Day 1

Big Trip 5... Wow. I can't believe this is my fifth time touring the country with 3 kids in a minivan!

Day 1 - Monday - June 21, 2010

Woke up around 0645 after staying up entirely too late last night. That does not bode well for the driving today! I was able to upload my client's digi book (phew) without any technical difficulties this morning. Then time to get the kids' wardrobe for the next month set then get those kids off to school for their last day. A quick stop at Parkwood to get Mrs. K's email address and say good-bye to a couple other teachers. Back home to finish the packing and start loading the car (Ron loaded the camping gear yesterday after he put the roof-box on).

Noon and I think I'm pretty much ready. Remembered that I needed to register the brownie troop for next year (oops - forgot that one on my to-do list!). Attempted to do it real quick before I went to school to pick up the kids. No can do. Technical difficulties galore. Oh well. So much for early-bird registration. Guess we'll do regular registration sometime later in the summer.

Drop off teacher gifts and pick up the kids. Back home to dump the school stuff and pick up our fun trip bags. Last minute items into the car (almost forgot my cell phone charger!) and a photo with Vacation Mouse. Finally, it is time to hit the road.

1:53 p.m. Loaded and ready to go. Temperature, a sunny, steamy 87 degrees. Beginning mileage on the car = 70,049 (aren't you impressed that I actually remembered to write that down?!)

1:57 p.m. Jo (a.k.a. Joette, a.k.a. GPS Lady) is mad at me already. Recalculating... Little did we know that this was just the beginning of Jo's bad day...

2:10 p.m. Mom called to talk to the kids.

2:51 p.m. These kids are killing me with the snacks! I can smell slim jims and brownies and it's making me hungry!

3:13 p.m. West Virginia

3:17 p.m. Our first cow sighting of the trip. Yay!

3:23 p.m. We're off the road and Jo is lost! Guess they built a new highway here recently that's not on her map.

3:25 p.m. Crossing the Lost River. But we can't see it. That's because it's lost. Get it - the LOST river?!?

3:26 p.m. Felisa is taking pictures for me of all the nice scenery. Also, crazy pictures of Bella. Can't wait to see what comes out. Haha!

3:45 p.m. McD's in Moorefield, WV. Bathroom break and grab some food. We're all hungry! Check the map (since Jo doesn't want us to go this way I need to know which way I'm trying to go rather than relying on her instructions. Did I mention Jo is having a bad day? Recalculating...)

4:00 p.m. Leaving McD's. Stuck behind a big, slow truck.

4:20 p.m. Oh look - a nice park with a playground next to a river. Let's stop! This is the South Branch of the Potomac River. The kids run off to the playground first. I see Ryan sliding down the slide, standing up, sliding down backwards. Yikes! That looks dangerous! And I have no idea where the nearest hospital is. Tell the kids they can go down to the river. We take our shoes off and wade in the warm shallow water for a few minutes.

4:46 p.m. Leaving the park. A nice break but we'd better get going or we'll never make it to Ohio tonight!

5:12 p.m. Champe Rocks - cool looking.

5:18 p.m. Seneca Rocks. Another cool looking place. But no time to stop!

5:26 p.m. Pass a semi on a switchback. We're headed up and he's headed down. His brakes are smoking!

5:28 p.m. Made it to the top! Allegheny Mountain, 3295 feet, Eastern Continental Divide. The sign says there is a 9% grade going down the other side. No wonder that truck's brakes were smoking! We also see our first sheep grazing at the pass.

5:42 p.m. Middle Mountain, 3190 feet.

5:44 p.m. Cones in the road. I wonder why. Oh I see now - a broken down RV on the side of the road.

5:45 p.m. And now we're passing a tractor hauling two hay bales - one on the front and one on the back.

5:55 p.m. Cheat Mountain (missed the elevation on this one)

5:59 p.m. Elkins, WV We saw a cool old building and a statue of Henry Cassaway Davis.

6:41 p.m. See goats and more farmers loading hay. Must be hay-harvesting season.

6:45 p.m. Mom called again to talk to Felisa (the signal dropped during her earlier call) but Felisa is asleep in the back.

7:02 p.m. Clarksburg, WV. Gas, $2.74/gallon. A treat - stop at A&W for a snack. I'm happy to eat there since we hardly ever get to go to A&W but the girls opt out and just refill their water bottles. Ryan gets a hot dog with mustard and a root beer. I hope there's no caffeine in that root beer!

7:23 p.m. Finally getting back on the road from this stop.
Jo -"Continue 76 miles."
Me - "76 miles!?! We'll never make it."
Felisa - "That's not true. We'll make it."

8:11 p.m. Bella is teaching Felisa the cardinal directions chant. "N-E-S-W that's the way my body's going." This goes on for a surprising long time.

8:19 p.m. Well, I'm certainly tired of driving for today. And I think Ryan was feeling a bit carsick earlier from all the curvy mountain roads. But the advantage of taking this route is that there is hardly any traffic out here at all. And lots of great scenery.

8:31 p.m. First Sonic sign!

8:34 p.m. We're stuck in WV!!! The highway signs tell us to go one way. Jo tells us to go another way. We're driving off the map and in circles! Help us! We just want to cross the river into Ohio!!! The girls are in the back, cheering Jo on - "Here we go Jo-ette, here we go!" Ryan says that he is about to lose faith in Jo for today when we finally get headed in the right direction.

8:41 p.m. Ohio!!! But we're on Business Route 50, not regular Route 50. Why, Jo, why?!?

8:47 p.m. See a sign - Barns in stock, ready for delivery. Great! Maybe I'll order one. But how do they deliver a big ol' barn?

8:57 p.m. Must be sunset. Jo has switched to night mode.

9:01 p.m. Ryan is impressed that it is still light outside this late. It's the summer solstice and we are racing the sun to the hotel. Will we make it before dark?

9:04 p.m. See a tractor working in the field with headlights. I don't think I've ever seen a tractor with headlights. Maybe I just don't go out after dark.

9:10 p.m. So I'm driving at 60 mph. How fast is the sun moving away from me? How fast is the earth spinning? (A quick internet search comes up with 700 mph. Hmm. Guess the sun just might win this race!)

9:25 p.m. Made it to the hotel. The sun won. But barely!

Get checked in and changed for swimming. Head to the pool at 9:50. Our room key doesn't work at the pool. Finally get in around 10. Something tells me we're going to be up late tonight...

10:50 p.m. Finally headed back to the room. Showers and pj's for the kids. As I'm helping Bella with her swimsuit, she accidentally bumps me. Then she says, "Sorry but I don't have eyes in the back of my head like you do." How funny is that!

And now everyone is hungry so I head out to the car to grab some snacks from the snack box. I'm missing my nightly before-bed glass of milk tonight. It'll take a few days to get out of that routine so that I'm not missing it as much.

11:30 p.m. Change the channel to something boring (the local weather radar) and force the children to go to bed. After all, they need to get plenty of rest so they will be ready to ride in the car all day tomorrow! Haha!

Tomorrow... 500 miles to Grandma's house!