Road Trip

Before heading to Georgia we're taking some time to visit family in Wisconsin and Illinois.  Normally we would fly up here and then rent a car but we are selling our car to family so we needed to drive it up here as well.  We've only made the trek from up north to North Carolina twice so we were not looking forward to the long drive.

The trip is close to 15 hours of driving which is one thing with two adults.  Add in a toddler and the picture changes drastically.  We got up Monday morning and finished packing the car.  I had done most of it the night before but we had those last minute things to throw in. We originally wanted to get as early of a start as possible but I am thankful that we were flexible enough to know that that wasn't a reality.  At 6:30 we pulled out of the parking lot officially on our way!

Mara did great initially.  She fell back asleep and slept for most of North Carolina.  When she woke we stopped and stretched our legs a bit.  We indulged in donuts and hit the road again.  At this point Mara was still doing great.  We put on her music and she just hung out in the back seat on her own.  Quickly she fell asleep again and we didn't stop till out stomachs told us it was lunch time (this was somewhere in West Virginia)!

After lunch Josh switched to the back seat and we kept going.  I really wanted to get somewhere in western Ohio before stopping for the night.  Along the way we did hit some weather but thankfully we avoided the majority of the storm driving just south of the pocket.  I'd say at this point Mara was starting to become a little restless and thankfully decided to take yet another nap.

Normally we would have taken full advantage of a sleeping baby and drove but Josh was having problems with his work at the same time.  I, having driven all day, was also done so I started looking for somewhere to stop.  After about 40 miles of shady hotels or camp grounds we crossed over the border into Indiana.  It was there that we found a place for the night.

The next day we decided to take it easy again.  We were out the door by 8:30 and had breakfast at Crackerbarrel to fill our bellies.  By 9:30 we were on the road.  Indiana went slower than I thought and it wasn't till about Noon that we hit Illinois.  Thankfully there was little traffic around Chicago and we were in Wisconsin.

We decided to stop for a small lunch right outside of Racine.  After that it was a quick 40 minutes and we were in Waukesha!  I'm not exactly sure how long we were on the road in total (and I'm not sure I want to know) but overall it was a good trip.  Road trips are rough but Mara did really good.  I am also super proud of Josh and I in keeping our cool throughout too.  Sometimes being cooped up can be stressful but I think we managed it really well.

I'm just thankful to be here AND to NOT have to repeat the drive on the way back!!