[RobbiD]

Next: What was I thinking?

Dates: June 20-29
Adventurers: Robbi (Me!), Dean (DH),
The DD's: Nicole (9 1/2)& Ashley (7)
Resort: Port Orleans – Riverside
Celebration: Summer Vacation & the End of School!

Back in February when I booked the trip, I thought it would be great to leave the day after school ended. Softball would be over, Girl Scouts would be over, PTA stuff would be concluded, Sunday School would be done for the Summer and of course school would be done. What a great beginning to the summer! AM I NUTS!!! [img]graemlins/achoo.gif[/img] Here it is, June 19th, and I’m running around like a loon! I had totally blocked out all the stuff I need to do during June to have all these things end! School concerts, class parties, field trips, Girl Scout Award Ceremonies, teacher presents. OK, deep breath. We’re packed, the house is clean, laundry is done, the cats are set. And we’re leaving for Disney in less than 24 hours.

I spent the morning in Ashley’s class helping her teacher with the ice cream party they were having. School got out at 12:45PM and we’re free! Dean was working from home (and stopping early!) so we came home, ran out for traveler’s checks and lunch then went home to finish up odds and ends. We had packed on Sunday so that was set. I had a haircut and color appointment at 4:45 that I added a pedicure too, plus I was going for a manicure also. Was I going to get everything done? I left at 3 to be beautified and got home coiffed and buffed with mood changing toe polish at 7, relaxed and ready to go. Dean had already packed the car and the girls had the back seat set. Nicole took her shower and Ashley had her bath and off to bed they went. Would they every go to sleep?

We planned on leaving no later than 6AM. We were driving from NJ to WDW and planned on stopping along the way for the night. I had some last minute things to do; mop the kitchen floor…”Rob, come to bed, you’ve done enough!” “I’ll be right there!” Check the packing list one more time; “Rob, we’ve got to get up soon!” “OK, OK!” Check the girls; Ashley is of course asleep and shock of all shocks, Nicole is too! She usually is so worked up before any big event that she can’t sleep. I double check my stuff…Passporter, Park Passes. OK, time for bed!

4:30 arrives before we know it and Dean and I are up! Shower, get dressed, get the girls up and dressed. The car is already packed so it’s good bye to Sheba, Princess & Cleo and we’re in the car and out of the driveway! WOO WOO! We stop at Dunkin Donuts (me-French Vanilla coffee & coffeecake muffin, coffee and muffin for Dean, Vanilla Milk and muffin for Nicole, Double Chocolate milk and muffin for Ashley.) As Dean gets ready to pull out of the parking space, he manages to spill coffee on his shorts leg. AH! He’s OK. We leave Dunkin Donuts and hit the NJ Turnpike at 5:48AM. 12 minutes earlier than we had said. Now, in my house, that’s amazing! Dean is very prompt and he is always lamenting that with 3 females in the house, he’ll never be anywhere on time ever again. So, Dean is very happy about our time. I happen to look at his coffee stain and realize…OH MY GOSH! It’s a Hidden Mickey! It really was! We took it as a good omen. And so began our Hidden Mickey theme.

Our drive was pretty uneventful. We stopped in Maryland at 8:30 for a bathroom break, and timed things pretty well in terms of avoiding rush hour traffic in Baltimore and DC. The girls kept themselves busy with books and Gameboys. We did have a brief moment of panic passing through Washington when Ashley informed us that she felt like she was going to throw up. Nicole had gotten sick on Tuesday night and now we’re thinking “NO! It must have been a virus!” Ashley closed her eyes and it passed (Thank You, God!) We take the new bypass around Richmond and it was wonderful! The weather was great.

Side note: Living in NJ, we don’t get any country music. Whenever we drive down South, we take great delight in trying to find the “real” country stations. This is apparently all they have in Virginia except for the religious stations. We’ve found some of our favorite artists this way (Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks) and we’ve also had some great laughs since this is almost foreign music to us (hey, we grew up 14 miles from Times Square!) This trip proves to be no exception. We’re thrilled to hear the new Dixie Chicks song and then hear this funny, redneck song about some guy whose wife tells him he has to pick between her and fishing and “I’m gonna miss her, lookie here, I’ve got a bite!” We are cracking up! Too funny!

We stop in Roanoke Rapids, NC at 11:45 for lunch at a Burger King. We fill up the tank and we’re off again at 12:25. We hit South Carolina and the rain began. We should have gotten used to it, since that would be the theme for the week. It did start to slow us down, and I was getting a little nervous since it was raining pretty hard at times. We wanted to stop between 6-7PM. By 5:30 we were near the SC/GA line and I’m checking my list of exits I had marked. Exit 94 in Savannah was getting near and the rain was coming down hard. We decide to stop here. I knew there’s a Country Inn and Suites and Cracker Barrel here so we pull off and Dean goes to check in. It’s now 5:56PM. We get the key and drive over to the Cracker Barrel. We love Cracker Barrel! We don’t have any close to us in NJ, so this is an exotic trip for Nicole & Ashley. We eat then hit the store. Nicole bought herself a little porcelain doll, and Ashley bought herself a Beanie Buddy dog to snuggle with (she realized that she had left home without her ‘Pooh Bear’ and she had no one to sleep with.) We go back to our room and go to sleep confident that the driving weather will be much better tomorrow.

Next: It’s still raining!