Hey loves. A day late on this post. Sorry if you were looking for it yesterday. I came down with a stomach bug that had me down and out for the count for 36 hours. Brian was worried he would end up taking me to the ER for fluids. Thankfully I am feeling better and getting my energy back. I am also so grateful no one else in the house got what I had, we are possibly thinking it was food poisoning but not 100% sure. Now onto....
I starting to recap our fun 11 day vacation. We drove from Ohio to Florida and back. It was gorgeous, hot, and no rain (minus one day) what more could we have asked for, especially going to Florida in the summer where is usually always rains. We hit up two different beaches, a few Disney parks, Disney resorts and more.
Our original plan was to leave Ohio around 4pm and drive straight through the night to Daytona Beach, Florida. Without stopping it would take 14 hours, with traffic, stopping to eat, gas, and bathroom breaks we figured 18 hours and arrive around 10 am or so. Things changed when the smoke from wild fires in Canada was said to be hitting the mountains in the Carolinas with possibly limited visibility, we decided to leave earlier.
The car was packed, the house was cleaned and we were just wasting time. We ended up leaving at 2pm. Within 15 minutes of leaving princess was already asleep.
Austin was asleep within 45 minutes.
The first part of our trip was uneventful. The kids had snacks, our TV with DVD player, and lots of different activities to play with. They pretty much just ate and watched movies. We had planned packed sandwiches, cut up fruit and veggies, and chips for dinner. We ended up stopping at Tamarack in West Virginia. We had planned on just sitting at tables outside the rest area and eating. Turns out the rest area got torn down and the Welcome Center is the only thing currently available. There were no signs on the highway stating the rest area was closed or the hours of the Welcome Center. We pulled into the Welcome Center at 6:50 saw a sign it closed at 7. We ran in to use the restroom then ended up eating dinner in our car as the only tables were inside the Welcome center.
Since we left early, things were going better than planner we were ahead of schedule. If we stayed with our original plan we would have arrived at Daytona Beach at 530am with so much time to kill and no place to go. Instead we opted to stop just inside of South Carolina at a hotel for a quick 5 hour nap. We got to the hotel around 1130 and we were up and out the door by 5am.
The sun's up, time for so breakfast and some stretching/yoga at a rest stop. We have muffins, dry cereal, and yogurt for breakfast. My back had been bothering me before we left and the drive and hotel stay didn't help. Any chance I got I was stretching.
Rest stop in Georgia. Not until we pulled into the rest area were there signs that said restrooms closed and next rest area was like 62 miles. We pulled to the back of the parking lot by the semi's and Austin peed in the grass. Anna went in her little portable potty seat that we brought with us just in case. (this was the only time all vacation she used it. It magically disappeared when we got home and now she only uses the big potty)
We made it to Florida. The kids love this rest stop because you can a sample of orange juice and/or grapefruit juice. They all made the best faces when their tried grapefruit juice, I wish I would have taken pictures.
Our first destination was Daytona Beach. We stopped in Daytona Beach. We found a public parking and with a changing room. I grabbed a bottle of water and some pre-workout. I needed my the caffeine to keep up with my kids.
We didn't plan on being here to long so we didn't grab the kids life vests out of the under storage in the van. They ended up doing so good without them.
At 1pm was high tide making for not much room for vehicles to drive on the beach and also made it a short walk to the water. Brian was talked to a guy who said his buddy's jeep was stuck in the sand further down the beach. The kids kept asking if we could drive the van on the beach. Maybe next time if we have all wheel drive.
I was taking a picture of the kids and asked a lady if she could take a picture from where she was sitting. She nicely got up and took a bunch of pictures of all 5 of us.
Lunch on the beach at Crabby's Oceanside. The kids enjoyed watching the birds, people swimming, and were surprised to see an ice cream truck going down the beach.
A cold beer on a hot beach just hits different.
Mahi tacos were so good.
We drove past Daytona International Speedway on our way from Daytona to Orlando where our hotel would be for the next week. It took us about 2 hours to get to our hotel with Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in the summer. We were happy to be able to relax, pick up our grocery pick up and planned for swimming.
Next week I will be sharing the rest of day 2 with a look at our hotel, day 3 a pool day and some fun at Disney Springs.
Thank you for stopping by!!!!! If you are new here,
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XOXO
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Looks like a great start to the trip! I can't believe they shut down part of Tamarack-- we used to stop there every time we drove from NC to OH and back. Bummer!
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Don't Mind Our Mess
It was a big disappointment that Tamarack rest area was torn down. We had originally planned on getting food from there. Glad we changed our plans.
DeleteI am so sorry you caught a bug (or food poisoning)! Those are never any fun. I am glad you're back to feeling well. Sounds like y'all had a good road trip!!
ReplyDelete