4 kids

Successful Annual Road Trip to See Family During the Rona

We drove by the house we lived in back in 2006.

We make this trip down south to see our family every single year. Alan had to switch jobs back in June, so this year we pushed the pilgrimage back to August. I kept thinking by August “things” would be better. But alas, August is here, and things still look like a bowl of mush.

Alan had to get special permission to even take leave and travel so far during all this mess. With permission secured, we packed our bags and hit the highway.

We left town in a downpour comparable to what I would imagine was seen in the days of Noah and his ark.

Cars were pulled over on I-95 to both the left and right sides of the road, as the water was almost impossible to even see through. Giant diesel trucks were everywhere. It was rough, but we trudged forth.

Our faithful canine companion was tucked safely on her little chewed-up dog bed in the van floor between the middle seats. She is a champ of a traveler, though she did take some fascination with a random truck driver at a red light in the D.C. area who she barked at a bit. No idea what her problem with him was. He seemed to get the message and inched forward. Ha!

By the time we got through Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the weather cleared up. Hurray!

We only drove five hours the first day and knocked out the remaining eight on day two. This trip went more quickly than past ones, as we did take fewer stops.

Thankfully, at this point in the pandemic, August 7th, we did not have any trouble finding places to take a bathroom break or get food.

(I forgot to pack swimsuits, so we made a Target run where I found a few new suits, including this swim shirt. Awesome sun protection for this redhead. I have already sustained three sunburns this summer. I feel so much safer in this!)

Have you ever suffered an electric shock from a car charger?

Our minivan has a charger in the back row, which the boys like to fight over. They use it to charge their modern day Gameboys. We were in the middle of settling a dispute over who had the right to charge their Nintendo in that space, when Daniel suddenly let out a dramatic “Yow!” He was in deep distress, and all attention turned to his giant blue eyes and upset face.

Apparently, there was a small pencil in the charger, and he reached down to grab it out. He touched the lead and the metal all at once, which gave him a solid shock. He was shook up.

Then all the boys, including Dad, started to tell their shock stories.

One was especially hilarious. Our son was sitting in his sixth grade class, ironically enough, listening to a lesson on electric current and graphite. He thought to himself that his pencil tip was like graphite, so he PURPOSEFULLY stuck his pencil in an electrical outlet! My son let out a yelp and was forced to explain himself to both teacher and class. The way he told it was pretty funny.

This was news to me.

I had never heard this story. Plus, I had no idea that so many of us have suffered shocks! Caleb and I are the only ones in our family who have never been shocked. This is also quite ironic, considering Caleb was the toddler who got caught by all three kinds of mouse traps.

We all had a good laugh over the electrical shock stories. I love how we all feel so close during family vacations. Vacations are an essential part of family life. That opportunity for everyone to step away for their ordinary engagements and have fun together for a while is refreshing. This time builds bonds and heals hurts.

One of the boys has Siri on his device set to “Indian accent,” and we got to listen to him ask it silly questions.

J.D. and his large mouth bass

Biggest whiner of the trip: The dog.

Rosie was happy and quiet for most of the five hour trip, but any time Alan got out of the van to pump gas or run into a store, the dog whining began in earnest. It was as though she thought he was never returning. Alan is her master, and she is completely devoted to him.

Now that Alan works from home, Rosie spends all day everyday lying in the floor of the room where he works. Some days Alan goes into the office to work, and Rosie will still spend the day lying in the floor of his room, waiting for him to return.

We ended night one at a Hampton Inn and Suites in southern Virginia.

Hampton Inn’s Covid Changes

Most corona changes are mild: wear a mask in the hallways, smaller numbers of people in the elevator, etc. The only change that annoyed me was breakfast and coffee.

For breakfast, you had to put in an order of what you would like from a menu, by midnight the night before. We only arrived at the hotel at eleven-something, so I felt rushed on that with very little brain power, but we got it done. Plus, you had to sign up for a breakfast pick-up time. I did not like that level of committing to a wake up time after a late night, but it didn’t bother Alan. He always gets up early.

Once you go down to breakfast pick-up, you had to wait in a very long line, which always feels counterproductive to me in the age of rona.

Coffee is no longer self-serve, which makes sense. You had to got to the front desk and tell the clerk how to fix your coffee. I tried to just make coffee in my room, but it was a different system than I am used to. I did not have the patience for learning new things, so downstairs I went for the desk-clerk-served coffee.

The good news is the coffee was delicious, and there was no line for that.

How was there no line for coffee? Everyone else had the energy and functioning to figure out that tiny alien coffee maker in our rooms?

We were back on the road by 9:45 on day two. With four children, that feels like an accomplishment. Yes, I am serious. Some people, (I mean me), have trouble getting up before 7:30 these days…

More on our Bama vacation on our next post!

If you are considering taking a road trip in the age of rona, and have not decided yet, I say GO! Yes, COVID is everywhere, but you can take precautions in one state about as well as another.

Happy summer!

aprilmomoffour

April is an upbeat, Christian, blog-obsessed, military wife, and home schooling mom of four little boys. She writes about education, travel, and humorous adventures in parenting. Follow along if you’d like a little bit of encouragement and a whole lot of crazy.

View Comments

  • Hi my name is Jason. Wow what an adventure your boys had. Thank you for sharing. I experienced electric shock myself and it was a weird feeling. Wishing you more wonderful adventures in the future.

  • I got shocked in the kitchen once, turning on the disposal with wet hands. It was "minor," but I still think of it every single time I flip the switch on a disposal, so not that minor! Looking forward to hearing more about your vacation!

  • This is helpful. I think I'm too pregnant to take a road trip but I'd love my sister and her kids to visit before things get crazy in the fall and they really want to keep safe.
    Such a weird time. Nice to have some fun!
    I've never been shocked either.

  • My husband and I don't even drink coffee (and yes we get looks when we say that!). LOL. Our last hotel stay they just told us that free breakfasts weren't available as they had never opened their kitchens back up after shutting them down.

    • Oh man that would be a deal breAker for us. Free breakfast is such a big deal.

  • Awesome! I can’t wait to hear part two! I am fascinated with all the Rona changes in the world out there! Odd how they decided to handle breakfast.

    • Thanks! I was not a fan, but the food was good. Ha! My only regret so far is not taking more photos.

Recent Posts

Last Chance to See the Cherry Blossoms in D.C. Before Major Tidal Basin Reconstruction

Did you know 2024 year is an important year for the D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival?…

5 days ago

Exploring Our Family History in Tannehill State Park: A Beautiful Place to Take Your Family

Last year my cousin Amber sent me a VHS video clip of an interview she…

2 weeks ago

Traveling by Train from Naples to Sigonella Navy Base (in Sicily)

On the last day before our flight out of Italy, Alan and I needed to…

4 weeks ago

How to Build a Career as a Fire Rescue Officer

Today I have an expert guest post from the field of fire rescue! He is…

1 month ago

So happy to be back! 13 Lessons from When My Website Crashed

If you visited this website in the past eleven days, you might have seen a…

2 months ago

Stories of Our Boys Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023

If you follow both of my websites, you know that I did a top ten…

3 months ago