1st day of traveling (Atlanta, GA)
Well, we survived out first day of traveling. Since I have wi-fi connection tonight, I'm going to give a quick summary of our day.
We finally got on the road a little after 8:30 this morning. About an hour or so into the trip it was time for the kids to need their first potty break, and while at the gas station we figured that we would bust out the DVD players and get the kids started watching a movie. I figured that an hour and a half or so of movie might keep their mind off of wanting to stop and go to the bathroom for a while.
The DVD player that Jack was going to use, that was bought for us a few years ago, would not load and play a DVD at all. It was kaput. There was a Walmart just down the street, so I suggested that we go over there and just buy a new one. So, we did. The new DVD player had a beautiful picture, but the sound was very low whether listening through the external speaker of the headphones. Jack could barely make out what was being said, and we had to have the radio off for him to hear even with the headphones. We eventually stopped fighting with it and the kids both watched the one that we borrowed from our friend Brandy for this trip. Jack would lean over and watch the screen strapped to the back of the driver's side head rest.
Karen did all of the driving today, and there was a lot of driving to do. With all of the stopping it took us 12 hours to get where we are right now. I sincerely hope that tomorrow goes much smoother. We have at least 9 hours of driving in order to get to Bonita Springs, and I'm seriously hoping that it doesn't turn into another 12 hour marathon drive. For one, I hate driving that long, and I'm going to have to do my share tomorrow. And, second, I really don't want ot be getting in after 9 o'clock at night.
On a positive note, we have seen some interesting and pretty sights along the way. The view of the mountains, as we crossed from Tenn. into Georgia, was absolutely beautiful. Along one jog of the mountian pass we could even see mountain spring waterfalls along the side of the road. The view coming into Chatanooga was beautiful. We stopped to take a potty break, and to grab some pamphlets that might tell us somewhere to stop to eat before making the last bit of the way into Geaorgia and here at Atlanta.
A short ways down the road, we stopped and ate dinner at a Cracker barrel restaurant. It was great to have some real food for the day, and sitting down to enjoy it outside of a fast food restaurant atmosphere was pretty cool. The restaurant was illing up full of older couples who had obviously just gotten out of their Sunday evening church services. It was quite evident that we were in the heart of the Bible belt.
just under a couple of hours after eating, the sight of coming into Atlanta at night was a pretty neat sight to see. The highway ran right along the heart of downtown Atlanta, and we could even see the air traffic above the tall buildings as they headed into ATL International airport (one of the busiest airports in the US). The state image of the peach was evident on many of the prominent buildings in the sky line. I suppose it's like seeing the gateway arch when you come into St. Louis.
We finally arrived to our hotel at just about a quarter to ten, which was too late to get changed into our swimsuits and go down to the indoor pool. Jack is pretty bummed out about that. He was looking forward to, and talking about, it all day long in the car (when he wasn't saying that he had to potty). I felt bad that he wouldn't be going swimming tonight, but we are all very tired. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this entry, I'm heading off to bed. Karen and Delaney in one bed, and Jack and I in the other. He tosses and turns a lot at night, so I'm not sure how much sleep we will be getting tonight.
Good night.
We finally got on the road a little after 8:30 this morning. About an hour or so into the trip it was time for the kids to need their first potty break, and while at the gas station we figured that we would bust out the DVD players and get the kids started watching a movie. I figured that an hour and a half or so of movie might keep their mind off of wanting to stop and go to the bathroom for a while.
The DVD player that Jack was going to use, that was bought for us a few years ago, would not load and play a DVD at all. It was kaput. There was a Walmart just down the street, so I suggested that we go over there and just buy a new one. So, we did. The new DVD player had a beautiful picture, but the sound was very low whether listening through the external speaker of the headphones. Jack could barely make out what was being said, and we had to have the radio off for him to hear even with the headphones. We eventually stopped fighting with it and the kids both watched the one that we borrowed from our friend Brandy for this trip. Jack would lean over and watch the screen strapped to the back of the driver's side head rest.
Karen did all of the driving today, and there was a lot of driving to do. With all of the stopping it took us 12 hours to get where we are right now. I sincerely hope that tomorrow goes much smoother. We have at least 9 hours of driving in order to get to Bonita Springs, and I'm seriously hoping that it doesn't turn into another 12 hour marathon drive. For one, I hate driving that long, and I'm going to have to do my share tomorrow. And, second, I really don't want ot be getting in after 9 o'clock at night.
On a positive note, we have seen some interesting and pretty sights along the way. The view of the mountains, as we crossed from Tenn. into Georgia, was absolutely beautiful. Along one jog of the mountian pass we could even see mountain spring waterfalls along the side of the road. The view coming into Chatanooga was beautiful. We stopped to take a potty break, and to grab some pamphlets that might tell us somewhere to stop to eat before making the last bit of the way into Geaorgia and here at Atlanta.
A short ways down the road, we stopped and ate dinner at a Cracker barrel restaurant. It was great to have some real food for the day, and sitting down to enjoy it outside of a fast food restaurant atmosphere was pretty cool. The restaurant was illing up full of older couples who had obviously just gotten out of their Sunday evening church services. It was quite evident that we were in the heart of the Bible belt.
just under a couple of hours after eating, the sight of coming into Atlanta at night was a pretty neat sight to see. The highway ran right along the heart of downtown Atlanta, and we could even see the air traffic above the tall buildings as they headed into ATL International airport (one of the busiest airports in the US). The state image of the peach was evident on many of the prominent buildings in the sky line. I suppose it's like seeing the gateway arch when you come into St. Louis.
We finally arrived to our hotel at just about a quarter to ten, which was too late to get changed into our swimsuits and go down to the indoor pool. Jack is pretty bummed out about that. He was looking forward to, and talking about, it all day long in the car (when he wasn't saying that he had to potty). I felt bad that he wouldn't be going swimming tonight, but we are all very tired. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this entry, I'm heading off to bed. Karen and Delaney in one bed, and Jack and I in the other. He tosses and turns a lot at night, so I'm not sure how much sleep we will be getting tonight.
Good night.