The 19 Hour Drive to Florida

We were actually in Florida when I took this picture. I believe we were past Jacksonville and not quite to Orlando. We were still about 3-4 hours from our destination. But, it was just another of our many stops on our way to our family reunion/Christmas celebration in Fort Lauderdale. It took us 19 hours to drive from Northern VA to Fort Lauderdale. It should have taken us 15 hours. But, hey, we made it!

Doug and I both worked on Tuesday the 23rd and I made it home at 4:15pm. Doug having just arrived home before me, was waiting and saying we should leave because he had heard from the traffic reports that I-95 South had no traffic. If any of you are knowledgeable about the DC metro area...it's a nightmare attempting to get anywhere during rush-hour traffic. So, after this report, we were thinking: Awesome! We were actually on the road at 5pm and headed quickly down HOV-3 on I-95. Problem. HOV merges with I-95! Our 30 min of pure joy at the speediness of our travels soon turned into 1 1/2 hours of traffic! The girls made it until 7pm in which we had to stop for an hour and get dinner, bottles and pj's on. And, we were now only about 45 miles outside of the city. Ugh!!! Things brightened up after that as we got on the road. The roads seemed more clear, we popped in a DVD, and I hung out with the girls in the back until they fell asleep. Avery did amazing. She slept the entire night. Addy did better than I expected but did wake up every couple of hours distressed as she just couldn't get comfortable. It's just not very comfortable to sleep 8 hours sitting up!

The following morning Doug was still driving, the girls were waking up and it was getting warmer and warmer...yea, we're in Florida!! We stopped at a Rest Area and changed, got breakfast, and looked forward to arriving at our destination. That's when I snapped this picture. Everyone was in high spirits!

It all went quickly downhill at this point. The girls were tired of sitting strapped in carseats. Doug and I were tired of crying and tired in general. And, we still had a couple of hours to go, which for us, was about 3-4 more hours on the road. As you know, Fort Lauderdale is near the southern tip of Florida and it was at this point I was verbally wishing Audrey and Steven lived in Orlando!!

Oh, we finally made it though...around 12 noon on Christmas Eve. And we were soooo happy to arrive!! We were greeted with open arms, freshly made beds, warm showers, and the best family company I could ever ask for! :)