The Drive...

Saturday started early.  We were leaving for North Carolina that evening and we had plenty to do.  First was to clean and prep the house for showing.  This took the majority of the day and the boys were cooperative and let us work.  They knew that we were leaving in the evening to drive to NC and were very excited to go.

By late afternoon, we were done prepping and turned our attention to packing and bathing the boys.  No one wanted to cook so we headed out to Monellis for dinner.  By 7:30 we were on the road.  The car was packed to the brim but the boys looked comfortable.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Grayson decided he was unhappy.  He spent the next 90 minutes screaming and crying regardless of what we did to soothe him.  It was a difficult 90 minutes.  Nolan spent most of the time plugging his ears and saying "Grayson is hurting my ears Daddy."

We were close to Ohio when most everyone was sleeping.  Magnus was still awake and wanted to stay awake until we were in Ohio.  After that, he was out like a light.  When we stopped for gas in Ohio, all the boys woke up.  Unfortunately, the bathrooms were in less the desireable conditions and, if you know what it's like to take a child to the bathroom in a public toilet, it was a horrible experience.  I don't know about you, but my children tend to touch everything despite my warnings of germs, disease, etc...  After a thorough washing in the sink, we were ready to forge on.  I continued driving the sleeping beauties all the way to Lexington, KY.   The last hour or so was touch and go.  I was very tired at that point.  Beth took over so I could try to get some rest.

If you've ever ridden in a Mazda 5, you know that there isn't a whole lot of room.  My knees were touching the dash board because we had to stow some stuff behind the seat.  I couldn't put the seat back because Nolan was behind me in his car seat.  I did fall asleep, but it was an uneasy rest.  After about two hours I came to with a sore back and neck.  The boys were still sleeping comfortably and that made me happy.

Beth was doing well despite an uneasy sleep in the car.  We decided to stop at Hardees for breakfast in a small town called Tellico.  It was about 6:30 AM.  I have never been so disappointed in a breakfast.  Fortunately, we don't eat fast food on a regular basis.  We choked down our biscuits and hit the road.  We were now on the Cherohala Skyway.  This is a scenic mountain road and there are may switchbacks as it winds along the tops of the smokey mountains.  Unfortunately, it was still quite early in the morning and we couldn't see very well through the fog.  Magnus was sitting in the back and he started to get motion sick.  We stopped briefly and let him get out and walk around.  I decided to switch places with him so he could watch out the front window and get some fresh air.  For the next hour and a half we drove and stopped, drove and stopped and finally when we were about 2 miles to our destination, Magnus emptied his stomach on the side of the road.  Fortunately, this made him feel better and he didn't cry or complain.

So, we arrived at Barb and Lou's home and unpacked the car.  It was 8:30 AM.  13 hours of driving through the night had come to an end.  Beth and I took turns napping during the day and called it an early night.  More fun and excitement on Monday.  Stay tuned.