First of all Tracie made homemade Payday bars and they were sooo good. I ate 3 of them at once. 👀
I had a long to do list on Monday and I checked off every. darn. thing. ✅
All so we could wake up sups early and get on the road. My alarm was set for 5:00am but I decided at 4:00 that I wasn’t going back to sleep and finished our last minute preparations, woke the girls up at 4:30, and we took this garage selfie at 5 on the nose.
First stop Walmart for some forgotten snacks. We brought a bunch, but there were a few roadtrip must haves we forgot.
I downloaded a roadside attractions app and on Monday I had made a list of 15 possible attractions. We successfully saw 10, couldn’t find 1, and crossed 4 off our list.
First stop Walmart for some forgotten snacks. We brought a bunch, but there were a few roadtrip must haves we forgot.
I downloaded a roadside attractions app and on Monday I had made a list of 15 possible attractions. We successfully saw 10, couldn’t find 1, and crossed 4 off our list.
First up - giant nutcracker head in Orange, VA. On our first go round we drove right on past him, he just wasn’t all that impressive.
We took some extra pics to share on the app. Maybe.
Our next stop was an art park in Charlottesville, VA.
Sitting for long periods is hard so it felt really good to walk around a bit.
The girls were being super silly, so it was also good for them to blow off steam.
Super. Silly.
The real reason we went to this park was the Love Butt.
I didn’t realize the girls were smack dab in front of the heart in every shot.
Delaneys smacking the bum here. 🤷♀️
Next was the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton, VA. This one had a half mile walk out to the actual tunnel, but Delaney’s legs hurt and she couldn’t possibly. I coaxed a little, but she was pretty adamant. So we didn’t.
I have to pay myself on the back, I did not get annoyed with the girls at all, all day. Frankie navigated and mistakes were made, and I kept it calm, cool, and collected. That isn’t always the case, so cause for celebration!
We found the giant watering can and flower pots under a railroad bridge in Staunton, VA.
The girls were cracking up at Delaney’s picture faces all day. 🤷♀️
I mean, it’s pretty cute, right?!
Welcome to state signs! I’ve got a list going, but I started it just a few years ago so I know I have more.
These are always fun to find.
We found a safe welcome sign at their rest stop/welcome center.
The Big Snowman in Lewisburg was pretty lame. But A for effort, I guess? We arrived here just before 11, so we’d been on the road 6 hours and if we’d driven straight there it would have only taken 4 and a half hours. So not terrible.
The Greenbrier Ghost is where things went wrong. Some of the attractions didn’t have addresses, so Frankie had put in Highway 60 and it took us on a super windy, tiny road. I drove about 5 minutes on that tiny road before I stopped. I knew they wouldn’t put a historical marker in the middle of nowhere on a tiny road, so I did a little research and turned around. Then I went south on highway 60 which was a less tiny but still very windy road and made Delaney and I sick. Then I pulled over and checked again and was able to find the coordinates, but by that point we were ready to call time of death on the greenbrier ghost. I kept the coordinates going on my map though and it looked like it was right off the freeway we’d gotten back on. So I pulled off and it turns out it was the original freeway exit we’d taken and we just drove straight past it. Probably added 15-20 minutes of roadsick driving, but we laughed it off and went on our merry way.
We’d also passed the graveyard she was buried in and D had said, I bet she’s buried there, and it turns out she was right.
Alls well that ends well.
Delaney fell asleep on our way out to Odd, WV, so just Frankie and I got out. This is where the biggest mistake was made. Because I had no service, I went into the post office where the nice lady told me I had to go back the way I came, a good 10 minutes back to the freeway. Whomp whomp. The roadside app is not the best and wasn’t the easiest to figure out directions and how long things would take. Anyhow, I told Frankie as soon as we got service to put in the lake house address and then the next attraction and we’d see how far it would be and decide from there. So she did and it was like 3 hours away. So something wasn’t right, but on we persisted for about 15 minutes till we stopped for lunch and to reconfigure our plan.
Our “Odd” shot. And then when I saw it I saw that Frankie was doing a cute odd shot not a really odd shot.
So then we did this.
Anyways, back to our saga. It took me awhile to understand what had happened and why all our times were off. I picked to go through Kentucky which added less than an hour to our original trip time. So when Frankie put in the lake house address, the map suggested the fastest route and I hadn’t thought to tell her to pick the one through Kentucky. Going through ky was still an option though, but going that way was only 15 minutes shorter than going back the way we came from, passing the turnoff for Odd, and continuing on my planned route. We took a vote and the girls said let’s do it, so we did.
We took some extra pics to share on the app. Maybe.
Our next stop was an art park in Charlottesville, VA.
Sitting for long periods is hard so it felt really good to walk around a bit.
The girls were being super silly, so it was also good for them to blow off steam.
Super. Silly.
The real reason we went to this park was the Love Butt.
I didn’t realize the girls were smack dab in front of the heart in every shot.
Delaneys smacking the bum here. 🤷♀️
Next was the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton, VA. This one had a half mile walk out to the actual tunnel, but Delaney’s legs hurt and she couldn’t possibly. I coaxed a little, but she was pretty adamant. So we didn’t.
I have to pay myself on the back, I did not get annoyed with the girls at all, all day. Frankie navigated and mistakes were made, and I kept it calm, cool, and collected. That isn’t always the case, so cause for celebration!
We found the giant watering can and flower pots under a railroad bridge in Staunton, VA.
The girls were cracking up at Delaney’s picture faces all day. 🤷♀️
I mean, it’s pretty cute, right?!
Welcome to state signs! I’ve got a list going, but I started it just a few years ago so I know I have more.
These are always fun to find.
We found a safe welcome sign at their rest stop/welcome center.
The Big Snowman in Lewisburg was pretty lame. But A for effort, I guess? We arrived here just before 11, so we’d been on the road 6 hours and if we’d driven straight there it would have only taken 4 and a half hours. So not terrible.
The Greenbrier Ghost is where things went wrong. Some of the attractions didn’t have addresses, so Frankie had put in Highway 60 and it took us on a super windy, tiny road. I drove about 5 minutes on that tiny road before I stopped. I knew they wouldn’t put a historical marker in the middle of nowhere on a tiny road, so I did a little research and turned around. Then I went south on highway 60 which was a less tiny but still very windy road and made Delaney and I sick. Then I pulled over and checked again and was able to find the coordinates, but by that point we were ready to call time of death on the greenbrier ghost. I kept the coordinates going on my map though and it looked like it was right off the freeway we’d gotten back on. So I pulled off and it turns out it was the original freeway exit we’d taken and we just drove straight past it. Probably added 15-20 minutes of roadsick driving, but we laughed it off and went on our merry way.
We’d also passed the graveyard she was buried in and D had said, I bet she’s buried there, and it turns out she was right.
Alls well that ends well.
Delaney fell asleep on our way out to Odd, WV, so just Frankie and I got out. This is where the biggest mistake was made. Because I had no service, I went into the post office where the nice lady told me I had to go back the way I came, a good 10 minutes back to the freeway. Whomp whomp. The roadside app is not the best and wasn’t the easiest to figure out directions and how long things would take. Anyhow, I told Frankie as soon as we got service to put in the lake house address and then the next attraction and we’d see how far it would be and decide from there. So she did and it was like 3 hours away. So something wasn’t right, but on we persisted for about 15 minutes till we stopped for lunch and to reconfigure our plan.
Our “Odd” shot. And then when I saw it I saw that Frankie was doing a cute odd shot not a really odd shot.
So then we did this.
Anyways, back to our saga. It took me awhile to understand what had happened and why all our times were off. I picked to go through Kentucky which added less than an hour to our original trip time. So when Frankie put in the lake house address, the map suggested the fastest route and I hadn’t thought to tell her to pick the one through Kentucky. Going through ky was still an option though, but going that way was only 15 minutes shorter than going back the way we came from, passing the turnoff for Odd, and continuing on my planned route. We took a vote and the girls said let’s do it, so we did.
By this time it was 1:30 so we’d been on the road 8 and a half hours and still had 6 and a half to go. That made me feel a little worried, but we were having such a good time and I figured when are we gonna do this again?!
Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figure's fame was next and it was so hot by that point!
For Paul Bunyans picture we had to climb a little hill and then carefully walk the ledge to try to get the shot. Then it was so bright I couldn’t see that we were totally covering Babe’s face.
Then the leaf covered her face next. Oh well. When we hiked down a man that was loading bricks offered us to climb onto Babe and he’d get a picture of us, but we declined. 🤣
Frostop was a great stop!
We got homemade root beer floats that I wish we could have enjoyed in a nice frosty mug, but we were hustling.
We shared an order of delightful onion rings and everything was so delicious. 10/10 recommend!
We skipped another Paul Bunyan and a pink elephant but we did search for a pink and green giraffe with no luck. We walked around and it was a nice stretch, but gave up. I looked for gas and was so surprised to find a Buc-cee’s on our way! Hooray! We got gas for $2.77 and sugared almonds and were back on the road.
The town Buc-cee’s was in was super cute! And from here we had 2 hours.
By this point I was pretty ready to be there. I was tired and uncomfortable and done driving. So I was in a little hurry when dun, dun, dun! I got pulled over. Thankfully he was very sweet and didn’t even run my license and just gave me a warning. So then I had to slow down and that last hour had me like 😩.
For Paul Bunyans picture we had to climb a little hill and then carefully walk the ledge to try to get the shot. Then it was so bright I couldn’t see that we were totally covering Babe’s face.
Then the leaf covered her face next. Oh well. When we hiked down a man that was loading bricks offered us to climb onto Babe and he’d get a picture of us, but we declined. 🤣
Frostop was a great stop!
We got homemade root beer floats that I wish we could have enjoyed in a nice frosty mug, but we were hustling.
We shared an order of delightful onion rings and everything was so delicious. 10/10 recommend!
We skipped another Paul Bunyan and a pink elephant but we did search for a pink and green giraffe with no luck. We walked around and it was a nice stretch, but gave up. I looked for gas and was so surprised to find a Buc-cee’s on our way! Hooray! We got gas for $2.77 and sugared almonds and were back on the road.
The town Buc-cee’s was in was super cute! And from here we had 2 hours.
By this point I was pretty ready to be there. I was tired and uncomfortable and done driving. So I was in a little hurry when dun, dun, dun! I got pulled over. Thankfully he was very sweet and didn’t even run my license and just gave me a warning. So then I had to slow down and that last hour had me like 😩.
We arrived at 8:30, which was 9:30 our time. So we took a potentially 9 hour 40 minute drive and made it 16 and a half hours. And it was worth it and I’d do it again!
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