My longest post ever! - 10 day Road Trip to NH and back
The summer is supposed to be a time to relax, but not this summer! We hit the ground running with a road trip to New Hampshire. (In case you're wondering, it's about an 18 hour drive there...by the time you add the time there plus back plus around here and there, we probably clocked a full work-week worth of hours in our 10 days!)
DAY 1: Friday, June 6th
Half day at school followed by Drive to NC (to stay with Grandma and Gramps for the night). It's about 4 hours there.
DAY 2: Saturday, June 7th
The official first day of driving really long hours!
Travel from NC to DC (by lunch - 4 hours), then to NY (another 4 hours, passing through around supper, then to CT (about another 2 hours - stopped for a late supper and stay the night.)
Grandma's fudge for the road!
After I took this picture, Carolyn taught me how to do the net thing she's got on her hands right now!
Photo vandalism
(so funny - dry erase markers on sheet protectors with photos in them)
Washington, DC Temple
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Welcome to New Jersey! Where's your money?
We thought NJ was crazy...until the way home...
Toll booths are just so foreign to me...I have to pay to continue driving here??
We passed through North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut all in 1 day. We were wiped! We were so ready for BED that night - so much driving!
DAY 3: Sunday, June 8th
We went to a ward in connecticut for church.
Rob's cousin had just gotten home from school for the summer, so they were having a huge family celebration that we "crashed" (with permission). We ate, the kids stretched and jumped and wiggled, and then we were back on the road for another 3 hours.
We finished the day in New Hampshire. We stayed in a really sweet suite in Dover - that actually fit us all!
We had bought some food Saturday night before crashing, so we pulled that from our cooler, heated it up in the mini-kitchen at the hotel and relaxed and unpacked, ready for visiting, family, fun the next day.
DAY 4: Monday, June 9th
Celebrating Memere's life with a burial service and family time
I thought the button flowers were so perfect on her gravestone! Cute, fitting, weather-proof!
After rest time, we went to a park that's been around since Rob was a little boy - Hilton Park.
Two sides of the see saw...
Carolyn was astounded that her parents knew how to have fun!
And I gave her a good scare on the swings...
"Mom, come down - you're scaring me!"
Family supper at Newick's Lobster House
We went with Aimee's family to Golick's Dairy Bar for dessert.
Kaitlyn LOVED that they had cotton candy flavor soft serve.
Check out all those flavors! (I know it's hard to read...people were standing there while I stupidly took a picture of the board they were all trying to read.) The prices were good for how much you got too! (Note to self: in NH, order child size ice cream!)
(I got cinnamon coffee cake ice cream. Imagine cinnamon coffee cake baked goodness in a frozen scoopable sweet cone. Mmmm...)
DAY 5: Tuesday, June 10th
Another day in NH (although we traveled over to Maine to visit Wells Beach, so I guess we traveled a little.)
We visited with Rob's other cousin Cheri today at another park. It should have had a splash pad, but it was closed for maintanance. boo (At least the kids are already in swimsuits for the rest of the day's activities)
Sleep-deprived Seth was starting to laugh maniacally...time for a nap?
Time to pack it up here...
Rob tweeted EVERYTHING - including and especially his favorites - like the beach
Everyone wanted to try out the jetty, but some were also very nervous about it too...
That's enough for some of us....
The kids loved meeting their second cousins. They were sad to say goodbye after supper was over.
Line up for hugs!
Consolation on having to leave? A second night of ice cream! This time at Dover Delight!
They were awesome too, but Golick's was my favorite. More hard scoop flavors that were unusual.
On the way back to the hotel, we also stopped by Duston's Bakery to get some whoopie pies to take home to Columbia and make our mark on their map - they've had people come in to buy whoopie pies to take as far as Australia!
DAY 6: Wednesday, June 11th
Beginning our Journey home
It took about 5 hours to get from NH to NYC (one pit stop to stretch and get gas and have a bathroom break)
I never had much desire to go to NYC, but as we were passing by, we thought it would be cool to go and see the statue of liberty (from afar) and other things (just driving by - we only had a few hours in the afternoon)
Turns out we spent that time just driving. NYC has the craziest drivers ever - many of them in taxis!
Things that are considered law in SC apparently are only suggestions in NYC!
The kids were fascinated by the vast number of pigeons to be seen. Go figure.
We had pizza in Jersey that night. Maybe Jersey isn't so crazy afterall....
DAY 7: Thursday, June 12th
Heading from our hotel where we stopped for the night (near the Delaware Maryland border) all the way back to NC. (We'll pass through DC, VA, and into NC)
Rob parallel parked that Huge 12 passenger van we were renting! Win!
We stopped in Washington, DC for a stretch break.
We didn't have a lot of time (1 hour), but we walked from where we parked to the Washington Monument (about a mile), then back to the van to keep on driving.
(I'd like to be able to go back again for a trip just to there in a few years, but after I recover from the exhaustion of this road trip!)
My little photographer
We just need to stretch our legs...
It was really windy there that day.
We finally made it back to North Carolina by that night!
We stayed with Jacob's family that night.
DAY 8: Friday, June 13th
Yes, Friday the 13th. But no bad luck. We visited with Jacob and Brittany and Thomas got to run wild through the house with "the cousins" as our kids were referred to. :)
We began in NC but ended in SC...but not at home. Instead, we drove farther along the coast and ended at my parents' house, where Mom thankfully, helped us push through more laundry that her machine wanted to do that weekend!
DAY 9: Saturday, June 14th
Rob and I went for a little drive to visit more friends while my mom and dad kept and entertained the kids for the afternoon.
DAY 10: Sunday, June 15th
Father's Day
That night, we were so exhausted when we got home! How did we fit all of this in our little 7 passenger van??
It took me 2-3 days to unpack and get it all put away and the house all cleaned up again.
(Admittedly, I still have a pile of artwork on the printer from the end of school waiting to be scanned or photographed and hung on the art wall in the playroom...a month after this!)
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