The Florida Chronicles: Part 1

For those of you who are not aware, Matt's aunt and uncle had a time share they couldn't use.  It's a use it or lose it kind of thing.  They graciously offered it to us.  I can't tell you how excited we've been getting ready to head out.  This is a HUGE blessing!  Neither my children or I have been to Florida and were not able to plan this trip if it were not for the free stay at the resort.  We can't wait!  Thank you so much Mark and Cheri!

Today started out not quite as  I had hoped it would.  Let's just say some people were slower than others.  Instead of leaving before 8am, we left 20 minutes later.  I know that will bite us in the rear later on tonight.  We stopped to fill up my car with gas since it was on empty (not getting far that way) and grab some quick breakfast.

Fast forward to 9am...here I am at the wheel and oh so tired.  Joshie didn't sleep well last night which I had suspected would happen.  aybe if I get a bit more food in me it will help.

"Allysha, will you give me 1/2 banana, please?"

Matt is doing well playing on his ipad and the kids are doing well too.   I'm so proud of them!  It's almost 11:30 and we're stopping for a quick lunch at Wendy's/Taco Bell.  Quick on and quick off, just the way I like it on a long trip.

"On the road again..."  Can't you just hear that song playing?  I sure can!

Because I've almost always lived in the tri-state area, I don't have much to say about driving through Michigan and Ohio.  It seems "old hat" to me for the most part, even though I love Michigan dearly.

At about 12:30pm we had to stop at a rest area for yours truly.   Hey, when you've got to go, you've got to go!  Matt got Joshie out to walk him around while I went to get the other kids out of the car.  After they got out I noticed some trash on the floor.  I hastily grabbed up the wrappers, meanwhile spilling water all over Jon's seat.  Clean up time!  While the kids watched me (probably waiting for a response), I quickly cleaned up the mess with a smile after saying "Oh Crap!".  lol  Thankfully I had a washrag and towel in the car.  That made clean up really quick.  Just another reason to always drink water - much less mess!

We all went in, did our business and came out.  Joshie was crying and all upset between the nasty diaper change and it now being his nap time.  We turned on Kipper to calm the little guy down and thankfully that did the trick and off to sleep he went.  Matt and I switched places right before we took off again, which means he's now Driver Extrodinare.

I had no idea we were so close to Kentucky!  If I had known, I would not have switched driving positions so soon.  At 1:37 we arrived in Kentucky and stopped for our first gas up.  I can't explain the joy of knowing we were out of Michigan, went through all Ohio and were now in Kentucky!  Matt told me to get out the camera and take a few pictures; so snap away I did with glee!  One thing that caught my attention was almost as soon as we arrived in Kentucky, I saw several very tall, colorful and slender buildings which I can only assume were apartment buildings.  I've never seen such a thing in real life before.  We also saw a very large soap factory called St. Bernard Soap Company just outside of Kentucky in Cincinnatti, Ohio.  It was HUGE!

"On the road again..."

The kids have bickered just slightly but nothing lasting more than 20 seconds.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying!  My daughter just told me she read through Galations since we've been on the road.  I LOVE her use of the time!  Yeah!  Jonathan just said the funniest thing!

Here are some fun things I've seen on signs so far:
Cherry Blossom - exit in Kentucky
Paris - Kentucky
Kentucky Artisan Center in Kentucky
Amish Store - this was funny because it was a huge billboard.
Mt. Vernon - I want to visit SO bad!
Indian Mountains
Smokey Mountains

Next stop was around 4:00pm at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin Kentucky.   While the food was normal KFC, the memorabilia was really neat!  We ended up picking up a couple postcards and a couple pins as souvenirs.  Lysha thought they had the best popcorn chicken she's EVER had.  I didn't have the heart to tell her it's the same at every KFC. Jon was acting so goofy here.  It was the first time this whole trip he was really able to stretch his legs.

It is now 9:29pm and we're at the Holiday Inn Express in Chattanooga.  Let's just say, it's subpar (not clean).  Kinda frustrating.  The kids don't mind though.  Jon is swimming in the pool with daddy while Joshie is taking a bath and being watched by older sister for a bit.  We got all our clothing out and ready for tomorrow since it's going to be another early morning and whole day of driving.  I hope to find some yummy Georgia peaches!

Until tomorrow...