Life Is A (Very Long) Highway

I will try not to take too many posts to write about our March Break trip but that means there may be some longer posts. I think I've mentioned this before but this blog is for our family memories. Dave even checks it out every day to see what I've written :) So Dave, here's what our days of driving were like in case you've forgotten -- HAHAHAHAHAHA :)

somewhere on the Baltimore-Washington Beltway

I was so happy to be driving into spring and warmer temperatures. This was not a pleasant drive as we drove around numerous cities but the rising temperatures were worth it!!! And Dave did all the hard driving.

The kids are great travelers. They read. They played together on Sam's phone. They ate. They were super patient and only really annoying a few times. Since we drove almost 5,000 kilometeres (just over 3,000 miles) that was so great.

somewhere in Virginia

Dave didn't like it when I drove because I liked to push the limits of our gas tank. This is a super blurry picture but at one point our gas light even went on. The rest of us played this song for Dave and the chorus was especially appropriate :)

So put me on a highway

And show me a sign

And take it to the limit one more time

Dave was not amused.

somewhere in Virginia or North Carolina

Sadly, we did hit some rain and construction and semi trailers so there were a few hours of driving which really were not fun. 

somewhere in South Carolina

Rachel was so happy when we finally made a Dunkin' Donuts stop. Half of the excitement of going to the States for us is eating at all the chains we don't have in Canada -- Dunkin' Donuts, Panera, Sonic, etc.

The drive through Georgia was so fun! I played DJ, we listened to some really fun music, and Dave accidentally drove over 140km/hr (87mph) listening to Home For A Rest by Spirit of the West. Ooops.

We finally made it to Florida, although not our final destination.

We may have been more than a little excited to get a break from the car. Hahaha!!!

Even though it was very windy, we were so happy to make it to our final destination (Clearwater/Dunedin/Largo) and get to the beach.

Rachel was the only one brave enough to try and swim. The rest of us just got our feet wet.

It was a really beautiful evening at the beach.

I loved these coloured umbrellas along Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach. There was a market set up on the pier and it was fun to browse. We had gone hoping to see the sunset but it was very grey and so we didn't get to see anything. However, we definitely enjoyed our evening at the beach and were excited for the next few days of adventures to come.