Day 1

0500 - alarm goes off

0514 - get up

0608 - car is loaded - it seems way too empty compared to how much we usually bring. what big thing are we forgetting? Or how many small things?

0611 - Leave. Less than a block from home, I've already made the GPS lady mad. "Recalculating..."

0615 - Forgot the gummi bear vitamins. Oh well. Not worth going back for them.

0616 - This is the first trip in a while that we start out heading west. Seems like I'm going the wrong way!

0625 - Pick up an erratic driver. This guy is all over the place - weaving in his lane, riding bumpers then slowing down then speeding way up again. I think I'll get ahead of him and out of his way before he causes an accident!

0637 - I was just thinking that the traffic would ease up a bit as we get away from town. Then I passed the Haymarket exit - and everyone is getting off there. I wonder why...

0640 - Ugh. The crazy driver is back.

0650 - Okay that time he was way off in the shoulder. Time to call him in.

0656 - First cow sighting of the trip.

0657 - Police car passes me. Hope he's going after that crazy guy.

0702 - Dismal Hollow Road. Gee, how would you like to live there? No thanks!

0716 - See a hot air balloon.

0730 - Stop at McD's in Woodstock for breakfast.

0757 - Done with breakfast

0758 - Gas. $2.39/gallon

0803 - Car Wash! The kids are so excited. Will this be the best part of the day?

0809 - All clean. But darn - there's still a spot in the middle of my window. Grrr.

0828 - Sign that the rest areas are closing. I wonder if that's permanent or temporary.

0852 - my lack of working out lately is making me feel guilty (plus fat and sluggish!)

0954 - driving in the mountains - time to try out my new "car tunes" transmittor. Works but it is really hard to see the display and not run off the road. I need an assistant!

1008 - Felisa says Not the highway! I ask her why and she says because it is boring. Nothing to look at but trees.

1021 - West Virginia

1048 - Leaving the rest area. Picked up some brochures. Perhaps we can take the scenic route for a bit. The kids start a movie.

1102 - Give up the scenic route. It's not all that scenic and the kids aren't paying attention anyway.

1121 - try the scenic route again

1152 - WV seems to be using trimmed branches as erosion control along the steep mountain roadsides.

12:52 p.m. Done with our stop at New River National River which included a walk down and back up A LOT of steps. When we got to the top the kids made these comments.
B - I think I just got skinnier!
R - I burned, like, 10 calories!
F - I wish I was still a baby! (we were talking about how babies got to be carried and didn't have to walk -we saw one on the trail)

So funny! I offered to do a Favorite Parts survey but the girls declined since it was such a short stop. Ryan offered his favorite: Everybody's comments. I think it looks like a fun river for rafting.

1:11 p.m. Wendy's for lunch. I forgot to order food for Felisa so we went through the drive-thru twice.

1:33 p.m. Back on the highway. We got a bit side-tracked today...

1:53 p.m. Pass a truck full of pigs on the way to become bacon.

1:56 p.m. Toll booth. Doesn't do much good to have EZPass if there isn't an EZPass only lane. Still had to wait in line to get through.

2:01 p.m. My legs are sore today. I have just figured out that it must have been from walking Tuesday morning. I think I need new shoes before I go back to Boot Camp.

2:08 p.m. Charleston, WV - crossing the Kanawha River

2:50 p.m. SCORE - I found a Starbucks with a Drive Thru. The kids are all asleep so I didn't want to stop but I was getting very sleepy. Too bad they all woke up anyway. Oh well. At least we didn't have to get out of the car.

3:08 p.m. I can see Ohio across the river.

3:11 p.m. Kentucky

3:30 p.m. Stop for gas $2.43/gallon

4:16 p.m. See signs for Bath County and Licking River. Hmmm... is that like a sponge bath?

4:17 p.m. Palamino Cows! Not really but they were the light palamino color and that's what Felisa called them.

4:32 p.m. See a sign for a hospital. The girls start telling me that Ruff Ruffman show said that if you sleep at the hospital you can have ice cream for breakfast. And you can order whatever you want to eat. I must have been at the wrong hospital before because I didn't get ice cream for breakfast!

4:50 p.m. No horses! We're in KY for crying out loud. Where are the horses? There is lots of hay but no horses anywhere.

5:02 p.m. Horses - finally!

5:18 p.m. Crossing the Kentucky River.

5:54 p.m. Arrive at the hotel. Yea - just under 12 hours on the road today... whew. Talk about starting off not easy.

Once at the hotel, we had free hot dogs, broccoli casserole, and apple pie for dinner. Then swimming (yucky gnats outside tonight), showers, watching TV (Jeopardy, Disney Channel, and America's Funniest Videos). And then I had to go back out to the car to fetch some bedtime snacks because we're all hungry! I found a Sonic - only 2 miles away. I seriously contemplated putting them all in the car and going there but resisted the temptation. We'll be going there tomorrow for sure though!

Spent some time trying to figure out what we'll do tomorrow - looks like Horse Day. Friday will be Museums and Baseball. Then on the road again Saturday... And now I have to convince Ryan to go to sleep. It's 11:00 and I'm tired!