Update on our Tirp

Below is everything we did on our trip so far.  We are heading out again now so I till update again before we leave. I have to go to the office for internet here.  We are having a blast in this weather :)

Thursday - Mar 22

8:00pm - Leaving Wausau, full tank of gas

8:15 - Nick throws up (projectile type)car does not smell very nice!

8:34 - Carrie finished cleaning up nick and car seat and back on the road

9:21 - Stopped at wayside near Coloma/Hwy. 21 for Stefan, he needed to go to the bathroom already and we also changed nick while we were stopped.

11:14 - Hit Illinois border - 189 miles and 1/2 tank of gas so far. First time Nick ever went out of state!  

Friday - Mar 23

12:45am - Stopped for gas in Oglesby, IL at 274.3 miles
25.2 MPG, $26.35

3:05am - Nick is NOT enjoying this part of the trip although he is bein very good considering...he only crabbed a little while and that was it.  Stopped to adjust his seat so it lays back a bit.

3:20am - back on the road, Nick fell asleep for a while but he didn't sleep real well.  He was very good though and just watching sponge bob. We were very proud of him.

4:00am - The boys are all sleeping sound.  

6:15am - Gas stop at 597 miles, the older boys woke up but Nick stayed sleeping.
24.9 MPG, $32.71

6:35am - back on the road

6:54 - KY border,

8:12 - TN border

8:13 - Stopped at TN welcome center.  Everybody needs a break from driving.  Cory slept in car.

8:47 - Back on the road

9:05 - Took an exit for breakfast.  IHOP gal was rude so we had White Castle for breakfast. lol

9:40 - Back on road

11:15am - Side trip to see a dam and switch drivers.  Never found dam.  Got gas though. - Manchester, TN at 831 miles
24.0 MPG, $23.47

11:41 - Back on road.  Most of the driving was parallel to Hwy so we didn't actually lose that much time.

Times are EST starting here because cell changed to EST

1:00pm - Stopped at rest stop next to Nickajack reseviour

1:10pm - Took a side trip to go over a cool looking green bridge (it was really narrow) and to check out some houses up on the sides of steep hills.  Found a marina and RV park hidden off to the side.  Found some really run down homes and some really expensive ones.  Van couldn't make it all the way up the road leading to some of the expensive homes' driveways... too steep.

2:21 - Done driving around and back on the highway. Lost over an hour but it was worth it.

2:22 - Hit Georgia border and officially in EST now

2:26 - Back in TN

2:42 - Hit first traffic jam of the trip at Chatanooga, wasn't a real bad one.

2:56 - Back in GA again

5:30 - We hit real slow moving traffic and it's getting annoying.  We may stop soon at a hotel so we don't have to deal with the rush hour traffic stuff.

7:00pm - Stopped at AmeriHost Inn (Hampton Inn on Coupon.) We aren't nearly as far as we wanted to be before stopping or by this time of day but bad traffic jams and one accidental detour threw us off schedule. Nick was a little crabby there and decided he wanted to GO BYE BYE.  He didn't sleep real well with us in the bed.  He woke up several times crying telling us to "move over"! lol  

Satururday, March 24
8:00am - Cory got up and got breakfast (to see if it was worth going to.)

8:30 - Everybody else got up and ate. The breakfast wasn't that bad at all..they did not have fruit but they had cereal, bagels, toast, waffels and condiments.

9:35 - Car is loaded.  Time to go.

9:58 - On the road

11:31 - Stopping for lunch and gas Hwy 75 exit 109

11:33 - Decided to check out downtown Vienna GA.  Stopped at Dollar General to get some snacks and sandles and they shorted us $10 for the change. Carrie went back in and they found some $10s in the $20s slot so they didn't question her and gave her the missing $10.  Ate at Popeye's. Carrie got spicey gravy with her mashed potattos but said it was really good.

12:21pm - Still on gas/lunch break. Got gas at 243 miles.
23.9 MPG, $34.48

12:46 - Back on the highway after luch/gas stop

1:20 - Saw our first palm tree. They were short and didn't look really healthy but they were real.  Planted around an Antique shop. Cory and I decide to wait and see how long it takes Stefan and Trevor to notice one.

2:02 - Stefan finally notices a palm tree.  We've passed dozens.

2:20 - Arrived in FL and stopping at FL visitor center

2:59 - Back on road after FL visitor center.  Found out the orange juice they give you for free there is Florida Natural out of a carton. That was a little dissapointing :( Although it was really good.

3:00 - Stopping already. Need to put sunscreen on Nick's window.  Saw a really cool looking back road and took some pictures (trees arching over the road.)

3:07 - Carrie saw a "Scenic Route" sign.  We checked the map and decided to take 41 until it crosses 75 again.

5:25 - Hit our first real "stop moving" type of traffic jam.  Traffic isn't even moving an inch. Must have been an accident up ahead.

5:41 - Traffic started moving again

5:42 - Traffic stops again... I think we made it a whole 50 yards. Tons of cars (maybe 20+) flew by on the shoulder.  

5:50 - Quite a few cars are getting annoyed by it and pull off onto shoulder (including us) to force the others to drive in the ditch in order to pass (they do.)  Up ahead someone pulled over under the overpass and now there is a line of cars on the shoulder. Fire truck trying to get through on the shoulder and get to what must be an accident and having a hard time getting trough because of all the idiot driving on the shoulder. They are forced to pull off into the grass to let the fire truck through!

6:06 - Finally moving again.

6:20 - It was an accident.  One car is on a tow truck and another is next to it in the ditch.

6:25pm - Finally hit the Florida Expressway.  Only took one hour to go 5 miles!

6:45 - Stopped at Expressway "Oassis" for bathroom break.

6:54 - Back on the Expressway

6:55 - First (and only) toll booth. $2.50 charge.

7:05 - Saw our first orange grove

8:15 - Realized we never got driving directions for coming in from this route.  Had to improvise.  Cory navigated/drove to Hwy 192 then recognized the route from our last trip down here 6-7 years ago.  He found Vacation Village where we stayed last time... but what he didn't realize is that we aren't staying in the same place this time.

8:30 - Found and checked into Celebration World Resort.  Just in time.  The gas light is on now.

9:00 - Found out they have "cribs" available for free.  It is actually a "pack and play" but that's just fine.  Housekeeping brought one up.  Glad we forgot ours afterall.  Saves a lot of space in the van that we just don't have.

9:30 - Pizza arrives.  Boys are planning on getting up at 7:30am so they can get to the pool when it opens at 8.  They have their alarm set but Cory and I are betting they don't make it.

Sunday, March 25

9:30am - Woke boys up.  Nick had a good night's sleep (didn't even wake up once) and woke up few minutes ago.

10:35 - Everybody is up, cleaned, dressed, etc. and ready to head out.  We promised the boys we'd go to IHOP today so we'll have a late breakfast there.  Shouldn't be as crowded this time of day hopefully. There was two young girls (sisters) ages about 12 and 6 and the 12 yr old threw a water balloon at her sister and it broke right in front of our door.  She slipped and slid against the wall.  Then they were downstairs and we heard the little girl screaming.  Trevor and Stefan were down there and heard the older one say "did you like my suprise" and the little girl says "NO I hate your surpises and I don't want a sister EVER EVER!"

11:00 - After reporting a bunch of missing items on the inventory to the front desk, we had to stop back at our room to pick up our dirty clothes off the floor she they could vacuum. (They were sending someone to replace the missing items and vacuum the carpet where we found the piece of glass.

11:34 - Gas, gift shop for Herb and breakfast at IHOP

12:53pm - Leaving IHOP, stopped at booth outside doors and decided to trade 90 minutes of our time and $40 for $142 worth of Disney tickets.

1:15 - back at resort.  Made a grocery list for the week and started another load of laundry.  At least we won't have a ton to wash when we get back home, not to mention fit in the van.

2:30 - Nick went down for a nap. Left for Wal-Mart. Hate shopping there but we're on a tight budget the rest of this trip, especially if we want to do anything that costs money.

4:30 - Back at resort and the boys unload groceries.  It looks like two weeks worth but with Trevor and Stefan eating we'll be lucky to make it for two.  The boys unloaded the van and went down to the pool.  We're going to kick back and relax until Nick wakes up.

6:00 - Nick woke up.  This trip must be pretty exciting for him. He slept 3-1/2 hours. I'm shocked he sleeps so well in the pack n play.  When he woke up he was saying "I'm scared" "I'm scared".  I don't think he knew where he was and it was dark in there with the curtains closed too.

7:15 pm - We are just lounging out enjoying this terrific weather and sitting on the balcony a bit.  We all ate and the boys are still down at the pool.

8:58 pm - We are at Walmart for the second time becuase we needed to get some kind of stroller for Nick. We ended up finding one for 14 bucks!  We are heading back to the villa and then we are going to Old Town.

10:30 At Old-Town and the boys are thinking about going on Sling Shot! I would rather them NOT go on it but they want to.  I happen to think that they should PAY YOU to go on this thing that slings you 365 feet into the air at 100 mph but NO! Instead they charge you 25 bucks a person to go on this.  Well they decided to go on it but they both had to go to the bathroom first.  Umm ya I would too!  They went on it and were both pretty wobbly kneed after they got off lol.  We got a dvd of them on it. They had a camera on the seat so you get to see them upclose and personal lol. Plus they each got a T-shirt. Stefan I don't think stopped smiling once!  Everyone watches when someone goes on this thing and they all commented on how Stefan did not stop smiling.  

They also went on another ride there, can't remember the name off hand and that was 10 bucks each then because it was slow $5 each for a second ride so they went again.  They got a ride free too because the computer cut the 2nd one short a bit.

We went to check out another ride where they harnace you in so you are hanging front-down (superman-flying-like) from a really long cable.  Then they winch you back and up with another cable. Once you get to the very top (which is very very high) the 2nd cable releases and you swing down and forward (head-first-superman-like.)  Everybody that went on it screamed, covered their face or both.

Monday, March 26

12:10am - Just got back and everybody is ready for bed.

11:30am - Heading out for a day of sight seeing.  The boys don't want to go.  I think in part they are tired and in part they are pouting because we aren't going to a theme park today.  We have to stop at the main office (for Internet access and to let the boys know we are leaving.)

11:55am - Found the boys... they were in the room watching TV and eating.  Must have been in their room when we left.  They had said they were going to the pool earlier.

12:00pm - Have Internet access sitting outside of main office.  Going to copy/paste this to my journal.