Sunday, January 8, 2017

IL Road Trip: Part 1 (Traveling)

From December 29-January 4, the girls and I were on a 7-day road trip from NC to IL. It was a rather impromptu trip that came together in less than a week. After checking the weather forecast for snow in 6 states, I decided to visit my family in IL since I was off from work, Savannah was tracked out from school, and Hadley's babysitter was on vacation in Japan. While the girls and I were gone, Tal stayed home and worked. He is saving his vacation days for our 10th anniversary trip to Australia this spring.


Savannah and Hadley were good travelers, and I was really impressed with their behavior when we were on the road. I took a relaxed approach on this trip. Instead of traveling 13.5 hours in one day, I broke up the trip into two days (7.5 hours on the first day and 6 hours on the second day). I followed cues from Savannah and Hadley. When the girls were restless or fussy, we stopped for a snack, potty break, or lunch every 2-3 hours. When the girls were sleeping, I drove until they woke up. We listened to lots of nursery rhymes and Kidz Bop that entertained the girls. In the back seat, I put a box next to the girls that was filled with lots of snacks, drinks, toys, and DVDs. Savannah helped by doling out out snacks and toys and pacifying Hadley as needed.


The girls and I left our house on December 29 and traveled 7.5 hours. On the first day, we drove through four states: North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. We spent the night at a Fairfield Inn in Lexington, KY that had an indoor pool and continental breakfast.


After a long day of traveling, the girls enjoyed burning off some energy for a couple hours in the pool and hot tub:




We had the pool and hot tub to ourselves!


After swimming, we  took showers and then ate dinner at the Cracker Barrel that was next door to our hotel:

When we got back to our hotel, the three of us relaxed, watched some TV, and then fell asleep exhausted at 8:30 PM:


No comments: