Road Trip 2011 Continues

After our overnight stay in Niagara Falls, we set out for our next destination, Green Bay, WI.  The drive from Niagara Falls to Green Bay is nothing to take lightly. That’s one long trip. We spent around 14 hours on the road and were completely exhausted when we arrived.
Going to Green Bay meant that Nick and I would have our own room and we would be able to have home cooked meals and do our laundry. His parents are very hospitable and we always have a good time there.
We took a day off from travels on Monday of last week to catch up on laundry, visit with family in the area and re-pack for our side trip to Texas.
Bright and early Tuesday morning we took off from the small Green Bay airport to land in Dallas/Ft. Worth. The rest of the day was a blur. We grabbed our luggage, rented a car and headed towards JD’s apartment to pick up his hand me downs for Callie’s apartment. Once all the vehicles were loaded (our rental van and Callie’s car) we headed south to her new home in central Texas.
We spent all day Wednesday moving Callie into her cute little apartment and buying the things she still needed. Did I mention that Texas is hot this time of year?  The work wasn’t too bad but add the 95 degree heat and a few sets of stairs to it and I was one tired mamma at the end of the day.
Callie was thrilled to be able to stay in her apartment Wednesday night and be a grown up. I’m so happy for her! She’s got exciting things ahead.
After a wonderful dinner out on Wednesday night with some dear friends, we set out Thursday to go back to the metroplex and prepare for the week-end’s wedding festivities. Nick’s parents flew in on Thursday and so did our other Callie that lives in North Dakota.  Callie (from Texas) picked Zach up at the airport Thursday afternoon so we had a crowd gathering. We checked into our fabulous hotel and I knew it was wedding weekend right away, because I was given this.

A great little goody bag filled with snacks and directions to all the places I needed to be for the weekend.

A bag of popcorn, two HUGE chocolate chip cookies (of which I got NONE), two bags of peanuts, two bottles of water and the pink paper with the directions on it.
I immediately sent JD and Meghan a text message stating that I was in the hotel and that I LOVED my goody bag. Nick and Alex had dropped me off while they went to grab Alex’s tux for the wedding.
Needless to say, I really enjoyed my alone time in the hotel. I was able to sit and finish the slide show (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and relax a little before dinner with the crew.
Photos of Thursday night’s dinner, Friday’s festivities which include the rehearsal and dinner as well as a few shots from the wedding (my camera batteries died in the middle) are coming in other posts.
Today we are on the road again. We’ve spent a relaxing day in Green Bay (again) and are headed to Fargo, ND to drop the boy at his mother’s for a few weeks. Fun times I tell ya, fun times.

Niagara Falls

As I mentioned previously, our first day on the road took us to Niagara Falls, NY.  Neither the kids nor I had ever been and it wasn’t too far out of the way, so Nick decided that would be a good place to stop for the night.

I had people tell me that the Canadian side was the place to be as far as hotels and restaurants, but alas, we didn’t pack our passports (and the kids didn’t have any) so we were limited to the US side. I have to admit, I felt like our side was a little seedy. It was very touristy and a little yucky.  In spite of that, we had a good stay.
We checked into our hotel, settled the dogs in and started the walk over to the falls. I was amazed at the magnificence and power of that much rushing water. It was truly awesome. I could have stayed and watched for hours with the spray hitting me.

After the hiking around the falls area, we were a little hot, tired, thirsty and hungry. We headed over to the Hard Rock Café for an adult beverage and dinner. Later, after we got back to our hotel, Callie decided that Zach would like a Hard Rock t-shirt so she and I headed back over to pick one up. As we made our way back to the hotel, we saw this and decided we needed ice cream.

I couldn’t believe the flavors this place had. It was a simple little ice cream shop with a walk up window. They had stuff like red velvet cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting swirls, and all kinds of stuff.  They were delicious. I didn’t get a photo of us eating them because they were melting so fast we had it all over!
It was a good first day on the road and we enjoyed Niagara so much. Next stop… Green Bay, WI. Now THAT was a long drive!

First Day on the Road

As I mentioned before, we left Rhode Island last Saturday. We checked out of the home we’d had for the previous few days, The Navy Lodge, and hit the road.

Here are a few photos of us getting ready to go.

Our two cars were filled to almost overflowing. Between suitcases, dogs and a few household items, there was nothing else fitting in either one of them.

This little dog wasn’t happy about being in a crate at all! In spite of the doggie downers we gave her.

To break up the trip, Callie and I made a few signs to flash at the boys in the other car. Here is one of them. (I couldn’t find my sharpie so I used a pen to color in some sloppy letters)

Another time, we just drove up next to them with the camera pointed at them.  This is what I got. (forgive the glare, I should’ve rolled the window down)

I have to admit, I enjoyed being the passenger. I loved making the goofy signs and taking photos of stuff no one else would find interesting.
Here’s a shot of my girl helping me drive.

Does anyone see a common theme with my family?
We drove from Newport up to Niagara Falls Saturday. Next post will be of our walk around the falls area. I think I’ve overwhelmed everyone enough with photos in this post.
We are currently staying a couple of hours south of where JD and Meghan will be married this weekend to get Callie moved into her apartment. We’ve had a great day today and I’ll write about that more later too.