Some of you probably noticed that I was not around the past few days. It was vacation time and we did the family thing at Myrtle Beach. The trip was great, we did the beach and pool stuff, plus all the other normal beach stuff. I got to golf a few days, so that was great. This post is not about all of that though. Instead, this is about the drive.
The drive down was good. We left at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday and we only had to stop three times for feeding, bathroom breaks, etc. In fact, I was worried that Logan would be the problem, but it ended up being Payton on the way down. Logan mostly slept and for some reason she did not. She wanted her music early in the morning, which was annoying, then she started to get restless and she would scream that she wanted out. It was aggravating, but nothing too horrible.
The ride home? Totally different. We decided to not leave that early. We packed some stuff the night before then went to bed around 11:00. Logan had been sleeping through the night, but for some reason, he decided to get up at 1:15. Lindsey fed tried feeding him (his eating patterns are really messed up) and he took almost two ounces. He did not go back to sleep. Around 3:00, Lindsey woke me up because she was nodding off with him in her arms and he was still screaming. I decided to make a two ounce bottle. He sucked it right down and kept crying. So I made another one, he finished that one and fell asleep. So weird. I was back asleep by 4:00.
We ended up waking up around 7:30, we had a bit more to pack and do around the condo. We finally got out of there around 10:00. No big deal, right? We decided to get breakfast across the street at this place called Blueberry’s Grill, which was fantastic! I highly recommend it. We left there around 10:45 and got gas.
While getting gas, Payton says “I want Bah.” Lindsey and I both realized that she did not have him earlier. We started looking in some of the bags, but we were fairly certain we left Bah at the hotel. UGHHHH. As I drove back, Logan started screaming. It had been three hours since his last bottle, he needed fed, arghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Lindsey fed him in the car, while I went back up to our room.
Fortunately the cleaning lady was in there and she said she found him. She had a thick Caribbean accent and was like “I knew he was well loved and was just about to call the office to have them call you.” I honestly wanted to hug her. I got back to the car and Logan was still not finished with his bottle. By the time we got on the road it was like 11:30 or so.
We stopped for a bathroom break and while at the rest area in North Carolina, we figured it made sense to feed Logan and to allow Payton to run around. It took like an hour for him to suck down the bottle. Then when we got back on the road, my tiny bladder kicked in and I knew I would not make it very far. I was able to hold it for a bit to a Virginia rest stop. It was pouring down rain and when Lindsey ran to the bathroom, she got drenched. So for the next hour or so, we drove with the heat on, which made me drowsy.
The traffic near Richmond sucked and it was getting to that point where we were ready for dinner. We stopped at Cracker Barrel since it was also time for Logan to have a bottle. I think it was like 6:30-7:00 when we stopped. We were only just outside of Fredricksburg. UGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We ate and refueled the car. I set up another playlist of podcasts and as we made our way back on the road, it seemed that both kids had fallen asleep! YAY! Unfortunately, now I was really tired. I decided to skip Washington DC and go out towards Winchester. I think it is faster and easier than dealing with DC traffic (also, Google Maps agreed, it said the route was one minute faster than go the other way). Also, I figured if I ended up too exhausted to keep driving, I could always ask Aunt Lori if we could crash at her house. She would never tell her favorite nephew no.
Fortunately I was able to get a second wind because of a good podcast called Gangster Economics, which is about the college admissions scandal. Lindsey actually liked it and we ended up having a decent discussion for awhile. I got coffee in Berkeley Springs (it was late and very West Virginia in there, if ya catch my drift). From there the drive was pretty uneventful.
We picked up Samson at Lindsey’s dad’s house and that is when more fun started. Payton woke up as we drove into Windber and she knew where we were. She got super excited and wanted Samson to give her a kiss. By the time we got home, she was wide awake and wanted to play with him. We walked in the door at 12:46 a.m. I think we made it to bed around 1:45 and then Logan kept making noises like he wanted to cry. I did not fall asleep until 3:00.
Also, I should point out that if you follow me on Instagram, you saw my bathroom picture adventure on the way down and back.
Quick rant about one of those bathrooms…
First of all, Cracker Barrel always has such a nice homey feel, but the bathrooms are always so blah. Some of them insist on putting the changing table right by the door. It is super inconvenient! When someone walks in, they almost run right into you while you change your kid. Okay, rant over.
