The itinerary:
Sat -to Destin beach
Wed- leave the beach and drive to Foley AL to see Dave's uncle Ben. Stop at Alligator Alley. Stay in Mobile AL
Thurs- drive to Seminary Mississipi to see the old speed farm, cemetery and great Uncle Lloyd. drive down near New Orleans for the night
Fri- swamp tour in New Orleans, French quarter, beignets, city park...drive home or possibly stay one more night if we felt we wanted to see more.
What actually happened deviated from our itinerary because Lexey got sick Wed night. She spent the day in the hospital in Mobile on Thursday and then we came straight home Th night late. More on that later. It will get a complete post of it's own.
Overall the vacation was great. The kids did well in the car. We enjoyed the beach house, we enjoyed the southern states, we enjoyed the break from work and the hospital. It was hard to come home, especially when home is Houston!
Here's a recap of the first day and the night before we left
T minus one day. Friday we worked hard to get everything packed and ready to go. The car was pretty much loaded before we went to bed and clothes were laid out. The kids had a hard time falling asleep.
Dave had been worked to the bone that week. He had been in the hospital doing cases 3 of the nights this week leading up to vacation so we knew he'd need a good night of rest Friday. The Hansens left Friday afternoon to drive part way and the Scott's were leaving at 5am Sat. The kids were a little bummed to be the last ones to be leaving but starting strong and rested was important! As it was Dave had to work until 8 or 9 that Friday evening instead of being able to slip away a few hours earlier to start getting ready.
Day 1.
Because of Dave's schedule we didn't plan to leave until 8 or 9 in the morning instead of trying to get a really early start. As it turned out we hit the later end of that window and then got a really slow start. The kids were up super early and told me about how hard it was to go sleep the night before vacation.
Lexey said." I just told myself it is an ordinary day....just an ordinary day....we're not going to florida for another year....."
Clare said " Mom told me to think of something boring so I thought of Tressel and that made me think of Remy and that made me think of the Hansens who were on their way to the beach house! Then I thought of barbies and that made me think of the Hatches who were getting our mail while we were at the beach house! No matter what I thought of, it always came back to the beach house!"
Cute kids.
The kids got in the car and were ready to go an hour before we were. That makes for a long trip! (they did the same thing when we moved out to CA). I think we hit the road a little after 9.
When we stopped to get gas Dave noticed the gas tank was loose. I guess I should re phrase that. The gas tank was so loose there was gas pouring down on to the sidewalk. So Dave drove next door to an auto supply store to get tools to fix it. I'm glad it broke when Dave was there so he could fix it for me! We were finally on the road for real a little after 10.
The drive was pretty uneventful until we came on some really bad traffic just outside of Baton Rogue. We found an alternate route along some county roads which showed us what Louisiana looks like! We got a kick out of that. It looks just like you'd think it would.
I loved the bridge crossing the Mississippi (minus the traffic).
As with all road trips we stopped for milkshakes at dairy queen in Mississippi.
We arrived in Destin around 9pm. Jo and Calvin were asleep in the car. YAY! All the other kids had just gone to bed but of course they jumped out of bed to see us arrive. The girls talked and played for a while before going to bed. There was a bunk bed room downstairs where Clare, Ellie, Brinley, Lexey and Warren slept. Poor warren got kicked out of Ellies bed 1/2 way through the night and had to sleep on a cushion on the floor.
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