After a nice restful week, it was time to start getting ready for the big trip. Despite preparing on and off for the past year, I still worried a lot about if I'd planned well enough. We had a small game night on Friday and a regular, restful Sunday before the frenzy of Monday. Somehow, I made it through the day without crying, but I came close a few times. James and I did a lunch date at home and had some time to relax once all the packing was done. He even took the kids with him to run errands so I could have a little peace. That made all the difference. Too bad neither of us slept well by the end of the day.
Tuesday, we got up at 5 and left exactly at 6, as planned, reaching Manhattan, KS, at 10:40 local time. It was a really long day with several short stops at random places, plus a longer one at the mall in Denver for lunch. It was great to stretch our legs and settle Kenny's stomach. Poor guy threw up at the mall despite his anti-nausea medication. The drive between my house and Denver is brutal, honestly, if you're someone who gets carsick. It goes all the way up to 11,158 feet and then back down again afterward. I really appreciated the nice, flat roads in Kansas, even if they are "boring". The kids were surprisingly happy for most of the time. I felt that the last 2 hours were torturously long, but just as I felt the most discouraged, I saw the twinkle of fireflies for several miles in a row. I feel that it was a tender mercy to help me be happy and keep going. Everyone went to bed easily.
Wednesday, I woke up earlier than I wanted, but I worked on this blog and enjoyed the peace and quiet while I got ready for the day. We drove from Manhattan, KS, to Kansas City, MO, and checked out Lego Land. The kids had a great time, of course, and I'll admit that the rides were pretty fun. It's not a huge place, so we were able to see and do everything within 3 hours. After that, we walked around Crown Center and got some delicious food at Burnt Ends BBQ. We also walked to see the WWI memorial down the street. It got pretty hot and we were all tired, but we made it to our next stop St. Louis in a decent amount of time. Since we had 2 non-adjoining rooms in St. Louis, we separated boys and girls. It was a little lonely and Katie yells in her sleep, so I didn't get enough sleep for the 3rd day in a row. The hotel also smelled kind of like weed/tobacco mixed in the halls.
Thursday, we went to the St. Louis zoo. The kids whined almost the whole time, but we saw about 80% of the animals anyway. It's a pretty amazing zoo for being free. We were going to see the Gateway Arch, but kids were asleep by then, so we got as close as we could and drove on. The drive from St. Louis to Nashville was a little miserable. It was supposed to take 4.5 hours but took more like 6 thanks to several slowdowns. I had a feeling that our car would need oil, and it did, but I started crying when I couldn't find the oil jug at first in the mess in the back of the car. The lack of sleep really caught up to me in that moment. The car is fine, just old, so it needs oil once in a while. We stopped in a cute little town called Metropolis in Illinois. It has a giant Superman statue and museum, so we took some pictures there.
After finally getting to Nashville, we went to see the Parthenon. It's an exact replica of the one in Greece, and it's amazing! The kids ran around the park for a while, and James even got some drone shots. I was really blown away at what a cool building it is. We walked over to a little pizza place (Bellagio) and ate outside. It was so delicious. Then, we finally went back to the hotel and got everyone to bed. This time, we had a big room with a couch bed. James and I watched some TV on the laptop to calm down after a long, stressful day. It's amazing what a funny show can do for morale.
Friday, I woke up early, but not as early, so I worked on the blog some more while everyone else was asleep. We got ready and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and it was delicious! The driving was exhausting for the rest of the day, and we had to stop what felt like a million times. We made one longer stop at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, which was really cool. We finally arrived in Apex at 9:35!!!
Today's been nice. I even felt grateful to be doing laundry because it meant not being in the car! I've seen my parents, Colbey, Mara and her kids (Emma and Kaya), Carmel, and Nash. We should be seeing Christian, Myles, and Skyla later on. The kids have had time to clean out the car, watch some TV, and play board games. Though no one is caught up on sleep yet, it's been really nice to eat meals together and not be rushing off to the next thing.
It's going to be a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment