Another Travelin' Song: Two Weeks in Orlando! A Summer '09 Trip Report: Updated 1/25

[xoktenox]

How the heck did I miss that you updated?! Jeez I'm dumb

Great start to the trip! I love all the pictures you take and Oreo is just so cute. But you know that already I wish I was like you and only ate fast food 2 times a year! Maybe I'll make that my New Years resolution next year LOL

"IIIIIIIII just wanna fly, put your arms around me baby, put your arms around me babyyyy"...bringin it back! LOL

Can't wait to hear more

 

[brookelizabeth]

Great start! The pic of Oreo with his eyes bugging out had me cracking up! What a cutie. Did you share any of your sandwich? I'm with ya-those BK breakfast sandwiches are VERY good.

 

[troobabiee7]

How the heck did I miss that you updated?! Jeez I'm dumb

Great start to the trip! I love all the pictures you take and Oreo is just so cute. But you know that already I wish I was like you and only ate fast food 2 times a year! Maybe I'll make that my New Years resolution next year LOL

"IIIIIIIII just wanna fly, put your arms around me baby, put your arms around me babyyyy"...bringin it back! LOL

Can't wait to hear more

Hey Kristen! Doesn't that sounds bring ya back?? I love it! Haha, thanks for reading!!

Great start! The pic of Oreo with his eyes bugging out had me cracking up! What a cutie. Did you share any of your sandwich? I'm with ya-those BK breakfast sandwiches are VERY good.

That dog can eat! I gave her a little piece of the croissant but as you'll see later that night, I should't have Thanks for reading!

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

YESSS THE TR HAS BEGUN! I think I subscribe to threads wrong because it doesn't notify me when you update. And since I don't come over to these boards I just think that you don't update!! Oh well I am here in time to hear all about the trip!

PS I met Adam Lambert yesterday and thought of you!

 

[troobabiee7]

YESSS THE TR HAS BEGUN! I think I subscribe to threads wrong because it doesn't notify me when you update. And since I don't come over to these boards I just think that you don't update!! Oh well I am here in time to hear all about the trip!

PS I met Adam Lambert yesterday and thought of you!

Thanks so much for stopping by! You already know how jealous I am that you met Adam... I want to know the whole story!!!!!! Did you meet them all or just Adam? That's so cool!

 

[troobabiee7]

Day 1: Friday, July 31
Part 2: Holiday Rooooaaaaddddd

You have to sing the title of this update like the Lindsey Buckingham song from Vacation. We've thought about that movie on every one of our trips, but all of our other trips have always runs far too smoothly in the end to be anything like vacation. I guess the fact that we brought the song up so much on this trip kind of set the tone, but more on that later.

Anyway, we reached Virginia by 10:00 and knew that we still had a long road ahead of us. Virginia's the biggest state we drive through and it takes forever! Thankfully the GPS was able to reroute us past Richmond so we didn't hit any traffic, and we were able to keep ourselves entertained by taking pictures.

Now that's the car we needed, haha!

Entering Virginia

Look at Oreo's paw!

Surrounded by trucks

We stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center at 11:30, which was located in Fredericksburg, the home of our overnight stop on the drive back home. It was a really pretty rest stop with clean bathrooms and a gorgeous picnic area to walk around and relax. There was even a little nature trail with information on the area and lots of historical information. Before we left I'd read that Virginia had shut down more than half of their rest stops along I95 due to budget cuts, so we made sure to stop at each one since they were few and far between. It would probably also explain why the Welcome Center was an hour into the state.

Mike made a Harry Potter reference out of this one

Back in the car we listened to the radio and joked around and we drove and drove and drove. Mike fell asleep and I mainly took pictures of Oreo.

One of her teeth fell out a few months ago so now she's the toothless wonder, haha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmFqE8eifho
Listening to some Billy Joel

Giving Mike a hard time for falling asleep, haha!

At 12:50 we stopped at a gas station for dad to get some gas and for mom and I to run into the nearby McDonald's to use the bathroom. I have no idea where in Virginia we were but it was a pretty nice area.

Back in the car we broke out the snacks and Mike had a single Ritz Bitz, his meal for the day. Then we had an impromptu photo shoot out of sheer boredom. Have I mentioned how much that drive sucks?

A typical site along I95

Continued in Next Post

 

[troobabiee7]

We finally reached North Carolina at 2:00 and stopped at the Welcome Center soon after. It was good being out of Virginia... that drive is LONG! From our past trip we knew that we still had a long drive ahead of us to Savannah, but it was like one more hurdle was knocked down. The Welcome Center was another nice one with clean bathroom,s travel information and vending machines. The southern rest stops still aren't as nice as the northern ones with the stores and restaurants, but most weren't bad at all.

As soon as we got back in the car the sky turned black. There was a bad storm on it's way... it made us nervous but it was only drizzling at this point so we kept on truckin'. We saw our first South of the Border sign after a while which was exciting, and there were a million signs for Cafe Risque, a little strip club in a shack along I95 that cracked us up!

Dark clouds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4eCIXVFYAo
Driving through North Carolina

Our first South of the Border sign!

Mike checking the weather

Oreo enjoying a treat

Coming Up Next: The Downfalls of Volcano Crust Pizza

 

[Sarah84]

YAY you started your full TR i followed your trip on your blog but i've still been looking forward to reading the full report and seeing more pictures, but i don't think you'll be done before I leave for my trip now unless you do about 10 updates a day

Loving your pictures, some of those places look pretty and im so in love with Oreo she's so cute

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

I will PM you my LONG Idol story/pics!

WOW - Your journey is a LONG one! I am so impatient I don't think I could last that long! I do love that Holiday Road song from the Vacation movies! I want it to just play while I'm traveling and be my own personal soundtrack haha!

Oreo is precious! And look at that missing tooth - adorable!!!

I can't believe that VA welcome center...holy moly! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your journey!

 

[tinkgurl]

Aww I just wanna give Oreo a kiss! So cute!

 

[troobabiee7]

YAY you started your full TR i followed your trip on your blog but i've still been looking forward to reading the full report and seeing more pictures, but i don't think you'll be done before I leave for my trip now unless you do about 10 updates a day

Loving your pictures, some of those places look pretty and im so in love with Oreo she's so cute

Hey Sarah!! It's so fun talking to you on my blog, thanks so much for reading along I can't believe how fast your trip's approaching... it's crazy!!! Have fun!!

I will PM you my LONG Idol story/pics!

WOW - Your journey is a LONG one! I am so impatient I don't think I could last that long! I do love that Holiday Road song from the Vacation movies! I want it to just play while I'm traveling and be my own personal soundtrack haha!

Oreo is precious! And look at that missing tooth - adorable!!!

I can't believe that VA welcome center...holy moly! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your journey!

Hey! Oh my lorddd it's the longest drive eveeerrrrrrr. It sucks, seriously. I'm glad you like Holiday Road too, it always reminds me of being on vacation And Oreo says thank you

Aww I just wanna give Oreo a kiss! So cute!

Haha, thanks Tink!

 

[troobabiee7]

delete

 

[tinkgurl]

Mike got lipglossed!

Smuggling Oreo in!

Seriously, you crack me up every time Mel! Your family is a blast!

 

[troobabiee7]

delete

 

[tinkgurl]

I don't know if you saw my comments up above since you were in the middle of continuing the update so go up and look!

Oh no, poor Oreo! Good thing you had your computer there to look up that vet's number!

Ew.....that Pizza Hut and the pizza sounds gross!

 

[troobabiee7]

Mike got lipglossed!

Smuggling Oreo in!

Seriously, you crack me up every time Mel! Your family is a blast!

Thanks so much Tink! I always give Mike a hard time when he falls asleep on a road trip. He gives it right back too... like when I fell asleep with my head hanging down and woke up to the camera in my face. He's not as sneaky as me though and I woke up every time before any incriminating pictures were taken

I don't know if you saw my comments up above since you were in the middle of continuing the update so go up and look!

Oh no, poor Oreo! Good thing you had your computer there to look up that vet's number!

Ew.....that Pizza Hut and the pizza sounds gross!

The pizza was so gross! Ugh.

And the whole Oreo situation was so scary and stressful. Thankfully she was ok though!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hey Melissa!

I thought I was subscribed to your TR but I guess I'm not. Anyways, I'm joining in again...time to catch up!

 

[Sarah84]

14 hour drive and still not at Disney, i still don't know how you manage it.

@ Mike getting lipglossed, my boyfriend gets he's toes painted sometimes when he falls asleep, in the brightest colour i can find

haha loved how you snuck Oreo in, the pizza hut sounds awful.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Poor Oreo! And poor you! UGH! What a night.

The kids ran into the rest stop BAREFOOT? Okay, that is so insanely disgusting. A PUBLIC BATHROOM. Ewwwwwwwwww.

And that Pizza Hut doesn't sound much better. Ick. I don't know if I could have eaten the pizza if the place didn't look clean, I'm such a freak about that kind of stuff!

Love that you glossed Mike in the car. HA!

 

[troobabiee7]

Hey Melissa!

I thought I was subscribed to your TR but I guess I'm not. Anyways, I'm joining in again...time to catch up!

Hey!! Thanks so much for stopping by. I haven't seen you on the Dis in so long, how've you been?!

14 hour drive and still not at Disney, i still don't know how you manage it.

@ Mike getting lipglossed, my boyfriend gets he's toes painted sometimes when he falls asleep, in the brightest colour i can find

haha loved how you snuck Oreo in, the pizza hut sounds awful.

It's horrendous, I'm telling you! Every other year the drive's been rough but it was a fun, adventurous part of the trip. This year we were all ready to jump ship. It was so bad!

too funny about polishing your boyfriends toes!!

Poor Oreo! And poor you! UGH! What a night.

The kids ran into the rest stop BAREFOOT? Okay, that is so insanely disgusting. A PUBLIC BATHROOM. Ewwwwwwwwww.

And that Pizza Hut doesn't sound much better. Ick. I don't know if I could have eaten the pizza if the place didn't look clean, I'm such a freak about that kind of stuff!

Love that you glossed Mike in the car. HA!

Hey Brook! Yea, I can't even imagine running into a public bathroom barefoot, ugh. And some of these places were gross - wet, dirty floors, smelly, hot The Pizza Hut was gross too. We have the NYC Restaurant Inspections website bookmared and look up every single restaurant before we go eat. Bug or rats? We don't go. I don't even want to look up that Pizza Hut We had the gift card and didn't know of other quick restaurants in the area so we figured we'd suck it up and not think about it. Thankfully none of us got sick!