It's been too long....

I feel like I've been neglecting you, dear blog. It has been a whirlwind since Neil got home though. We had less than a week to pack up our life in Florida, say goodbye to our family and head off for the great state of Washington in the Pacific Northwest. We had an amazing time with our family and I feel that we made the most by saying goodbye to everyone. There are some of my family members that I felt I left things unresolved with but I'm happy to hear that they are all working on it together even though I can't be there.

Let me take this moment to go through our driving journal and tell you guys about how we ended up getting here to Washington!

Obviously, we set off from Florida on November 6th. We knew that it was going to take us five days and towards the end of our trip we were going to hit snow of some sort. It was a great ride and we had so much fun. Here goes:

November 6th: Oviedo, FL to Paducah, KY
We set off at 7:25a, right on schedule! We stopped off at Publix to pick up some ice for our cooler. We hit the highway at 7:37a. At 9:09a Neil woke me up (he had taken the first leg of driving) and said 'I think I just got busted speeding.' I look in the side mirror and sure enough there is FHP behind us. I pull out all of our details and hand them to the trooper. She was very nice but Neil was still issued a ticket since she felt (and I completely agree) that he should've been driving more safely with his family in the car. No reason to be mad or anything, I figured one of us would probably get one on the way up there. But by no means did I want it to happen! This was around Gainsville so we pulled over to get gas and switch drivers. At 11:01a we crossed into Georgia. At 2:37p we stopped in Jackson, GA to get gas and to switch drivers again. 4:05p we were in Allatoona, GA when we started to see mountains. It was then that we arranged a slight detour to see Neil's battle buddy, Beaty, in Cleveland, TN. 5:05p we crossed into TN. We stopped for an hour or so to see Beaty and then hit the road again. 8:30p we hit the central time zone. 8:24p we stopped for gas again in Monteagle, TN. 11:40p we crossed into Kentucky! Then finally at 12:55a we arrived at our first hotel, the Days Inn in Paducah, KY! Temperature on arrival was 31 degrees!

November 7th: Paducah, KY to Sioux Falls, SD
8:00a Set off on the road after stopping at BK for breakfast and filling up the tank. 1:42p stopped for gas again while listening to the Bears game on Sirius! Stopped in Nelson, MO. It was a toasty 73 degrees outside! Switched to me driving. 4:50p Crossed the Iowa state line. 6:00p we stooped for gas again and to clean the many dead bugs off of the car. 7:20p crossed into South Dakota. About 50mi before that my car hit 55k! It was 62 degrees outside. 8:30p we arrived at our hotel, Days Inn Sioux Falls, SD.

November 8th: Sioux Falls, SD to Helena, MT
7:45a set off for Mount Rushmore! 10:15a stopped for gas in Oacoma/Chamberlain, SD. 2:00p we arrived at Mount Rushmore! We stayed there for just over an hour and dropped $100 in their gift shop! Can't wait to send the goodies to those back home! 3:20p we were back on the road headed for Helena, MT. At that point I was still driving in case we were to hit snow in Montana. At that time Neil was going to take over. Either way he would take over in Montana. 4:45p we stopped for gas in Sturgis, SD! It was 65 degrees outside. 7:00p we stopped at a rest area for bathroom breaks and to change Tyler's diaper. At this point we switched drivers and Neil took over. 8:00p we stopped for gas again in Crow Agency, MT. The temperature had dipped significantly to 38 degrees! 11:10p Stopped for gas again in Bozeman, MT. At this point it was 31 degrees outside and snowing!! 1:41a we finally arrived at the Motel 6 in Helena, MT. Temp was 34 degrees!

November 9th: Helena, MT to Fort Lewis, WA
8:00a Set off for our final destination! 9:00a Stopped for gas at Exxon in Helena. 12:25p Entered Idaho and Pacific Time Zone! 31 degrees outside, still was seeing on/off flurries but there was beautiful snowy scenery to look at. Time changed us to 11:25a. 11:55a Stopped for gas at a Chevron in Pinehurst, ID at this point it was 44 degrees. 1:25p Made a pit stop in Spokane, WA to see my friend Lori and two of her four beautiful children! It was so awesome to meet her (she's a Mommy board friend) and of course to get our two February '08 babies together! 3:45p Back on the road headed for Fort Lewis, currently 43 degrees! 7:45 we stopped for gas in Maple Valley, WA. Around 9p we arrived on McChord Air Force Base after MUCH driving around and trying to find out how to get on post. Thankful to be here and ready for sleep!

Well - that was it! I will write more tomorrow about our stay here so far. Now I'm off to play a game with the hubby!