The trip of a lifetime.....

So we're back in GA from our Christmas "vacation" visiting our family in NY. Better yet, I lived to tell about it. My last post painted a pretty vivid picture of what I was imagining our drive up to be....but let me tell you, it was all that and WORSE!

We started off well...

Bug and I were smooshed in the back and the car was brimming with gifts and junk (the pink bag is for a friend having a baby girl)....

As expected, at every gas station stop, the dogs became frantic---whining and doing this...

But eventually, we drugged them they made themselves comfortable and looked more like this (at least WHILE driving)...

When we started the long drive, it was rainy and nasty out. The GPS sent us on some crazy backroads to Timbuktu and I got carsick. We left right when it was time for Bug to head to slumberland for the night, and I thought the road would lull her to sleep......NOPE. She stayed awake and was in rare form for over 2 hours. I had a serious dilemna---she falls asleep faster with me up front because she can't see me, BUT she was a fuss bucket and I didn't want my boobies too far away from her in case I could attempt to put her in a milk coma. Well, I went back and forth with these thoughts...literally and figuratively. We pulled over, I got out and moved the cooler to the back so I could sit with the WET and DIRTY dogs on top of me---AWESOME. After driving a VERY short while, I realized it had been some time since I fed her and maybe I needed to get in the back. So Hubby pulled over and the cooler and I swapped positions again (but not without whiney, frantic dogs). While in the back, I attempted to feed her---anything to keep her quiet--and spent a good amount of time leaning forward over my knees so she wouldn't see me sitting next to her. Did I mention my back was already aching because I had thrown it out carrying ridiculously heavy suitcases down the stairs....AWESOME!

Once Bug finally fell asleep, I could sit up straight and attempt to sleep in my cold, wet, and dirty clothes (thanks, pups)---all was well with the world. Until it got really snowy. Thank God we went  75 (a different way than normal) or we would've been stuck in NC and VA on interstate 77 like my brother and his girlfriend were for 7+ hours---YIKES. Well, these native Western New Yorkers have lost their comfort with driving in the snow, especially tracks. So a little before 1 AM, we decided to pull over to the nearest Econolodge (we needed a motel to sneak the dogs in).

Bug woke up during the transition into the motel, so I figured I'd feed her and put her in the king bed with Hubby and I (no room for our Pack n' Play in the car). Well, the nursing to sleep didn't quite work out like I thought. Instead, she thought we were at Disney Land and it was playtime. She was crawling all over the huge bed, pulling herself up on the backboard, falling down, pulling herself up on the hubby (who at this point had given both of us his backside so he could attempt to sleep), falling down---causing a scene. What did I do? I whipped out the boobies time after time, I squatted, I patted, I sang, I hummed, I danced, I did EVERYTHING I had in my arsenal to get her to sleep. And it worked like 4 times...until I put her down. UGH! This girl was NOT sleeping. We (and by "we", I mean Hubby and I since we were the only ones who didn't get sleep) were overtired...the eyes were burning.

WE. NEEDED. TO. SLEEP.

SHE DISAGREED!

So when it was 3:30am (yep, we were there for over 2 1/2 hours and $67 of this shinanigan), we decided to put Bug in her carseat and hit the road while dragging our exhausted feet the whole way. When in the carseat on the little dresser in the room, she seemed quiet and ready to go to bed. Just before we headed out the door (we literally had our shoes on and everything packed and ready to go), we entertained the idea that MAYBE she'd sleep in her carseat and we could sleep there for a few hours after all. As I was moving Bug in her carseat to the floor, I saw that she was not the only bug in the room---ROACHES!

Awesome.....we're out of here.

On the road again.....

Hubby drives until 7AM and I took over the remainder of the drive (with a little added help from Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte--as big as it comes). I know caffeine isn't good for the breastmilk, but I figured a hyped-up baby is better than a falling-asleep-at-the-wheel mama. We finally made it to NY around 1:30pm.

Just when I thought our drive couldn't have been any worse, my brother and his girlfriend who left Orlando the day we did (12/18) around 4PM got to NY (a drive he's made in 17 hours) at 10:30pm the following night. He'd been "driving" for 29 hours and was seriously high on Red Bulls when he got home. The highways where they were (the route we normally take) were shut down and the only sleep they got was 2 hours on closed interstate 77. Strangely enough, I thanked God for OUR trip. :-)

Guess the grass isn't always greener on the other side.