  Good-byes are never easy but today was especially hard as Sammy refused to hug or say goodbye to Scott.

But at 10:00 am, we pulled out of the driveway... ready to go.

By 11:00 we had stopped for lunch in Howell.  By 11:30 I had to stop for a restroom... lunch did not set well.  I remember sitting in the restroom frustrated by the lack of forward movement and wondering what I had gotten myself into.  But... it was too late now to back out so we kept on.

We stopped appx every 3 hours.  We listened to two books together, watched 2 movies, colored pictures, played iPad and Sammy read me a story.  It was a very pleasant drive without argument.

I was concerned about more fast-food since my stomach was still not back to par so I looked ahead and found a Pizza Hut on our route.  I called in our order and pulled off to pick it up.  On the way through _____, we saw this cute riverside park and decided to bring our pizza picnic there to enjoy.  It was great to have the fresh air and room to move around.  We watched geese on the river and a HUGE train drove by.

Then it was back on the road... Tyler said we were about an hour from dark and I wanted to get to Virginia if possible.

But... as the sun set, the fog rolled in and then the rain.  I hate driving at night... but I hate even more driving in the rain... and the two together are the worst possible scenario.  Add that to tight mountain curves and lots of traffic and my hopes of making Virginia quickly disappeared.

We drove til 9:00 pm... much later than I originally had thought but I was feeling good and the kids were in good spirits.  But then I hit stopped traffic on a toll road and decided to pull off rather than wait in traffic.  We spent the night at Roadway Inn and Suites in ____, West Virginia.  It was my second pick but my first option had a very dark parking lot and I was concerned about walking the dog alone out there.

I let the kids watch TV for about an hour as I settled in, took care of the dog and got a quick shower.  Then it was lights out and time for bed at 10:00 pm.