I was pretty frazzled about the bike rack being stolen so I didn't get to bed early. Instead I decided to sleep in. We always take two days to drive home anyway so its not so urgent that we get an early start.
We were up and out of the condo around 7:15 am, stopping to say goodbye to the ocean on the balcony and taking our signature selfie on the balcony. We were especially careful to move quietly so as not to wake the Rynbrandts.
We grabbed McDonalds and Starbucks for breakfast and then were officially on the road by 8:00 am. It was a pretty pleasant drive this morning although we do make lots of stops for 2 kids and a puppy to go to the bathroom. Mid-afternoon Sammy got pretty upset saying her stomach hurt so we stopped at a rest stop for her to get out and walk. Afterwards she moved to the front seat and tried to rest. Tyler didn't mind a chance in the back seat to watch a movie with Coco.
Tyler has been asking all day if we can just drive straight through. My immediate reaction was "there's just no way..." but as I did the math a twinkling started to form... maybe we could!
We were making great time. Stopping lots but only for quick run ins, we were aimed to make the entire trip in 16 hours. That means we would make it to Michigan (Toledo area) around 9 pm. Since I didn't want to stop in Michigan for the night, I asked the kids if they were up for a few more hours and they agreed. So we pushed on!
It was 11:45 pm when we were driving through Grand Rapids. The kids had both fallen asleep around the airport and we were running low on fuel. I REALLY wanted to make it but decided it wasn't worth the risk of running out of gas. So, reluctantly, I pulled off the highway near the hospital and filled up. Thank goodness both kids remained asleep
As we pulled onto Canterbury Lane, I soothingly tried to wake the kids. Tyler stirred just enough to see where we were and lifted his head in time to see Scott waiting in the driveway.
I got out of the truck and lifted my arms in victory. We did it! WE WERE HOME!
