Monday morning came sooner than expected. We dawdled as we drank coffee and enjoyed our breakfast. I wasn't in a hurry to get back into the car... yet again. We eventually loaded up around 9:30am and stopped at Kmart to grab a few things for a picnic lunch on the road. Josh wanted to get to Leavenworth in time to talk with the ROTC classes at the high school on Tuesday morning so we were going to see just how far we could get that day.
On we went. Driving and driving. It was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day and the landscape of Fall made the trip visually interesting. The boys took a morning nap. We stopped for lunch somewhere in Illinois. I took nary a photograph. The camera was in the trunk and I didn't feel up to digging around to find it. Plus we weren't doing anything interesting enough to record for posterity.
Driving and driving and driving and driving. We made a few stops to break up the trip and somewhere in Indiana I remarked to Joshua "are you sure you want to do another 4 hours? You know it will be more like 6"... he was sure. He really wanted to make it to the school since the ROTC department was counting on his presence to answer questions from the students. The sun was setting in our eyes and it was the perfect excuse to stretch again. Bob Evans anyone (this is not the last time you shall hear this)? The last hours in the car were fairly excruciating.
We had 2 hours left. It was 9:30pm. We'd spent 12 hours in the car already. With 3 little boys. It was no longer sunny and warm. It was cold and dark. The boys were annoyed and uncomfortable and tired. We made one final stop to let them stretch out. They cried the entire time, even Noah, which is very rare. Regret started to set in, but we were so close that it made no sense to get a hotel at that point. Josh promised us all we wouldn't do this ever again, especially not on the way back.
Tiredness was getting the best of us until Sally told us of a great radio station. It became our beacon of hope. Once we hit close to Kansas City our ears were glued to the 24hr comedy station and it made the last hour much more bearable (for us anyway). The kids kinda slept the last hour. There were a few whimpers once in awhile, which woke everyone else up and started a chain of whimpers. We didn't yell. Not allowed to yell. It was our fault. Poor babies.
Grandma and Grandpa were waiting for us outside, all smiles, in their pajamas, at 1am. We chatted briefly. I insisted the boys get a bath to wash the "bleh" caused by 16 hours in the car off of them. I was grumpy. Josh was grumpy. The boys were awake watching cartoons. An hour later we all passed out. NEVER AGAIN!!! Though I believe I said this after the ridiculous trip from San Antonio to Augusta. Next time I just need to put my foot down for the kids' sake.
Tomorrow's installment will actually have a few pictures!
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