Road Trip

If you're anything like me, when you hear the words "road trip", you immediately picture the following:

cruising along the open road w/the windows rolled down, your hair flying around you as you sing along to your favorite songs on the radio; trying to capture the beauty of miles of corn fields or the sun setting over the Appalacian Mountains on your camera as you fly by them at 80 miles an hour; stopping only to grab a bite to eat in some quaint small town diner and to take ridiculous pictures of yourself smiling like an idiot in front of those "Welcome to..." signs you pass every time you cross a new state line.

Well, that's exactly what our recent road trip to NJ to see Chris's mom was like...if you add in two toddlers, replace your favorite songs w/the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse soundtrack, add in 5 hours of thunderstorms and substitute crowded rest areas filled w/weary travelers & less-than-spotless bathroom facilities for quiant little small town diners. So, it was nearly the same.

Why, you ask, would we ever attempt such a thing when we could've hopped on any number of planes and reached our destination in a little under 3 hours? I know, it seems like a sort of crazy thing to do, definitely not something two experienced parents would willingly subject themselves to when given the choice. Believe me, we asked ourselves many times if we were absolutely insane to willingly commit ourselves to 12 to 16 hours in the car w/two kids who have trouble sitting still for a 20 minute episode of Handy Manny. Hard as it is to believe, driving was the clear winner on my Pros & Cons list - we could stop any time we wanted, we didn't have to worry about our screaming children disturbing other passengers and we could take as much stuff as we needed to bring.

So a few Thursday nights ago we found ourselves stuffing the car w/2 suitcases, 1 pack-n-play, 1 toddler air mattress, 1 travel high chair, 1 double stroller, 2 duffel bags of toys, books & DVDs and 1 bag of snacks. The next morning (and I use that term loosely, it was 4 am) we scooped the boys, along w/their favorite blankies, out of their beds and into the car and we were on our way...



I have to say, despite that fact that it poured from the second we pulled out of our neighborhood until we were halfway through Ohio and despite the fact that Chris & I were convinced the boys would catch E. coli or worse from the family bathrooms at the rest areas the trip did go amazingly well.


Yes, what should have been a 12 hour trip took us 15 hours - but stopping every 2 1/2 hours for 20 to 30 minutes kept the kids happy and reasonably quiet for most of the trip.


Yes, we ended up letting the kids eat about 300 hundred M&Ms & have McDonald's for breakfast, lunch & dinner - but what's a vacation w/o a little chocolate & junk food?


Yes, we did resort to using the built-in DVD player in our car - but not until 11 hours into the trip, which I personally consider a major victory.


And yes, Aidan did have 1 major diaper disaster (probably from all those M&Ms) - but at least the carseat was spared and he was quite happy to ride pants-free the rest of the way.


Besides, what's a good road trip w/o a few funny stories and misadventures???