Our Griswold-style road trip went off without a hitch. I love driving, I really do. Quality time in the car, road side picnics, watching the country pass by outside of your window. Sure, hopping on a plane and being in a whole new place and possibly a different climate in a matter of hours does have it's merit, but the family road trip forces us into the opportunity to really catch up with one another. Lucky for us, the girls were awesome in the car. We love our DVD player! Here's my travel log from our 10 days away.
Day 1 April 2nd
We set out for Gatlinburg, TN at 8:00 a.m. We only stopped once, for a picnic in Lexington, KY. By 4:00 pm we were at the Gatlinburg exit. We shopped the gigantic Bass Pro Shop and picked up Smoky Mountain Pizza (we love their pizza and garlic knots, if you're in the area, check it out!)on our way to my Uncle Denny and Aunt Sue's cabin. We spent a lovely night relaxing in the mountain air on my uncle's deck(s). He really needs to be in Better Homes and Gardens.
Day 2 April 3rd
Off to the Smoky Mountains Natl' Park as soon as we could get dressed and load up the car. We bypassed the Gatlinburg traffic and headed into the park the back way. After about 10 visits to the park in the last couple of years, I'm getting more familiar with the roads and trails. It's one of my favorite places and I still have a long list of sites that I want to see there and trails that I want to hike. Since Ava was making this hike all on foot, we set aside just 1-2 hours for hiking. We stopped at The Sinks and hiked a couple miles of the Meigs Creek Trail. We walked up the mountain, looked at the view from the top, and then walked back down. It was the perfect hike with two small children and it gave us a sense of accomplishment to climb a mountain first thing in the morning.
We climbed back into the car and headed on down to Georgia. We rolled in to our former home town just in time to meet our friends at Taco Mac. Oh how we miss Taco Mac!
Day 3 April 4th
Off to a play date with Ava's best girlfriends from her school last year. The weather was beautiful. Emily has never really played in a park in warm weather. Last summer she wasn't walking yet and the few times we've made it to the park in Ohio this spring, she's been all bundled up. She had a blast! It was fun to visit with our old friends and see how much all of the kiddos had grown in 8 months. After the play date we went to our good friends and former next door neighbor's home for an evening of cooking out and catching up.
Day 4 April 5th
We made the 7 hour trip down to Orlando pretty easily. Just a little rain and construction along the way. We checked into the Best Western Lake Buena Vista and headed over to Downtown Disney for dinner at Raglan Road Irish Pub and a little shopping.
Day 5 April 6th
Disney World! My parents and sisters and their families met us at our hotel and we all headed into The Magic Kingdom together. Apparently, last week was the busiest week at Disney on record. It was crowded! After taking a shuttle bus, a ferry boat, and passing through some turn-styles, we arrived! We hit Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, The Tiki Room, had lunch, watched a parade, and did a Jungle Boat Cruise before we needed to take the kiddos back to the hotel for a rest. By the time that we took the monorail and shuttle bus back, it was already 3 in the afternoon! The babies took naps and we all met up for dinner at the hotel before making our way back for an evening of fun. The lines moved much faster at night, and we were able to go on Peter Pan's Flight (Ava's favorite), It's a Small World, Snow White's Scary Adventure, The Haunted Mansion, and Buzz LightYear in the time that it took to wait for one or two rides earlier in the day. We saw the fireworks and watched the Spectro Magic Parade before saying goodbye to the happiest place on Earth around midnight. Ava passed out on the monorail and didn't wake up until 10:30 the next morning. She was exhausted! Not Emily, she was still laughing and jabbering all the way back to the hotel. The next morning she was up with the sun!
Day 6 April 7th
A late breakfast at Perkins and a day to just catch up. We were a little worn out from at day at the Magic Kingdom and our late night. My dad came over from Titusville and watched the girls for the afternoon while Mike and I headed out. We made our way back over to Downtown Disney for dinner at the T Rex restaurant. Ava and Emily loved it! They simulate a meteor shower every 20 minutes. Pretty cool.
Day 7 April 8th
We departed Lake Buena Vista for The Great Outdoors Resort in Titusville, FL. This is the location of my parent's new Florida getaway. We arrived just in time for Emily's nap. While she slept peacefully and Ava spent some quality time with her grandparents, Mike and hit the 4 mile nature hike through, well, The Great Outdoors. Seen along the trail: wild turkey, armadillos, lots of water birds, and, oh yeah, an alligator! We checked him out from a distance...
We decided to continue exploring the area by car, so we hopped into the mini van and took off for the National Seashore. It was just minutes away. We were surprised by the proximity of the shuttle launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center to the beach. We'd love to head back down for a shuttle launch.
After a week of dining out, we joined my family for some home cooking and card playing back at TGO as day 7 drew to a close.
Day 8 April 9th
Cocoa Beach! My sister Angie, her husband Dave, and my niece, Ella met up with us for lunch on the beach. We enjoyed an afternoon of fun in the sand, surf, and sun. Boy, have I missed the beach! We made it back to the hotel in time for a quick shower and then we were off to meet up with my whole family at The Dixie Crossroads for a seafood feast. I think I ate my weight in shellfish! Following dinner we stopped by TGO one last time for an Easter Egg hunt at my parent's place.
Day 9 April 10th
On the road again! Our trip home started out slowly. Lots of traffic and construction. Once we started moving, all was good. We'd almost decided to drive straight through. It felt so good to be headed towards home. Then storms hit as we came into Charlotte, NC and the mountains loomed ahead. I persuaded Mike to call it a night. And lucky us, we made it just in time for a complimentary happy hour. As Ava says, "score!" We ordered a pizza and took the girls for a swim in the pool.
Day 10 April 11th
We enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery and made good time as we headed up through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and finally...halleluiah...YES...Ohio! Ava and Emily loved going through the tunnels in the mountains. You can see from the last clip in the video below, they were having fun in the car. About 15 minutes from our house, Ava hit a serious sugar high. On the sly, she ate a bag of Oreos from the picnic basket. She was slipping them to Emily too. Both girls were giddy and covered in black Oreo crumbs. Hey, at least they weren't crying. I'm not going to complain.
So here are the pictures and a couple little video clips from our trip:
