We left on Wednesday around 6 a.m. Just took the girls right out of bed and into the car in their pajamas. We know the drill, having made this drive three times now. As we were backing out of the driveway, Sydney said she felt like puking. I asked her if I should get the bucket and she said yes. So, we pulled back in and I ran back inside. Later, down the road and after we stopped for breakfast in Waterloo, IA and changed out of PJ's, Sydney started gagging and I quick grabbed the bucket and yes, she puked. NICE start to our vacation...only three hours down the road of a 28 hour drive.
And of course, we were listening to the radio, because we knew we were heading into a snowstorm in Iowa. Normally, we stay on the interstate, I-90 over through Wisconsin, picking up I-94 and then down through Illinois, but we 1) wanted to try a new way because driving through Illinois has got to be the most BORING drive EVER and 2) we were trying to get behind the storm and we knew it was heading towards WI/IL.
The snow started right when we were leaving Waterloo after breakfast. The radio was advising NO travel through Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities, and I-80...right where we were heading. Needless to say, we plowed on, heading south to Missouri, seeing many cars and trucks in the ditch, jack-knifed semis and even police cars stuck on the side of the road. There were many places where we couldn't go over 30-40 mph, but about the Iowa/Missouri border, the snow was less, just a lot of wind and blowing. We were a little behind schedule, but we were hoping to make up a little time once we got down towards St. Louis. It did work out well and we made it to the Illinois/Kentucky border about 7:30 p.m. that night. Here is our route:
We slept so-so that night, as you can guess, Sydney was getting sick and had an awful cough and she began running a fever. The next day we made it to our friend's house, where we were staying that night. I felt bad because Sydney was sick, but T said it was no problem, that the kids were always picking up something from school anyway. She is such a sweetheart. I always look forward to spending time with her and her family. They are terrific hosts! We arrived at their home about 4 p.m. and the kids started playing, Sydney, not so much, and eventually, her fever really spiked, up to 104.5 under the arm and she puked a little bit more. We ended up giving her a tepid bath and T called her pediatrician for me, who said it sounded like the flu and to bring her by and urgent care before we headed south if I needed to. We ended up getting the fever to come down with the bath and with Motrin. In the meantime, Lindsey was having a ball with the rest of the kids. THANKS T, for the little skateboards and scooters! We can't use them yet, but I know the girls will be on them all the time this spring.
We headed out the next morning and it was a long day. Sydney still had a fever, but seemed to be doing a little better. We arrived at my parent's about 7 p.m. It is a long drive down I-75 from Atlanta to Marco Island. Traffic totally stunk in spots. I finally broke out a movie for the girls to watch in the DVD player right towards the end. Yes, we actually make this trip without watching movies the whole way. Seems amazing to me, but they are really wonderful travellers. Last year, we never turned on the DVD player once. I'm much more lenient about it now, as they are good about just watching one movie and then doing something else.
This was the third year coming year with the girls. My brother and his family come at the same time. My parents are here for about six weeks, so it's nice to see them. We're a very close family and we have a great time together. We do absolutely nothing when we're there, totally relax, go to the pool, to the beach, out to dinner, they guy's went fishing...that's about it. I didn't even make it to a souvenir shop this time! It's a nice treat for Dh & I because my parents are early risers and like the time in the morning that they spend with the girl's. L & S will get up and beeline it for grandma & grandpa's room and we can sleep in a bit.
Soon, Sydney was feeling better and then Lindsey came down with the crud. Same thing. Bad cough. High fever. Luckily, it only lasted a few days and we didn't let it spoil any fun!
Okay, enough with the writing...and on with some pictures! Just click the link below to view a short slideshow. There are pics from the pool, the beach, the family, grandpa's birthday, dancing, pelicans...all kinds of fun stuff. If you prefer not to view the slideshow, and would like to see the picture titles, you can view all the pics on Flickr.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
I'm trying out a couple different slideshow options and am curious as to which you like better, if you would be so kind as to comment. Here is a link to a different slideshow.
Looks like fun, huh? Of course, on the way home, we had more of the same. One bad night in a hotel and again, watching another snowstorm that was supposed to come through Iowa. We left the Atlanta area at 6 a.m. and made it to our projected stopping point of Troy, Missouri around 4 p.m. on Saturday night and just decided to keep going. We pulled into our garage at 11:40 p.m. and totally missed the storm in Iowa that came through the next day! Whew! It was nice to be home a whole day early and get all settled in.
Anyhoo, that was our trip! Bunches of fun and we can't wait until next year!
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