20 Roadtrip Memories :: Virginia

This post is now from the archives.  It was from a year ago, but I never published it last year.  I guess I wanted to include more photos?  Don't remember.  It is still fun to share, even if it was a long time ago now.

From 6/17/10:

This post was a beast! It has taken me 3 months to even want to attack it. I took a ton of pictures. This was our big summer vacation where we drove to see my brother-in-law graduate law school in Virginia. I had to limit the many memories to 20.  Here is our roadtrip we took from May 11th - 20th of this year.

20.  Leaving for our first trekk across the country in our Eurovan!  This car was made for a roadtrip.  On the trip it officially became our 6th family member.  I've nicknamed it "Ike," short for Ikea because it looks just like the giant blue store. :)  We also call it "Brunson Burner" in honor of Adam's old van...still miss that thing.

19.  Driving all night to get to Atlanta the next morning.  That is so much harder at 31, than the last time I did that at 27.  But if you drive all night it means you get to see an amazing sunrise on the road - and it's all worth it!

18.  Visiting my aunt Lala in Atlanta.  We grabbed a hug, stretched our legs, ate some lunch...and then headed out for a fun excursion to Georgia's Aquarium.  Awwwee-some!!  (Just like Lala would say.)

17.  Next day - back in the car and drive to Virginia.  We pulled into the Great Wolf Lodge at 11pm and woke up the girls to show them the incredibly fun place their incrediby fun parents picked for a (one-night...it's expensive!) stay.

16.  Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg!!  Everybody loved it...almost...the baby did not know what to do with all the falling water.  We snuggled her all day (fun) and had a great day of water play!

15.  Playing in my sister's backyard.  Enjoying our stay at their Williamsburg home one last time.

14.  Breakfast out with the whole fam.  Seeing our daughter order peach pancakes that were bigger than her plate.

13.  Colonial Williamsburg

12.  We brought dress up for the girls from home.  Our oldest had her matching outfit to go with her Felicity doll that grandma GK made her.  She got stopped a lot!  People were taking her picture and asking where they could rent the costume like hers.  It was too fun.  She loved it!  Her American Girl doll, Felicity, is an historical character from Williamsburg.  So it became "Felicity day."

11.  Seeing Uncle Andrew graduate from Law School!  Yay!  They have had a great 3 years at William & Mary, but's it's time to bring them home!

10.  Having fabulous meals cooked by family and gathering around Rachel's dining table...good times.  My sis and I snuck off to the outlet malls one night.  She found me an adorable beach hat.  We helped Rachel & Andrew pack up their house onto the moving truck.  I packed her kitchen...they have a lot of cups, I seem to remember. :)

9.  On to Charlottesville, VA...eating pizza at Crozet Pizza.  The quirky place reminded us of home.

8.  loved our visit to Monticello.  We are on our relaxing drive home now.

7.  Blue Ridge Parkway!  Enjoying the drive through the beautiful Appalachian mountains.  We loved our stop to explore a rambling creek and stretch our legs.

6.  Gatlinburg, TN

5.  swimming in the indoor pools at the hotels on the way home

4.  Seeing our little one in all her many moods...and working hard to keep her happy while strapped down in a car for so long.

3. I enjoyed long talks with my man. We love that about car trips.

2.  Goofing off in the car on the way home...trying not to go crazy!

1.  Milkshakes at Health Camp & driving through crazy Texas storms on the way home.  Home is home.  We love Texas.  And now that we've seen a lot of State Lines...Texas is by far the coolest...really!