Rehoboth Beach

Mini Road Trip – Days 5 & 6

May 31^st & June 1st, 2016

Bethesda, MD – Rehoboth Beach, DE

161 miles/3 hours

We had a relatively pleasant drive to Rehoboth Beach. We missed all the traffic in D.C. and the roads in Delaware were wide open. If you drive to the Delaware shore from D.C., you’ll encounter miles and miles of farms. It’s very pretty and there are tons of produce stands and vibrant flowers everywhere. It still baffles me how a large and beautiful area on the east coast can still remain sparsely populated – especially so close to Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Our first stop was Grand Ginny’s, so we could see her new home. It’s beautiful and located on a “prong.” I missed the explanation of what exactly a prong is, but it’s a body of water. Audrey and Rich grabbed a crab net and headed out to the dock to try their luck. We only stayed for an hour, because Gunny has cats and I felt my throat closing up. Yuck.

No problems checking in at the hotel, which was empty after the mass Memorial Day exodus. In no time, the kids and I were strolling Rehoboth Avenue and visiting momma’s favorite book store, Browse About Books! We also walked the boardwalk and indulged in some less-than-good-for-you snacks. The kids ate enough to call it dinner. Ginny and Martha joined us for ice cream and Rich and I snuck out for oysters and wine.

The next day, despite dire weather predictions, was beautiful! I took the kids for a go-kart ride (because Hunter wouldn’t stop nagging me). It was the first time that Cammy got behind the wheel and he was a wild man. The guy who was starting the go-kart for him told him to take it easy, since it was his first time. Well, as soon as the guy pulled the cord on the engine, Camden floored it – he burned rubber. It was a figure eight course and we lost sight of him as he went around the bend. We heard a big crash and my heart stopped. But apparently he recovered quickly, because when he came out of the tunnel, he was still full throttle and had the biggest smile on his face. Oh Lordy, here we go!

After the speedway, we hit the beach. It was perfect weather, warm enough that I was happy, but cool enough that no one was complaining about the heat. The ocean temperature was a different matter. Chilly. To quote Cammy, who only went in up to his knees, it was, “legit torture!” Wait till he dips his toes into the ocean on the Cape.

We met Ginny and Marth at a restaurant on the bay in Lewes. Lewes is the cutest little seaside town and dinner was wonderful. There was a child incident, however. Audrey and Camden were over by the patio railing looking at the boats. There was a couple sitting two tables down from where they were standing. Our two tables were the only ones occupied on the deck. Apparently the couple didn’t care for A&C’s chatting. The guy asked them to leave. I couldn’t hear what he said, but from where I was sitting I saw the shocked looks on Camden and Audrey’s faces. They explained to me what happened and I was going to say something to the man, but Audrey begged me not to, so I didn’t. For the record, I’m usually the first to reprimand my children, but I really didn’t think they did anything wrong.

More ice cream after dinner. Tis the season.

Audrey trying her luck at crabbing.

Wild man

Dinner with Gin & Martha - see Cammy poking his head around?

Washington D.C. 2016

Mini Road Trip – Days 2-4

Chattanooga, TN – Bethesda, MD

610 miles/10 hours

Sorry for the laptop charger debacle. And now…trying to catch upJ! I’ve also managed to lose my phone charge. Yikes.

The drive across Virginia, which is truly a very large state, was long. And boring. I listened to a dreadful book the whole time. I cannot reveal the title, because I’d feel bad, but ugh. About 20 miles from Bethesda, around Fairfax, we hit a wall of traffic. There was a bad accident and it wasn’t fun. When we got to the hotel, around 7 PM, there were no more connecting rooms. Hotel was booked solid with families for a soccer tournament. The pool was not an option, as it looked like a party going on there. We met Uncle Lance for dinner, but didn’t have a reservation. Big mistake, as we had to wait two hours for a table (and faced similar wait times everywhere we went). We lost two kids to the Sandman by the time the food hit the table.

For our second day in DC, we went to Great Falls, which is a national park. I believe the correct park name is the B & O Canal National Park. I will spare you the description of why this is so, but it is very pretty and we took a little hike. It was also very, very hot. We wanted to go into DC, to see a couple of monuments since a few of the kids really don’t remember our previous visits to the Mall. But Uncle Lance had warned us that Rolling Thunder was in town, which is a convention (for lack of a better work) that brings 10,000 motorcyclists to the district to remember our fallen veterans. Traffic was a nightmare. We couldn’t get over the bridges into DC, and ended up at National Airport, where we parked and watched the planes fly in for landings. The kids thought that was really cool, but it made me extremely nervous!

Heading north on the GW Parkway, back to the hotel, the traffic was better and we did manage to sneak into DC. We stopped at the Jefferson Memorial. By the time we finished there, the crowds and motorcycles seemed to have doubled and I was nervous that we’d get stuck in the city. Later, I’d see in the news that Trump was speaking on the mall, which explains some of the helicopters above.

Back at the hotel, I met up with one of my blogging friends, Kristi Campbell, and her son. We tried to swim in the pool, but the rain chased us away – so we hung out in the hotel and visited for about an hour and a half. It was fun, but way too short. After that, we went out to dinner with Uncle Lance again and really had a very nice night.

For our last day, we headed up to Baltimore. We drove by Rich’s old house and our former home in Ellicott City. We also stopped to see his grandparents’ graves. Then we headed to Camden Yards to watch the O’s play my Red Sox. It was the first MLB game for Barrett and Camden. We had a lot of fun – it was a great way to spend Memorial Day. And, the Red Sox won!!!!!

Early dinner and early to bed – heading to Delaware next.

Late night dinner didn't work out for some of us.

Hiking in great Falls

Planes flying into to National.

Washington Memorial 

Jefferson Memorial

 

 

Mini Road Trip Day 1 - Chattanooga

Mini Road Trip Day 1 –May 27th, 2016   

Home – Chattanooga, TN

105 miles – 2 hours fifteen minutes

Courtyard Chattanooga – Hamilton Place

Day one of our tip was rather uneventful. All of the excitement happened before we hit the road. Miss Audrey had her fifth grade graduation and “final” walk through her school. I was, of course, a bit emotional. I think my eagerness to get on the road and my anxiety about getting everything done for the trip, prevented me from totally falling apart. Lucky Audrey. It’s a weird dichotomy, these big milestones. I’m so proud of and excited for her, and honestly ready to move past the elementary school stage (although I still have three more years left with Cammy). Yet there’s an empty feeling, an ache in my belly, a sense of loss that her childhood is over. Oh, the melodrama! But seriously - it  hurts. Now we get to experience the tween years and the teenager years and then she will be gone – and I cannot even fathom it.

Enough about that, because I’ve made myself cry.

By the time we hit the road (at 2:45 p.m.) it was already too late for a holiday weekend. The traffic on Highway 20, enroute to the interstate, was bad. The road was cluttered with RVs and campers and just to keep it interesting – a logging truck! Once we got to I 75, it was smooth sailing.

Rich had driven on ahead of us (in a rental car), so he could attend a car show with an old friend from high school, Dennis. The little detour was not part of our original itinerary, but since Rich was going to join us for the long weekend, I made an exception☺. Plus, I hadn’t seen Dennis since our wedding. We picked up Rich from Hertz and then we visited with Dennis and his family.

It was rather late by the time we checked into our hotel. We grabbed a late dinner and then went to bed. Tomorrow is our long drive to Washington DC.

Postscript (from Bethesda): - I have forgotten the charger for my laptop. So I’ve been unable to write or update my blogs:(. I ordered one from Amazon and it will be delivered to my Aunt Ginny’s. I’m a little behind, but have been making notes. Borrowed one of the kids Chromebooks, so y’all don’t think I bailed!

On the left, Aud's 1st day of kindergarten - on the right, her last day of 5th grade.

5th grade graduation.

Walking the halls for the last time.

Pulling out of the drive way.

Our first stop.

Welcome to summer 2016!

Just checking in....

Hello friends and family! Today I started packing for our first journey of the summer. We're not leaving till Friday, but I needed to get started. I have a busy week ahead with work and the kid's end-of-year school events. We're doing things a little differently this summer, because a certain someone in the family has a big birthday coming up. I wanted to do something special for him that wasn't part of the road trip.

The kids and I are kicking off the summer by taking a mini-road trip to the Northeast, and then coming home for a few weeks, before heading out on the road "for real."

I wanted to check in, because I have no idea who or if anyone reads this blog. Road Warrior Momma doesn't receive the same attention as The Latchkey Mom (which lately isn't saying much). Just wondering if anyone is still out there? For those of you who are, I'm still planning to share stories and pictures. I'll post a few days behind, because Big Daddy worries about our safety. My posts are hastily written and therefor unpolished. I apologize - but the consolation is that you're getting the real story:).

I'm not going to share our itinerary this year. I thought it might be fun to keep it a surprise. Look for my first post in about a week!

xoxox,
Allie

Home

July 3, 2015 – Day 31

St. Louis, MO – Cumming, GA

560 miles/9 hours

HOME

It was a long, long day! I have learned something. In the past I’ve ended my trips at Rich’s parents’ house, or visiting close friends. We’d have a chance to relax and look forward to going home – get excited about it. This time, I was desperate to get home. And it was a long haul. But writing this, a month removed, I already miss the road. I’ve started planning next year’s adventure!

I will share “Best Of” post this week, once I’ve gone through all our pictures, calculated our stats and reviewed my road journal. 

Lincoln, NE & St. Louis, MO

July 2, 2015 – Day 30

Omaha, NE/Lincoln, NE-St. Louis, MO

45 minutes - 50 miles/7 hours – 432 miles

Renaissance St. Louis

My apologies for posting this sooooo late. The last two days of our road trip were long, and we just wanted to get home. There was very little sightseeing, so I didn’t think to post. Then I received a bunch of emails from people wondering where we were… I’m so sorry! We were only home for a couple of days, before heading to Florida, and time just got away from me.

From Omaha, we took a westward detour to Lincoln, NE, so we could tour the capitol building. You know me and my capitals. It was worth the time, because Lincoln is a fantastic little city. I sort of regret that we didn’t stay there, instead of Omaha. The Capitol is beautiful and of course, the people were very nice.

Then we headed east, for long haul across Missouri, sometimes driving through rain. The kids fought the whole time. When I pulled up to the hotel, I was fragged. Hotel was beautiful and empty! Guess the St. Louis airport isn’t a popular Fourth of July hang-out. 

We ordered room service for the children and Rich and I had dinner downstairs in the hotel dining room. We had the place to ourselves!

Dancing in Omaha

July 1, 2015 – Day 29

Pierre, SD – Omaha, NE

446 miles/ 6.5 hours

Fairfield Inn Papillion, Rms 205 & 207

Long, long, long driving day, with not much to see. South Dakota – boring. Sioux Falls to Omaha, on Interstate 29, boring. I drove for most of the day, while Rich and the kids watched a movie.

Omaha seems like a very nice city, what little we saw. We had a fairly decent meal at a popular local steakhouse. Everyone’s ready for a home-cooked meal. It would take a lot to excite our taste buds at this point. The restaurant where we dined had a lounge, with a live band. The kids were dying to go in and see what it was all about. The manager heard them begging us and said it was okay.

So this becomes the story about the night my family crashed a bar. Seriously. The band was playing old 1960’s dance covers, and it was a lively middle-aged crowd. Audrey dragged her dad to the dance floor and they looked very sweet together - much better than Rich and I do when we dance. Audrey can actually dance and does a great job of leading her dad. Cammy was the wild man of the bunch. He took to the dance floor even when the band was on break. He had the audience in the palms of his hands. When the band returned, Hunter joined him and within minutes, a woman asked Hunter to dance. And then another. At one point he was dancing with two women – even twirling them. I was astounded! So was Rich. I ran to get my camera. By the time I got back, the song had stopped and Hunter said to me, “Mom, all these old ladies want me to dance with them!” Nice. For the record, they weren’t old, not really (but maybe a little). I told him I thought it was sweet, and that he should never say no if a lady asks him to dance. Then he saw my camera. He told me he’d only dance with them if I promised not to take any pictures. So that’s why I really don’t have any pictures of him rocking the dance floor – but I assure you, he did!

I tried to take Barrett out there for a whirl, but he kept plugging his ears. He was very over whelmed. So we, the wall flowers of the family, sat on the sidelines and watched Rich, Hunter, Audrey and Cammy take over the dance floor. It was pretty damn cool.

We needed that. Conditions have been tense the last few days. Goes to show - you just never know when the next “good time” is around the corner.