3 Days Of Traveling
Hello again! Since I last posted, I've been making the long journey from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington DC. I spent most of Saturday packing and unpacking and then repacking, along with getting a haircut, attending my last Mass in Fort Worth, helping my family pack, and working on this blog and a YouTube video. I stayed up pretty late, checking to make sure I had packed everything and that I had what I needed.
The next morning we got up at around 5:00 to begin loading the car; and to grab a quick breakfast. I checked my bags weight, and it was around 46.5 lbs, if the scale is to be believed. I hope it's accurate, because my limit is 50 lbs, and I don't want to have to rearrange everything come my departure. It took quite a while to get everything in the car, get the little kids to lumber to the car, and to grab a quick bite; so by the time we left, it was 7:00. We drove for several hours until we stopped at a rest stop, for late breakfast.
After we ate, we got back in the car and drove again, for about 4 hours. We made it to the capital of Arkansas, Little Rock; which was a pleasantly nice town. It had bridges everywhere, a very hip downtown area, lots of historical looking buildings, and gorgeous parks. Unfortunately, getting into these parks was near impossible, at least in our experience. We drove for half an hour just trying to find the entrance, only to find that it had a hefty toll. Eventually, after driving across the river and looking around some more, we found a park without a toll and an open entrance. It was very nice outside, especially compared to the normal Summer in Texas; and as an added bonus (especially for a history nut like me) there just so happened to be a WWII submarine and patrol boat museum right next to the park! We had a quick picnic lunch, my parents took a nap to rest from all the driving, and I took some of my siblings to explore the museum. Tours were $5 and we didn't have the time, so we just looked around at the outside, which was very cool nonetheless.
Once again, we got back in the car and continued on. During our drive, we passed over the famous Mississippi river and drove by Memphis, Tennessee.
Finally our first day of driving was over when we arrived in Jackson, Tennessee. We had two hotel rooms waiting for us; so we checked in, had dinner, and drove around town; with a quick stop at the rail museum. The next morning we had a hotel breakfast and continued our journey. This time our drive was much shorter, only around 5-6 hours. I won't elaborate on this day of driving, as you've probably already been bored by the first day; and because it wasn't too exciting. We passed through Nashville, which was about the only exciting event.
We eventually arrived in Johnson City; where some very kind family friends, Chanacee and Mike, were waiting to let us stay for two nights. We had a delicious meal of pot-roast, mashed potatoes, and corn; after which we had some fun watching a movie and went to bed.
The next morning we had some delicious homemade gluten-free waffles, courtesy of Mike. This day also just so happened to be my little brother Charlie's birthday, so we made sure to plan some fun for him (although he already had a party last Friday). After breakfast we went for a hike on a beautiful trail in the Smoky mountains, which was really fun. We made it pretty far up the trail, and even continued after the trail became very steep and it started to rain.
After the fantastic hike we went to Mike's grandparent's house; where we had another delicious meal, this time homemade hamburgers, ice cream, and gluten-free brownies (for dessert, of course). We also got a chance to swim, see some buffalo, and just run around and play. It was lots of fun, and a really good break from all the traveling.
Of course, it wouldn't be a real birthday for Charlie without his birthday bumps (thanks Uncle Dave for letting us in on this tradition!). If you don't know what birthday bumps are, it's pretty much just people throwing the birthday boy/girl into the air the same number of times as their age. It's tons of fun, but I imagine it gets much harder with people over the age of 12.
We had one more day of travel left, so we got lots of sleep that night. On Wednesday morning, after we said goodbye to Chanacee (we had said goodbye to Mike the night before), we packed up the van once again, and got on our way. This day of driving was fairly uneventful, except for all the rain.
However, this was our last day of driving, and we finally arrived in DC (well, technically Maryland) that afternoon. My mom had rented a house on Airbnb that was just outside of DC, in Maryland. The house was really nice, and we very quickly settled in. We then had a quick dinner, and got ready to go visit the monuments at night.
I'll save the rest of the night for my next blog post (which is coming soon, hopefully!), which will be all about our first few days in DC. There's a lot happening right now, so most of my blog posts will be about a day or two after the actual event. My departure is getting closer and closer every day, and with every day the whole thing starts to set in a bit more. It's pretty scary now, but that feeling definitely overshadowed by excitement. The next few days are going to be very fun and action-packed, so make sure you stay tuned for more adventure!
I finished the blog "renovation" (at least I think it's finished), so make sure you check out the new "About Me" section above if you want to get to know me better. Also, I've been told that the reason a lot of people don't subscribe to this blog is because they don't have a Blogger account to log into, so I added a "Subscribe by E-mail" button on the bar to the right. All you have to do is type in your e-mail address and enter, and a verification widow will open up. Verify your subscription, and FeedBurner (a completely safe Google-operated service) will send you an e-mail that asks you to verify once more. Click the link, and you're done, simple as that. You will now be sent an e-mail every time I post a blog, so you don't miss out. I hope it seems as simple as it really is (I think I might have made it seem over-complicated, but it's really not). Comments should now work without being logged in to Google as well (no promises, though), so please comment below (and correct any grammar mistakes...). My last change was the addition of an "Other CBYX Blogs" page, so you can see some of my fellow bundies blogs.
Edit: If you want to do the e-mail subscription, I think you'll have to use a PC, because you can't access the side-bar on mobile. Sorry!
Sorry if that last section got a bit long, and thanks for visiting my blog! I recently reached 500+ views on my blog, which is pretty exciting, so thanks so much for that!
Tschüss!
The next morning we got up at around 5:00 to begin loading the car; and to grab a quick breakfast. I checked my bags weight, and it was around 46.5 lbs, if the scale is to be believed. I hope it's accurate, because my limit is 50 lbs, and I don't want to have to rearrange everything come my departure. It took quite a while to get everything in the car, get the little kids to lumber to the car, and to grab a quick bite; so by the time we left, it was 7:00. We drove for several hours until we stopped at a rest stop, for late breakfast.
After we ate, we got back in the car and drove again, for about 4 hours. We made it to the capital of Arkansas, Little Rock; which was a pleasantly nice town. It had bridges everywhere, a very hip downtown area, lots of historical looking buildings, and gorgeous parks. Unfortunately, getting into these parks was near impossible, at least in our experience. We drove for half an hour just trying to find the entrance, only to find that it had a hefty toll. Eventually, after driving across the river and looking around some more, we found a park without a toll and an open entrance. It was very nice outside, especially compared to the normal Summer in Texas; and as an added bonus (especially for a history nut like me) there just so happened to be a WWII submarine and patrol boat museum right next to the park! We had a quick picnic lunch, my parents took a nap to rest from all the driving, and I took some of my siblings to explore the museum. Tours were $5 and we didn't have the time, so we just looked around at the outside, which was very cool nonetheless.
Once again, we got back in the car and continued on. During our drive, we passed over the famous Mississippi river and drove by Memphis, Tennessee.
Finally our first day of driving was over when we arrived in Jackson, Tennessee. We had two hotel rooms waiting for us; so we checked in, had dinner, and drove around town; with a quick stop at the rail museum. The next morning we had a hotel breakfast and continued our journey. This time our drive was much shorter, only around 5-6 hours. I won't elaborate on this day of driving, as you've probably already been bored by the first day; and because it wasn't too exciting. We passed through Nashville, which was about the only exciting event.
We eventually arrived in Johnson City; where some very kind family friends, Chanacee and Mike, were waiting to let us stay for two nights. We had a delicious meal of pot-roast, mashed potatoes, and corn; after which we had some fun watching a movie and went to bed.
The next morning we had some delicious homemade gluten-free waffles, courtesy of Mike. This day also just so happened to be my little brother Charlie's birthday, so we made sure to plan some fun for him (although he already had a party last Friday). After breakfast we went for a hike on a beautiful trail in the Smoky mountains, which was really fun. We made it pretty far up the trail, and even continued after the trail became very steep and it started to rain.
After the fantastic hike we went to Mike's grandparent's house; where we had another delicious meal, this time homemade hamburgers, ice cream, and gluten-free brownies (for dessert, of course). We also got a chance to swim, see some buffalo, and just run around and play. It was lots of fun, and a really good break from all the traveling.
Of course, it wouldn't be a real birthday for Charlie without his birthday bumps (thanks Uncle Dave for letting us in on this tradition!). If you don't know what birthday bumps are, it's pretty much just people throwing the birthday boy/girl into the air the same number of times as their age. It's tons of fun, but I imagine it gets much harder with people over the age of 12.
We had one more day of travel left, so we got lots of sleep that night. On Wednesday morning, after we said goodbye to Chanacee (we had said goodbye to Mike the night before), we packed up the van once again, and got on our way. This day of driving was fairly uneventful, except for all the rain.
However, this was our last day of driving, and we finally arrived in DC (well, technically Maryland) that afternoon. My mom had rented a house on Airbnb that was just outside of DC, in Maryland. The house was really nice, and we very quickly settled in. We then had a quick dinner, and got ready to go visit the monuments at night.
I'll save the rest of the night for my next blog post (which is coming soon, hopefully!), which will be all about our first few days in DC. There's a lot happening right now, so most of my blog posts will be about a day or two after the actual event. My departure is getting closer and closer every day, and with every day the whole thing starts to set in a bit more. It's pretty scary now, but that feeling definitely overshadowed by excitement. The next few days are going to be very fun and action-packed, so make sure you stay tuned for more adventure!
I finished the blog "renovation" (at least I think it's finished), so make sure you check out the new "About Me" section above if you want to get to know me better. Also, I've been told that the reason a lot of people don't subscribe to this blog is because they don't have a Blogger account to log into, so I added a "Subscribe by E-mail" button on the bar to the right. All you have to do is type in your e-mail address and enter, and a verification widow will open up. Verify your subscription, and FeedBurner (a completely safe Google-operated service) will send you an e-mail that asks you to verify once more. Click the link, and you're done, simple as that. You will now be sent an e-mail every time I post a blog, so you don't miss out. I hope it seems as simple as it really is (I think I might have made it seem over-complicated, but it's really not). Comments should now work without being logged in to Google as well (no promises, though), so please comment below (and correct any grammar mistakes...). My last change was the addition of an "Other CBYX Blogs" page, so you can see some of my fellow bundies blogs.
Edit: If you want to do the e-mail subscription, I think you'll have to use a PC, because you can't access the side-bar on mobile. Sorry!
Sorry if that last section got a bit long, and thanks for visiting my blog! I recently reached 500+ views on my blog, which is pretty exciting, so thanks so much for that!
Tschüss!
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