)... and they are so excited they're driving me a little crazy!
i flipped through your trip report.great job!! your going to be driving about 5 miles from me. i was reading about what you found on roadside, very cool.
i think you are coming east via i78, where i78 merges with rt22, just past dorney park by a few miles, look to your right, you will see a house that is round. its next to the highway you cant miss it. once you past the allentown exits, theres a place called roadside america. some sat. if you have nothing to do and want to take your son there, its a huge train village indoors. i use to go there all the time when i was kid. also, you said your husband was into old haunted jails, theres a jail up in jim thorpe pa. (not to far from you) that has alot of history. the molly mcguires, if you ever seen or herd of them, its about the coal miners. anyway, this jail has a hand print on the wall that has a questionable history. its been on the history channel already. i can tell you how to get there if your husband looks into it and wants to check it out.
my Dh isn't looking at anything that I am planning...He said to plan it and give him a map and he'll drive where ever we want to
! So yeah I would like to add that on! I like stopping at things on the way down instead of just driving down- it's another thing that I love about driving I get to see and experience things on the way to and from my destination! The roadside america... I am wondering if that is the same thing my grandfather told me about. No I think that his was the Mercer Museum so I might add that stuff. I have to go through and re-do that part. I hear that some of them might be taken down or closed (like the root beer factory-one of the only things I was going to do for myself
). What about the east coast of NC? I can't really find too much there truthfully and my mom lives there (she knows nothing interesting we haven't already seen) so we have to stop over there, but I wanted to do something and not just sit in her house- for my 6 year old it would be like trying to keep him calm and good in a glass museum! And food places.... I was wondering what does everyone do for that? We will be driving for about a day and a half so I don't think that chicken salad will keep that long even with new ice in the cooler. I am talking about food to bring and food to buy.... someone told me to try to find out what each state is good for and just go for that (share a meal of it so that we don't get too full and can do it for each state). Sorry to make this so long, when I was a kid we did this, but we just always drove for a short time and ate 2 times for fast food and my son can't have fast food too much with his stomach so I have been trying to come up with a way around that! 
The van has had a thorough going over and needs rear brakes. I expected that. A few things need to be done soon but shouldn't impact the trip. I will get the new battery this weekend though. It isn't holding a full charge and better safe than sorry. I have a leaking boot but it's not severe and will just get done before the winter sets in. 
We surprised our kids with Disney trips twice - their reactions when they found out are some of my favorite memories. Make sure you get video of the 'unveil' and enjoy!
My kids know that we're leaving Thursday after dinner (57 hours, but who's counting??
Us too. I pack up the rental car on Friday and we leave Friday night. DD thinks we are going to the shore far away (thank goodness my 5 year old doesn't pick up on all our dropped mistakes of Disney) so we are hoping she catches on when she starts seeing the Disney signs. If not...hopefully when we check in at Pop on Sunday that will be a BIG CLUE
We are stopping at Kingsland, GA again on the way down and the way back. Love that location!!
Have a great trip and like someone else said keep the video going when they find out!
There's a 2,000+ mile round-trip driver connection to a new book out on a Walt Disney legend: Fess Parker: TV's Frontier Hero.
All the best.
We usually stick to BBQ since down there it is so goood and up her...not really
dvczerfs...just curious, why do you go the alternate route in the winter? I introduced myself a few pages back, but it looks like there are "regulars" here, and no one noticed my post, haha.
We are doing a surprise trip for the kids in January, and we were thinking about the 78-81-77-26-95-4 route, but I am concerned about the weather at that time of year.
Thanks!
sorry about missing your post. just pm me if it happens again.
well, back in 1985 dw and i slept in the car in a truck stop because of the snow in the mtns of i81. back than there was very little around. now, its built up pretty good. i like the other rte in the winter. your not up in the shenan. mtns and there are alot more places to stop if you had to. ill be honest with you, when we go in the winter months anymore, we watch the weather and just adjust our plans. we left a day early back in 2007 to avoid an ice storm in pa. we have already left home a day early to beat a snow storm. i66 is the only part where you are sort of out in the middle of know where. your only on it for a short time. if you go 81/77/26. travel during the day and just keep an eye on the weather.
. I guess the thing that worries me a little bit is that we are sort of stuck in the time we can leave; we have to wait until my dh and ds get out of school for the day- so we can't leave until 3:30pm...not much flexibility, since I will be packing the car that day for the big surprise reveal. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there is no snow storms our direction that day! I will definitely look at the 66 route, especially since we will be driving the majority in the dark. Thanks for the tips!
haha, no worries! Thanks for the advice...the only other time we drove was in August, and to be honest, I can't remember much of the drive...I may or may not have been snoozing while my husband drove
another thing you want to do driving at night. watch the trucks. if you think the roads just look wet and you see the trucks slowing down or pulling off, the roads are probley getting icey. keep a list of your fav. hotel chain phone numbers with you in the glove compartment. if for some reason it looks like it may get bad, dont risk it, its not worth killing yourself, just stop for the night and when the sun comes up things will get moving again.
! I hope that you have a safe drive! 
