We decided to leave for Philadelphia Tuesday night instead of Wednesday so we could divide the 8 hours into two more-manageable chunks. And now, here we are, ever so very excited about Josh and Katie's wedding on Saturday! (Josh is Jed's brother, and he, incidentally, ran a marathon last Saturday, as in, one week before he's gonna get hitched. He and Katie are awesome.)
Adventure has already marked our travels, mostly because we have kids. Here's the rundown of the last day and a half:
- Ferry closed due to record high water levels in Lake Champlain. "Please go an an hour in the wrong direction to the ferry that's open."
- Torrential monsoons. Fog. Frantic windshield wipers. Semis sending tidal waves over your minivan.
- (Oh yeah.) Sweeeet "Town and Country" minivan rental. Score 1, Jed. Whether we want to admit it or not, we love minivans, and we are not ashamed of putting that little DVD player to good use.
- Bedtime travel does not guarantee that children will sleep. Noted. Adelaide screamed, intermittently, at the top of her lungs, and Levi unwittingly encouraged it by cooing to her loudly, "NO-ooo, NO-ooo, BITTY! Nooooooo screeeeaming." He tried to use a sweet voice, but his frustrated undertones and sheer volume didn't quite have his intended effect. He finally gave in: "I think she just wants to sit there and scream." So it would seem.
- As bedtime had come and gone hours before, emotions ran high, and Levi wept over every roadsign for which he did not get an explanation, every dropped cup (though it was immediately retrieved), and everything in between. Sudden silence from him occurred just as we pulled out of the Wendy's drive-thru (Yes, we know...why such a late dinner? Don't ask questions. There is a logical explanation, we promise!). I turned to see him asleep, box of uneaten chicken nuggets in one hand, juice cup in the other.
- Riding shotgun had its own special duties including turning around every 32 seconds to ask Levi to repeat his question so it could be heard over the insane rain, then answering the question, then facing front as the inevitable follow-up question burst forth, followed by climbing to the back to hand Adelaide the things she had just thrown across the car only to find she couldn't reach them, then climbing back to the front seat, then starting over, followed by nausea from too much turning around in circles.
- Midnight arrival in Albany. Everyone slept well and slept in. Score again.
- Free breakfast at hotel no longer available. We were too late for breakfast.
- GPS leads us to a mall parking lot. No Friendly's in sight. Settle on McDonald's with a sigh, reset GPS. Follow GPS. No McDonald's in sight, but we do see a Friendly's. Eat breakfast next to a rude, reprobate family who cusses angrily not only in front of, but AT, their little girl. Resist temptation to commit assault and kidnapping. Adelaide screams intermittently, and we get dirty looks from the cussers. If only we'd cuss out Adelaide, angrily, she would stop screaming.
- (In Adelaide's defense, she's cutting her first-year molars, which is not necessarily the most pleasant assignment. Despite her screaming, everyone else loved our kids, so the cussers don't count.)
- Leave for Day 2 on the highway. Longer stretch. Levi starts at about minute 6 to ask if we'd arrived. You know where I'm going with that one.
- Animusic and Cars matinee in the back seat. Sudden, terrible, four-year-old urge to go to the bathroom. No exits in sight. Minutes drag into seeming days, but at last, we make it. Whew!
- A couple detours, one wrong turn, and about 5 hours later, arrival at lovely, bless-ed, heart-warming hotel just outside Philadelphia.
- Family! Long nap, delicious dinner, BED.
- Adelaide wakes up one hundred times. Teething. Where did her Tylenol go?
- Wake up to Day 3. Groggy, but excited!
Now that we're here, we've seen grandparents/sisters/brothers/aunts/uncles/cousins/friends, and it's been quite the reunion!
Overall, it's already been a "trip," and we're enjoying every minute. Even all the kids' needs have been par for the course for what we expected, and they are little troopers. Pennsylvania always surprises me with its beauty, and we passed through some quaint, beautiful towns of affluence with giant estates that were absolutely gorgeous. On Day 2, the weather cleared, and it's all sunshine predicted for the next few days, including the Big Day.
So far, so good!
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