We set out Saturday morning with plans to drive to Jackson, MS to stay the night. We knew it was about a 12 hour drive and did not want to push ourselves to it all in one day, so I made reservations at a hotel there in Jackson.
So we went through....
Texas (1)
Louisiana (2)
Mississippi (3)
Everything was going as planned, but then we turned on the news...Tropical Storm Debby had developed in the Gulf. On Saturday evening, while we are siting in our hotel, only 5 hours away from our vacation destination, Michael and I were a bit panicked. The forecast projectors for the Tropical Storm were projecting her to land just about anywhere in FL, LA or TX. We couldn't ignore that Pensacola was one of the projected tracks. *Ugh*. They were also saying that the more she sat out in the Gulf, the stronger she was getting and she could turn into a Hurricane at some point. *Double Ugh*.
We decided to sleep on it and figure it out in the morning. When we woke up, it was pretty much the same situation. But now they had one of those poor weather men standing out on the beach getting pounded by rain and one of them was in Pensacola Beach. *Triple Ugh*. We knew it was not a good idea to travel towards the storm. For our kids sake, we need to figure something else out and momma didn't want to turn around and go home!!!!
Over breakfast we studied the map and decided that Memphis, TN is only 2.5 hours north, we could be there by lunch. Let's go there and have some BBQ.
Tennessee (4)
Lunch was a bust, the food wasn't that good. The boys fell apart. Momma and Daddy were weary. "What in the world are we doing" was a question that both of us said frequently. I decided we needed something fun to do, something to lift our spirits...I didn't find anything though. We just ended up driving around Memphis and getting really, really lost. Somehow we ended up on a bridge heading West and then we saw a sign...Welcome to Arkansas!
Arkansas (5)
We had a good laugh, mainly instead of crying. I continued to check the status of the storm, and it continued to stay put. We finally decided to go to Birmingham, AL. We didn't make it there though. By 6:00 pm we were ready to get out of the car. The kids were coming apart, 2 days in the car was taking its toll. So we stopped in Tupelo, MS. Elvis' birth place.
Monday morning when we woke up, Tropical Storm Debby had started to make a move toward the Eastern part of FL. There were no watches or warnings or even rain in Pensacola. We decided we had better head to FL or go home and no wanted the latter. So off we went to FL...
Alabama (6)
Florida (7)
Finally! We made it! Monday evening, around 5:00 pm we walked into the condo! We have never been so happy to be out of the car! Glad to be there, Glad no storms were there, Glad to start enjoying our vacation!
And thankfully, besides the surf being a little rough, there were no signs of a Tropical Storm!
Obviously, as you can tell from all the previous posts, we had a WONDERFUL time! Well worth our adventure to get there!
Heading home...
Originally we planned to stay the night half way home, but hadn't made reservations yet. We left Friday morning and as we drove away, Michael and I decided we were ready to sleep in our own beds that night. We were going to do our best to push through! We made it. It took 14.5 hours, from beginning to end. The boys cried the last hour or so. It was a miserable mess. But we made it and were glad.
Trip Savers...
We always love some good music, anytime, but especially on the road. With 4 full days in the car, it felt like with listened to EVERYTHING on my iPod, which is a lot! The funny thing is that we have this CD (that I downloaded to my iPod) from Anna Marie, that is 60 Years of Disney. I thought we had listened to the whole thing, but on the trip we found some songs we had never heard before.
The Spectrum Song, from a 1961 Disney cartoon called "The Wonderful World of Color", became the favorite song of the trip! Jonathan says, "Try that song again". And again, and again...but it was fun! Both boys would giggle every time and that of course made us giggle! I found the video on Youtube.
The Spectrum Song. (if you are prone to epileptic seizures, then please don't watch this!)
My iPad was a life saver! I had a couple of movies on there and when the boys started getting really restless, I turned it on! I figured out that I could wedge the iPad in between the 2 front seats and it worked perfectly for both boys to see!
Jonathan loves playing with his Leap Pad (kind of like an iPad for kids). But I didn't get any pictures of him. He was directly behind me, so I never turned all the way around.
Ben liked his books from his aunts, Anna Marie and Amy!
Apparently, he thought his toes were tastier than the snacks I packed!
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| Aaaaaaa...all is quiet. Surprisingly, this didn't happen often...both asleep at the same time. |
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| I loved this. We were at the hotel free breakfast thing and I left the table for a minute to get napkins or something and I came back and Jonathan was feeding Ben yogurt. And Ben ate it. I think I have a new job for Jonathan!!! I love how much yogurt is on the spoon, gushing out of Ben's mouth. I had to change his clothes afterward, but it was such a good memory! Love these boys!!! |
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