Myrtle Beach - Road Trip

There is no good time of day to travel with kids. Flexibility, patience and low expectations go a long way. We left for the beach at 4:30 (only 30 minutes late) on Friday. Our intention was to drive until ~2 am, stop at a motel and and sleep a few hours with two other planned stops. We drove from our house and we were trying to make it to Breezewood, PA for supper. Well, we did, but about 6 miles before our exit, Nora decided to puke - car sick - empty your stomach -puke. I was sitting in the seat in front of her and luckily I caught the second wave in a blanket, preventing further destruction of the car seat and her. Let alone the car - potentially. It was exciting. There is also only some much clean up you can accomplish with diaper wipes and Kleenex. We managed, and she ate - a lot - for supper at Perkins. I did not. So, we were back on the road plus a giant yellow/vanilla car-tree-air-freshener. I drove...had to. Needed out of the back seat.

Kids did well in the back with Pete and we stopped for a little while ~9 pm for gas, potty break and PJs. Dylan passed on immediately once were back on the road and the big kids too not long after once the movie was over. Then the traffic started (of course we were on the beltway near DC but rain and storms contributed to moving yet bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Richmond, VA. Oh well, we were still making progress.

Pete took over around Richmond and I passed out in the backseat with the kids despite the lingering aroma. Pete woke me up around 1 am near our stopping point (NC/VA border on I-95). We started watching for motels north of Rocky Mount, NC. Well, we choose but not well. EconoLodge and man it was bad. Apparently a party local for locals...not a clean place...not a great luck of the draw. Can't shop in the middle on the night with kids (lesson learned). It took forever to get Dylan and even Nora back to sleep. [omit details!] We fell asleep about 3 am. We woke to Gavin about 6 am (crazy body clock and ability to sleep anywhere). Well, we tried to get out of there ASAP...

Breakfast rocked at Cracker Barrel and we were back on the road by 9 am. Kids did well watching movies and playing with carefully packed car toys. Dylan turned everything into a ball and we were grateful for his desire for a morning nap (wonder why? Maybe lack of night sleep). So we pulled into North Myrtle Beach around noon and went to lunch - to kill time mostly. This appears to have been the beginning of Gavin's hungry phase for the week. Lots of pizza consumption for lunch for him.

We did hit a little luck and were able to check-in early (~1:30). It worked out well. Nora, Dylan and Daddy all napped and I unpacked. Once I was settled, Gavin and I helped Gammie and Papa arrive around 4:30. We had a great evening...welcome to the beach.

For some reason I don't have a picture through the condo towards the ocean. Weirdo. It was a niced place. We rented a three bedroom - kids had thier own room and a room for us and my parents.

We had a nice "oceanview". We found this nice place - affordable as it was not "oceanfront" - whatever.