Road trip!

Ever since we found out that Grant would be leaving for residency, I had been anticipating this road trip (in a slightly nervous, not super excited way). We could have flown, but logistically and financially it just wasn't the best option. So...I got my parents on board to drive with me (I didn't think it was wise to drive across the country with 2 kids by myself at 34-35 weeks pregnant!) Not to mention the fact that I would have probably gone crazy trying to manage the boys in the back while trying to drive 42 hours alone. So, after the beach house week was complete, we started our journey east! The Odyssey did an amazing job holding all of our stuff plus the 5 of us.

We ate our last meal in San Diego at the Pacific Beach fish shop (I was obsessed with the crushed ice) and needed some good fish tacos before leaving.

My mom and I thought it would be fun to stop in Waco at Magnolia Market, so we took the southern route across the country. We left Friday after lunch and drove that day to Tucson, Arizona. Our first day of driving was definitely a success!
Our plan was to stay in hotels with pools each night and essentially swim the kids to sleep each night. With the except of 1 night, we did exactly this! And it was perfect. I think Rowan actually learned how to swim without his floaties in this week of every night swimming :) We pretty much had the pools to ourselves at every location too.

We also did some good bed jumping...

I was kind of nervous about all of us sleeping in one hotel room every night, but in reality it turned out to be so much better than I had thought it might be. I think we all got decent sleep each night and were rested enough for the drive the next day. We only averaged 6-8 hours a day as that is what was advised with me being pregnant, and we thought it would work better with the boys too. 

My cute nurse and midwife friends were worried about my long drive, so I agreed to get compression socks...and I elevated my feet and did lots of ankle circles, etc when I wasn't wearing them. I wasn't going to get a clot or go into labor on this trip :) 

The next day we left after breakfast (we also made sure to have free breakfast everywhere we stayed since we were already having to eat every other meal out). Rowan needed to take a bathroom break in the middle of nowhere, but we found this super random little store that sold beef jerky and sweets and coon skin caps, etc. They had this map so we got to show him where we were and how far we still had to go :)

It was a really pretty day though and they got to run around for a bit

That night we stayed in Midland, Texas. It was our longest day of driving and we arrived at the hotel too late to swim. But luckily it was late enough that the kids still went to bed pretty well. I was thinking that they would both take pretty good naps everyday in the car, but Rowan only napped 2 of the 6 days, which made them even longer, but overall they both did REALLY well in the car.

The next morning we got up and headed to Waco. It was fun to have a halfway destination that we were excited about. To make it even more fun, when Cecily and Jenifer heard that we were stopping there, they decided to meet us there (along with Tammy) which made of a fun mini reunion. We arrived on Sunday and literally swam the entire afternoon (about 4 hours!) and ate Panera by the pool for dinner. It was nice to have something that wasn't really fast food.

Monday morning we woke up, checked out and headed to the silos! It was fun to see all these familiar sights from Fixer Upper. We obviously had to have breakfast at the bakery. We got a bunch of cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. They were SO good!

A line started forming outside the store just before it opened, so I was worried we were going to have to wait to get in, but luckily once that initial line was gone it was easy to get in (however the store was pretty crowded). Couldn't believe how many people were there on a random Monday in August. We didn't have a lot of room in the car and didn't need much but wanted to get a little something so I got a metal sign and 2 wall vases that I had been eyeing for some time.

I felt very worthy of taking a #milestomagnolia photo as I had just driven my pregnant self, 2 kids and 2 parents to the middle of Texas from southern California...and that was not even quite our halfway point (but almost!) I felt so conflicted in deciding if I was excited to be halfway or if I was depressed that we had driven so long and were only halfway!

After shopping we played outside for awhile which was so fun. They had a bunch of different balls, blocks and corn hole that was free for anyone to use on the turf. Such a fun idea and the kids had a great time and wore themselves out a bit before we hit the road again!

We got Steel City Pops and then crepes from a food truck for lunch...and some popcorn for the road. We made the most of being at a "real" place along the drive.

That night we stayed in Monroe, LA...it felt good to finally get out of Texas after staying in the same state for 2 nights (not that I hate Texas, I just wanted to get to Maryland!)

And the next night we stayed near Atlanta, which was our FINAL road trip hotel night because we would be staying with the Schiebel's the next night. And to make it even more exciting, Cecily brought her kids up to swim with us (we were lame and didn't get a picture of all of them though!) Unfortunately it was the smallest and least cool pool of the trip, but they still all had a great time.

I got kicked out of my bed early in the morning though :) Rowan slept on a pull out couch or air mattress most nights but decided to join us in bed this morning.

For our last night we decided to stay with the Schiebel's in Hickory, NC. I was super excited to see them and thought it would be nice to not be in a hotel, but I truly didn't realize how awesome it would be. On the way, we stopped at a rest area in S. Carolina to pee, and it was gorgeous! We stayed and played for a few minutes.

We got to their house early afternoon and it immediately felt more like home. I have so many good memories in that home and Karrie, Al and the triplets are like family. I knew it would be nice to not be in a hotel that night, but I didn't realize just how nice it would feel. The kids swam in their awesome new pool for hours, while I sat with Karrie on the side and caught up on life. Rowan jumped off a diving board for the first time and continued to impress me with his new found swimming skills.

We ordered dinner from Cafe Luna, one of my Hickory favorites and then the kids ran around for awhile before bed.

The triplets were cute playing with my kids (it's crazy that the last time I really spent a considerable amount of time with them, they were about Boden's age. We've been away too long!

And the next morning Karrie got Panera breakfast for us and we took off to our final destination, MARYLAND!

It was only about a 6.5 hour drive, but we were SO ready to get there. It had been a long 6 weeks without Grant and we were ready to be done driving! We got in late afternoon, met Grant at the house he'd been staying at, and it was a joyous reunion! We hung out for a bit and then headed over to our hotel on base where we would stay the next week until our household goods arrived from San Diego.

San Diego, CA to Bethesda, MD 3000 miles! We made it (and I didn't deliver a baby in the middle of nowhere :)