Road Trip 2006

Well, we survived our first family road trip. My father-in-law grew up near Gettysburg, PA and we usually go out there once a year. This time, was the first time with all 3 kids, so the 12 hour drive was going to be a test of patience for us.

We left Thursday night at about 9:30pm, hoping to miss the horrible traffic that clutters the Indiana-Illinois border on I-80. It was my idea to drive all night, because I was hoping that would allow the kids to sleep a lot better. Boy was I wrong. Isabel did fine, she slept for the most part, but the boys were a different story.
They both fell asleep right after we left, but once we got into Indian we made a pit stop and they both woke up. So we turned on the DVD player for them, figuring they would fall back asleep. Brett eventually fell asleep again, but Ryan was awake until we got into Pennsylvania – about 7 hours later! He was awake until about 4am! I think he was so excited about going on a trip and into the mountains, that he was afraid he would miss something.
The only bad point was when Brett woke up, and he wanted me to hold him, but I was driving. Well he got all worked up and then he puked. So we had to make a quick stop to get him calmed down and change his clothes. Was a little hard for whoever was not driving.. they sat in the back with Isabel to keep her company in case she woke up. So the view from the back seat was nothing glorious!

The drive was not bad, except that it rained from the minute we got into Ohio and all the way until we arrived in Gettysburg. Seems like the few times I have driven in Ohio, it has rained. Pennsylvania was not bad, except driving in the mountains on the Turn Pike in the dark is a bit scary. Anyone that knows the Turn Pike knows how curvy it is, so add rain, darkness and even dense fog, and you have a wonderful drive, right?! We go through 4 tunnels in Penn, and we tried to keep Ryan awake for them, but he was passed out, so it was ok.

The weekend was good. Friday we went to the UTZ Potato Chip factory for a tour of how chips are made. Pretty interesting. For those of you that don't know UTZ chips, they are great! They also make Pretzels and popcorn, very good stuff. Had a wedding to go to on Saturday, and it was nice and sunny out, and the kids danced a lot at the wedding reception. Ryan definitely has my dancing skills (I never said they were good skills, but he has some good moves!).

The hotel had a pool so we took the boys in that after the wedding, and they got to play with Zack and Brady for a while. Sunday was pretty relaxing. Us guys went with my FiL to the battlefields in Gettysburg. He is a huge Civil War buff so it is interesting to see him give us tours, he knows so much about it.

Monday we left at 5am to drive back to Illinois. The kids did GREAT! Isabel slept for pretty much the whole 12 hour trip. She woke up when we stopped for gas and changed her and fed her. After that, she slept. The boys watched TV and took a few naps, they too were great. No vomit this time! They also got to see the Tunnels this time, so Ryan was happy! We had a little snow in PA, but nothing too bad. Ohio State Patrol was out in full force Monday. I must have seen about 10-12 people pulled over on I-80, was amazing. And I have to give a shout out to Ohio Transportation – Ohio has the best Service Plazas in all of the traveling I have ever done. Those things are NICE! Was a good drive back, was nice to be back in our own beds!

And thank god for the brains at Apple, the iPod was the perfect traveling companion at 3am while the family slept. For all you travelers...the following are very good musical companions whilst on the road --- Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Andy Hunter, The Black Crowes, Joe Satriani, The Chemical Brothers (just to name a few). Because we all know you need some good rocking music to help keep you awake. That, and a bag of something loud to munch on (Gardetto's snackens) and a big bottle of a caffeinated soft drink(Coca Cola).

** More photos to come tonight, and also a link to the Flickr photos.