20 hours trapped

We are brave… or stupid? I think I’ll go with brave. 

We like a challenge. So here we go! 

From Syracuse, NY to Lakeland, Florida with two little ones in the back seat.

That equals 1257 miles, or 19 hours (without stops) and seven hundred billion eight hundred ninety six million "Are we there yets?". We have family in Maryland which is just 6 hours into the trip, so the first question is-do we stop for the night or drive straight through? Allison gets out of school just before 4pm so we’d be getting there just in time for a nap. I’m used to working the night shift so I know I can manage the night time drive but do we want to put ourselves through that?

We decided to stop. Dan and Rachel gave us some salad for dinner and a lovely glass of wine. They set the coffee to go off at 3:45am to coax us out of bed. We gave them big hugs and slept a good 5 ½ hours. We snuck the girls back into the car hoping to put them back to sleep but they resisted. We drove through Washington DC before the sun came up which was a great way to beat the traffic. State by state we make our way south.

How do you keep the little one busy and the stops to a minimum? Well, so far so good! I packed a freezer bag with turkey, ham, cucumbers, carrots and humus, and two grocery bags with fresh fruit, bread, chips, Pb &J, and just enough treats to bribe them to be good…It worked. 

We packed their nabbies with new games and movies uploaded on them (GENIUS), coloring books and crayons, cards, bracelet kits and these little gems.

They packed them with paper, pens, scissors and stickers. The clipboard was great!

This also served as a tray for their food. They could fit their sandwiches, juice boxes, and snack bowl on top with out spiling anything.

We all have several new bracelets now.

We played cats in the cradle…remember this childhood game?

When I needed a mommy brake I put in my headphones and typed to you guys…HI!

Phil drove most of the way…he’s a superstar.

Just 3 hours away from Grandma's house and they crash...that's ok, they'll re-energize and tire themselves out in the pool for sure.

This was an absolute success, I hope the ride home tomorrow is just as perfect.