Road Trip!

We drove 500 miles to Seattle for Easter weekend. Brian and I have made that drive many, many times. First with just the two of us, then for a few years with Emma, who has always been a great traveler. Isaiah did a few trips with us last year, and did pretty well. We did one trip with Biniam, right after we first got home from Ethiopia with him. It used to be that Brian and I would make the drive just to spend a regular weekend. We have slowly been backing down to just holiday or three-day weekends. Now I have a new rule: for every child, we add a 1/2 day to our trip in addition to a standard weekend. Meaning if all four kids are with us, we must be gone a minimum of four days. Easter weekend was 3.5 days.

Brian and I have always been about making good time on our trips. Before we had GPS to calculate our estimated arrival time, Brian would pass the time by calculating numbers in his head (and on his fingers). For the 500 mile drive we would make one stop: gas-food-potty all at the same place. Our standard travel time was 8 hours, although we've done it in about 7:45.

Now that we are on a budget, and have so many kids, we knew we needed to have a good plan. So I bought snacks, we filled water bottles, loaded up lots of DVDs, and planned to make sandwiches for our dinner on the road. Brian worked a half day, and picked up Biniam from school on his way home (even though Biniam had early release that day) so we could get a quick start. We had everything laid out the night before, so all I had to do was put everything in suitcases, get everyone dressed, and load up. We would be on the road by 11:40.

Here's how things went (hopefully the condensed version since this post is already way too long). I had a hectic morning with fussy kids, and found myself calling Brian at 11:00 to inform him that I was still in jammies, nothing had been placed in suitcases, and nothing was in the car. Brian and Biniam got home, and Brian kicked in to high gear to help me. I sent him down to make the sandwiches, only to have him back a minute later asking me if I'd bought bread. No. Crap. "Just pack as many snacks as you can and we can eat at my Dad's." We finally got everything and everyone loaded, and pulled out at 12:50. Right as Biniam's bus was dropping off the other kids. Good thing we pulled him out early...

I brought my breast pump with the car adaptor and pumped while we drove and then handed Biniam a bottle to feed the baby. Great plan! Except Noah decided he didn't want that bottle, but only after he developed a good air bubble and needed to burp. So we pulled off at a gas station for an impromptu burp/potty break. No problem, we were back on the road less than 10 minutes later.

An hour and a half later Noah was screaming the kind of scream you can't ignore, so we pulled off at the first exit we could find and stopped on the shoulder. He needed a burp and a diaper change. We continued down the rural road and found ourselves at the next town and decided we should stop at McDonald's to let the kids run around a little. Keep in mind our budget and the fact that I am all about sticking to it, so I suggested we get everyone a drink. Brian was a little more generous and purchased a 10-piece nugget, large fry and one drink (with two cups!) and let Emma and Biniam each fill theirs half-way. The rest of us had water and we all shared the food. That's how to feed a family of six for only $7! Okay, so after I fed the baby I realized I was still starving, and so was Biniam since he won't eat nuggets, so I got out a couple more dollars and bought myself a snack wrap and Biniam a small fry. While I finished up Brian took the car across the parking lot and got gas. So it was a great stop - food, potty, playland, gas - in less than 40 minutes.

At this point we were 5 hours away and hoping not to make any more stops. We gave the baby one more bottle and were making good time, when Biniam, owner of the world's smallest bladder, couldn't hold it any longer. After much begging, Brian finally pulled off the road and stopped at the shoulder and told Biniam to hop out and go in the trees. Biniam took one look at the dark forest and decided he no longer had to go. Back on the road we were.

We ended up making one final stop at a gas station because we felt bad for Biniam, and we barely pulled up at my folk's house before Noah was ready for his next feeding. Everyone was in pretty good spirits, and we only added one hour to our usual time, making it there in 9 hours.

On our way back home we thankfully had sandwiches (thanks Dad!) so we didn't have to make any unnecessary stops for food. :) In fact, besides one stop for gas and potty we only pulled off the road one other time. That was another "burp stop" which happened to be on a mountain pass where there was still quite a bit of snow off the roads. We took an exit, not realizing there was no freeway entrance there to get back on. So we parked, let the kids throw snowballs while the baby finished his bottle, and took some pictures. We didn't see any other cars for quite a while, and then we saw about three, so we figured it must be rush hour. Thankfully the next freeway entrance was only a couple miles down the road.

Even with our two stops we made it home in exactly 8 hours! Everyone did great, and Biniam was the best sport by being a big help with the babies. Maybe some day we'll relax a bit and enjoy the journey as much as the destination, but for now our time seems so precious that we want to make the most of our visits. So praise the Lord for great kids and in-car DVD players!