Road Trippin', Cruisin' and Photo Bombin'-Our EPIC Family Vacation!NEW11/5-BIRDS..UGH

[indimom]

I Made It!

Better late than never. lol.

Wow, you had a crazy drive! From white out condition to picnics outside! Your trip report pretty much nailed "Spring 2013."

Gotta love those triple XXX destinations. Ever since the kids learned to read, I just cringe driving through Georgia on our way to Florida. I can never decide which ones scare me more: the XXX stores or the burn in hell religious ads.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Jeff and I packed up our few things in the room while the boys went across the parking lot to the gas station/fireworks store. I have to tell you…Isaiah thought this was the BEST THING EVER! Fireworks are illegal in NY state, so we don’t have fireworks stores here. The thought that you could go to the gas station and buy roman candles and bottle rockets made Isaiah want to move South!

That's interesting about Fireworks being illegal, for the most part they are usually only sold here during certain times of the year. the may 24 holiday (Victoria Day, it's the week before Memorial day in the sates, and is also the day we celebrate Queen Victoria and the mark the birthday of the current Queen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day ) and also on Canada Day (July 1st). Also sometimes people will have them for New Years too.

 

[danceintherain]

I'm pretty sure they're illegal in Kansas (at least selling them used to be) but legal in Missouri. So when I was growing up, we'd make a trip over the border to pick up our supply once a year.
It was pretty funny, because right across State Line road there were tons of tents set up every year.

 

[TX Momof2]

This road trip/Disney trip report is awesome! I've never been to upstate NY or this part of the country. It's great to hear about it from your perspective on the road to Disney. Thank you for sharing!

 

[carissanboys]

I had no idea West Virginia had tunnels! Where we live, we are surrounded by tunnels.

I'm always surprised how much cheaper gas is down here than up north. My parents live in Maine and they always comment that it's cheaper down here.

We didn't stay overnight on this last trip, but we've always stayed in Santee, South Carolina on our previous 3 trips to Disney. Two of the times were at a Holiday Inn. I've thought about staying somewhere less expensive, but I'm always too scared it'll be a bad experience.

 

[stink]

Enjoying your trip report.

I live in Upstate NY also and am considering for my next trip.

 

[KathyRN137]

You can find the Roadtrip Countdown as well as the license plate printables at
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/tara/the-road-trip-date/.

Bookmarked!!

Traveling with older kids certainly is a bit easier -- your road trip seems more like fun than a chore! Perhaps I can do this...


Kathy

 

[pwdebbie]

You made great time on your first day. Our goal is to get beyond Columbia so we have found Orangeburg, SC, to be a good stopping place. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Great update! Amazing how sleepy you can get in the car...how does sitting in one place all day make us more tired than running around doing stuff all day??? One of life's greatest mysteries, I suppose!

It is strange, but true!

I missed that you started your TR! That's what happens when you leave the DIS for a few days.

First, impressive that you were able to leave on time. We have NEVER done that and I am pretty obsessive about being on time.

Your post about singing country roads when you were in West Virginia made me tear up. That was the song that we always sang in the car when we were taking road trips as children. It was my mom's favorite song!

Not sure I would have made it in that Quality Inn even for just one night but glad you guys were able to get a good nights rest.

Can't wait to hear more

Hey! Glad you made it!

I Made It!

Better late than never. lol.

Wow, you had a crazy drive! From white out condition to picnics outside! Your trip report pretty much nailed "Spring 2013."

Gotta love those triple XXX destinations. Ever since the kids learned to read, I just cringe driving through Georgia on our way to Florida. I can never decide which ones scare me more: the XXX stores or the burn in hell religious ads.

LOL! A photo is the closest we are getting!

That's interesting about Fireworks being illegal, for the most part they are usually only sold here during certain times of the year. the may 24 holiday (Victoria Day, it's the week before Memorial day in the sates, and is also the day we celebrate Queen Victoria and the mark the birthday of the current Queen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day ) and also on Canada Day (July 1st). Also sometimes people will have them for New Years too.

Isaiah loves fireworks and we have been known to go across the PA state line and buy some on occasion. Nothing crazy, just firecrackers, bottle rockets, and roman candles. But...he also has been in trouble, by us and by the local police, for shooting them off at inappropriate times and in inappropriate places. Oh to be 15 again!

I'm pretty sure they're illegal in Kansas (at least selling them used to be) but legal in Missouri. So when I was growing up, we'd make a trip over the border to pick up our supply once a year.
It was pretty funny, because right across State Line road there were tons of tents set up every year.

We do the same thing when we travel to my parent's house in PA. There are little stores all along the border.

This road trip/Disney trip report is awesome! I've never been to upstate NY or this part of the country. It's great to hear about it from your perspective on the road to Disney. Thank you for sharing!

Welcome!

I had no idea West Virginia had tunnels! Where we live, we are surrounded by tunnels.

I'm always surprised how much cheaper gas is down here than up north. My parents live in Maine and they always comment that it's cheaper down here.

We didn't stay overnight on this last trip, but we've always stayed in Santee, South Carolina on our previous 3 trips to Disney. Two of the times were at a Holiday Inn. I've thought about staying somewhere less expensive, but I'm always too scared it'll be a bad experience.

Gas is crazy expensive here in NY state. It's always way above the national average. The hotel really wasn't THAT bad...but it was old and outdated. One night wouldn't kill us!

Enjoying your trip report.

I live in Upstate NY also and am considering for my next trip.

Stay tuned! I would do it again.

Bookmarked!!

Traveling with older kids certainly is a bit easier -- your road trip seems more like fun than a chore! Perhaps I can do this...


Kathy

You can SO do this!!

You made great time on your first day. Our goal is to get beyond Columbia so we have found Orangeburg, SC, to be a good stopping place. Looking forward to reading more.

We did make good time. Our thought was to do the bulk of the traveling on day one, even thought that made for a long day. Glad you stopped in to read along!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Once we dragged Isaiah out of the Fireworks store (empty handed to his dismay), we settled back into the van for DAY 2 of our road trip. The plan today was to drive to Lakeland, FL to visit friends who recently moved there. Our pastor recently retired and moved to Florida and we were looking forward to having a late lunch/early dinner with him and his wife. Then we were headed to Tampa/St. Petersburg to attend the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles baseball game. A late addition to our itinerary, but my hubby is a big O’s fan and who could resist seeing them play on Opening Week if we were so close?? Then, we would take a late drive across the state to Cocoa Beach where we had a reservation at a hotel for the night. Whew….I’m tired just typing it! Better get on the road!

Jeff began the day behind the wheel and we set off for the Sunshine State. On DAY 1 we had covered 6 states! (New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) Only two more to go! Look out Georgia, here we come! About an hour into our drive (9:04 according to the camera) we saw this sign…




I believe we played a round of the Alphabet game during this leg of the journey. I am also thankful for portable DVD players and iPods with games! After a long day of travel the day before, I think we were all just ready to ARRIVE at a final destination.

At 10:35, we saw it. Could it be…had we made it?? YES!! Florida! We had arrived in the Sunshine State!



Thankfully, the Florida Welcome Center had a better photo op so I could get a good picture of that sign!





We went into the welcome center to get our FREE orange juice or grapefruit juice. As soon as we walked in, I knew we might be in trouble. My husband is a brochure and pamphlet FANATIC! He’s a nut. No matter where we are he grabs them. This place was a pamphlet lover’s dream! Brochures from every imaginable tourist destination! We needed to get out of here…and FAST…or I would be loaded with unnecessary reading material!

We got our juice….



…stopped for a cute photo op…



…and hightailed it out of the Pamphlet Mecca of the world! Whew! We could have been there all day!

It was Dan’s turn to drive so I took the back (middle, really) seat and Jeff jumped in the passenger seat. Off we go! Remember how chilly it was in West Virginia (about 45 degrees)? When we left South Carolina at 8 am it was in the mid 50s. Now look at the temperature!



80 degrees and sunny….NOW WE’RE TALKING!! This is the point in the trip when I texted all my frozen friends back home to tell them we had arrived in Florida. Poor suckers!

I remember that we were all excited to finally be in Florida and that we were laughing and joking and really enjoying the ride. The sun was shining, the scenery was full of palm trees …. we were loving life! We passed through Jacksonville and pulled the post-it off the window. One more destination reached! We called our friends in Lakeland to update them on our trip status and told them we planned to arrive around 2:30 or 3:00. We passed through Daytona Beach…take that post-it off the window, boys! It was about this time that we started seeing signs for this wonderful place...



We stopped for gas again when we got onto Route 4. This time we really struck out in the cheap gas department. We paid $4.19/gallon. Needless to say, Jeff was NOT HAPPY. But, we were on E and Dan was nervous so he got off the highway where he saw a gas station. Being the ONLY gas station in sight, they could charge an arm and a leg for gas and there was nothing we could do about it. Oh well! We only got $30 worth and got back on the road.

As we got closer to Orlando, we began seeing signs for Walt Disney World. So exciting! Unfortunately, it would be a week before we got there. But we were coming…hold on Mickey, we’ll be back! The traffic through the city of Orlando was a bit heavier than we had seen all day, but it was not bad. Dan did a great job navigating through it. He’s really a good driver and this road trip would have been much harder without him.

Finally, at about 2:30, we arrived in Lakeland. What a beautiful place! We were so happy to see our friends and we had a nice lunch together and got a tour of their new digs. They have a beautiful condo in a gorgeous gated community there. Their lanai looks out onto a lake and they have palm trees in their entry courtyard! This is SO not Rochester! We enjoyed a walk around one of the lakes in the community and had great conversation. The boys enjoyed looking for wildlife and exploring the nature path. Here are a few pictures from our walk.



This is not a sign we see everyday!


Isaiah found this little hide-away!

Pelican! This bird was dive-bombing into the lake for fish. Cool to watch.




As we walked around the lake and visited, Jeff and I decided we could totally get used to this life. A stroll around the lake at dusk, holding hands….ahhh….yes please!

But, the afternoon was getting to be evening and by 5:30 it was time for us to say good-bye and get back on the road. The game started at 7:10 and it was about an hour’s drive to the stadium. We took a few group photos, said good-bye, and got BACK into the van.





We hit crazy stop and go traffic in Tampa. Thankfully, I was driving at the time. I handle traffic so much better than Jeff does! We crossed the crazy long, “Get gas now or forget it” bridge from Tampa into St. Petersburg. We parked in a $10 lot and walked a few blocks to Tropicana Field. We were cutting it close, but we arrived just as they were singing the National Anthem!

Our seats were up high, but we had a really good view.


We were SO excited to be at a game on Opening Week. As a baseball lovin’ family, we LIVE for Spring and the return of baseball!





Go O’s! We were rooting for the visiting team, but we were not alone. There were a lot of Oriole’s fans in the crowd that night.

On a side note….Isaiah hates baseball. And when I say hate, I am not exaggerating! This was not his idea of a good time, but he was a really good sport and kept me laughing all night with his running commentary.



We all got “horribly bad for you” stadium food for dinner….I got chicken strips and fries to share with Jeff, Dan and Jonah got nachos and Isaiah got cotton candy. For dinner…yes…cotton candy. Don’t judge me!



Sadly, the Orioles lost via a walk-off homerun in the 9th. But, it was an exciting game and we had a good time. Even Isaiah…but he won’t admit that!



It was strange watching a game in a domed stadium. We are used to going to outdoor baseball parks and this felt odd! Kind of like we were at a hockey game, not a baseball game. But, when we walked out of Tropicana Field at 10:15 we were grateful. It was raining! We walked the few blocks back to our car in the drizzly rain. After waiting our turn to get out of the lot (which took forever!) , I drove us straight to a gas station. Jeff filled the tank and jumped in the driver’s seat. We programmed the address of our hotel in Cocoa Beach into our GPS and we were off on our LAST LEG!!

I’ll stop here and finish this night in my next post. Did we score in the hotel department this time or strike out again? Can we all sleep in ONE BED?? Would it rain for our sail-away? Stay tuned!

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Missy!

I was a little behind..but all caught up now!

I'm loving your road trip pictures!! It makes me want to try a road trip to Disney now!!

Too funny about the fireworks! Nick loves them as well and is so excited because we are heading to PA this summer and he can get some small ones (bottle rockets, etc.) to bring back with us.

Yay! You arrived! It sounds like you had a fun time at the game! Can't wait for more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow! What a road trip but I'm lovin' seeing all of the sights with ya'll. It's neat to see a part of the country that I've never seen before.

Isaiah reminds me of Jesse with the fireworks. In Tennessee, all they have are dumb old sparklers and I think, maybe, firecrackers. Here in Louisiana, they have all sorts of things that are good for putting an eye out or burning a hole in your britches. Not that we've ever done that but we have tried to. Isaiah would be in hog heaven here.

Tell Jeff that he, Hunter and I would all get along very well. We love pamphlets too and walk out of tourist centers with fistfuls. John tries his best to discourage us but we just can't help ourselves.

Yay for meeting up with your former pastor and his wife. I know that you were glad to see them and vice versa. They look so relaxed and happy. As if they could be any other way with the area they moved to. It looked beautiful.

I'm betting that Isaiah had a good time at the baseball game despite the fact that he really doesn't care for baseball. He was sweet to take one for the team.

 

[KathyRN137]

You know, Missy, after reading this I'm wondering if I shouldn't plan a longer break/side trip on Day One of our drive. It certainly seems to break things up a bit and make the journey more enjoyable!

I caught my breath when you wrote about DAN taking a turn driving!

Tricia has only had her license for 1 1/2 months and she's acting like she's going to be sharing the chauffeur duties! I don't think I'm ready for that!


Kathy

 

[csjordan]

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!

 

[OhMari]

Following along.. Don't people bungee jump off that bridge, in WV?

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Sorry the O's lost. At least it was close game. I know the feeling about baseball being played in a dome, at least when it's nice out we can open ours up to let the sunlight in or you can see some of the city skyline during a night game.

One of the coolest events ever at the Rogers Centre (SkyDome) as when U2 was here for their 360 tour and they had the roof open for it, the lighting guys for the show were also impressed by the LED lights on the CN Tower and actually worked with them to incorporate it into the show. Bono even addressed the people on the balconies of the condos watching for free.

 

[indimom]

Can't wait to hear more.
I have to agree, the domed stadium seems strange, but I'm glad you didn't have to sit through the rain!

Your comment about sleeping in one bed has me very, very intrigued! That would not go over well for our family and my kids look smaller than yours, and I only have two. What could possibly force you all into one bed??? The suspense is killing me....

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for making it to Florida! And yay for the baseball game! My sister actually just went to a game there because the College Program had some outing there. She was pretty happy to finally get to see baseball (even if it wasn't the Brewers, haha!).

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Missy!

I was a little behind..but all caught up now!

I'm loving your road trip pictures!! It makes me want to try a road trip to Disney now!!

Too funny about the fireworks! Nick loves them as well and is so excited because we are heading to PA this summer and he can get some small ones (bottle rockets, etc.) to bring back with us.

Yay! You arrived! It sounds like you had a fun time at the game! Can't wait for more!

Hi there Angie! Honestly, the road trip was fun. I would do it again. Breaking up the trip was most definitely the key.

Wow! What a road trip but I'm lovin' seeing all of the sights with ya'll. It's neat to see a part of the country that I've never seen before.

Isaiah reminds me of Jesse with the fireworks. In Tennessee, all they have are dumb old sparklers and I think, maybe, firecrackers. Here in Louisiana, they have all sorts of things that are good for putting an eye out or burning a hole in your britches. Not that we've ever done that but we have tried to. Isaiah would be in hog heaven here.

Tell Jeff that he, Hunter and I would all get along very well. We love pamphlets too and walk out of tourist centers with fistfuls. John tries his best to discourage us but we just can't help ourselves.

Yay for meeting up with your former pastor and his wife. I know that you were glad to see them and vice versa. They look so relaxed and happy. As if they could be any other way with the area they moved to. It looked beautiful.

I'm betting that Isaiah had a good time at the baseball game despite the fact that he really doesn't care for baseball. He was sweet to take one for the team.

For real, we need to get our families together! We would be the best of friends! The more I read your reports and you comment on mine, the more I find we have in common.

Isaiah was good about the game. But....he did mention that he thought he deserved a little bonus in the souvenir money department for his trouble!

You know, Missy, after reading this I'm wondering if I shouldn't plan a longer break/side trip on Day One of our drive. It certainly seems to break things up a bit and make the journey more enjoyable!

I caught my breath when you wrote about DAN taking a turn driving!

Tricia has only had her license for 1 1/2 months and she's acting like she's going to be sharing the chauffeur duties! I don't think I'm ready for that!


Kathy

I hear ya! Dan is a good driver, but I still hit the imaginary brake once in a while and have to bite my tongue! It is SO helpful to have his help in running the other two around all the time. A big mommy step, though!

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!

Hi and welcome!

Following along.. Don't people bungee jump off that bridge, in WV?

They do! I think they have a whole big event for that purpose. It's called Bridge Day. Read about it HERE!

Sorry the O's lost. At least it was close game. I know the feeling about baseball being played in a dome, at least when it's nice out we can open ours up to let the sunlight in or you can see some of the city skyline during a night game.

One of the coolest events ever at the Rogers Centre (SkyDome) as when U2 was here for their 360 tour and they had the roof open for it, the lighting guys for the show were also impressed by the LED lights on the CN Tower and actually worked with them to incorporate it into the show. Bono even addressed the people on the balconies of the condos watching for free.

I wish the dome had been able to open..that would have been sweet! I was surprised it does not have that capability...especially being in Florida.

Can't wait to hear more.
I have to agree, the domed stadium seems strange, but I'm glad you didn't have to sit through the rain!

Your comment about sleeping in one bed has me very, very intrigued! That would not go over well for our family and my kids look smaller than yours, and I only have two. What could possibly force you all into one bed??? The suspense is killing me....

LOL! Soon...I promise!

Yay for making it to Florida! And yay for the baseball game! My sister actually just went to a game there because the College Program had some outing there. She was pretty happy to finally get to see baseball (even if it wasn't the Brewers, haha!).

We love a good baseball game! Oh..and speaking of the college program. My oldest is very interested in pursuing it. Any suggestions?

 

[danceintherain]

I'm glad you had fun at the game!