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weary travelers


We’re finally home.

The week at the beach was incredible. The perfect mix of relaxing, watching Maggie play and explore in the sand, swimming in the pool with her, eating yummy food, and having a good time with our friends. The weather was great too- VERY hot and humid the first few days, but the end of the week was just gorgeous. It was so much fun seeing Maggie experience the beach for the first time, and she loved ‘playing’ with the big kids (I say ‘playing’ in quotes because it was more just her staring at them in awe.) She learned a bunch of new things this week, including climbing onto chairs (HELP!) and saying a lot of new words. The kid is just an explosion of stuff every day, it’s so cool to watch.

However, the drive there and back? SUCKED. We broke up the drive down into 2 days- the first was a 4-hour drive (plus an hour for lunch) to Baltimore to visit with Dan’s family, and we spent the night at his grandmother’s house. We left Baltimore Saturday morning and should have only had a 6 hour drive to the beach (maybe 7 if you count a quick stop for lunch) But traffic on I-64 in Virginia was so bad that it added another TWO HOURS to our trip. So a 7 hour day turned into a 9 hour day, and we didn’t get to the beach house until after 6pm. And I mentioned quickly that Maggie threw up in the car while we were stuck in traffic at one point. That was lots of fun, hanging over the seat trying to mop up puke while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a bridge. Awesome. We still aren’t sure why she got sick- motion sickness? Doesn’t seem likely since she’s been in the car a lot before… though never for 6+ hours at a time. Who knows. But it was gross.

We had decided before we left that we would just power through the drive home and do it all in one day, rather than break it up. We left the island at 8am and didn’t hit any traffic there- which was surprising because usually on Saturday mornings everyone is flocking home and it gets pretty jammed. We stopped for muffins and coffee and juice at a small cafe before leaving, and the morning was beautiful and we were ready for the drive ahead.

Then we hit I-64 again. Those of you in Virginia near Norfolk and Newport News, I ask you: DOES THIS ROAD ALWAYS SUCK? I’m not kidding you, there were about 20 cars pulled to the side of the road for various reasons along the 90 mile stretch both heading down last week and heading home yesterday. Accidents, breakdowns, people eating lunch (??!!?) and of course everyone has to slow down and ogle them. Obviously they have no life. At one point the traffic station reported a 6 mile backup. WTF??? A 90 mile trip on a highway took us 3 hours. Ridiculous.

We finally got out of all of that and up through Maryland and into Pennsylvania again, and hit MORE traffic. At this point we were a little over 2 hours from home and we should have been home for an hour or more already. We stopped for a bathroom break and quick snack, rather than take a long time for dinner (it was already after 6) Back in the car for the last leg, almost home!

Maggie was being a little bit fussy, apparently from being in the car for nearly 12 hours (I was getting antsy myself) so we did our best to entertain her- reading books, singing songs, playing peek-a-boo, feeding her snacks. Then suddenly, SHE THREW UP AGAIN. It was everywhere. Thankfully we were about 1/4 mile from a rest area so Dan pulled over, and we got her out of the car, stripped her down, I wiped out her carseat AGAIN the best I could. I nearly had a breakdown in the parking lot, I was so tired and weary and just wanted to GO HOME ALREADY. Thank God for Dan, he talks me back from many fits, The Voice of Reason. We put a sheet down on her seat and strapped her back in, but she was still not happy at all. Earlier she had been doing a lot of grunting and moaning (you Mamas know what I’m talking about!) but there was nothing in her diaper, so we’re pretty sure it was just an upset stomach from all that (she eventually had success when we got home- twice in 20 minutes!!!!) The poor girl though, the last hour and a half home she was screaming and fussing. I wanted to jump out of the car a few times.

Mercifully, we made it home at 8:45. Nearly 13 hours after we left the beach. According to Google Maps, the drive should have taken 9 hours and 14 minutes. WE HATE YOU, VIRGINIA I-64. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE. Dan has decided that the next time we go to the Outer Banks, we’re either leaving at midnight (Lord help me) or going a different route… which will be fun since there are no other major highways leading to the area.

Today is Father’s Day, and Dan is out cutting grass. I spent the morning wrestling Maggie down for a nap, doing laundry, and scrubbing puke from the Velcro on her carseat harness.

Gee, I’m so happy to be back. I don’t miss seeing this out my kitchen window at all. *cry*

deep blue sea

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19 Comments


  1. the ambitious mrs

    Jun 15 at 2:52 pm

    Glad you had a good trip – sorry the travel was so rough. We had a throw up incident around here this week and it was traumatic. I can’t imagine having to get back in the car with that lovely smell. Hope you have a nice day back at home.

    the ambitious mrss last blog post..The Long Walk Home



  2. Jen

    Jun 15 at 3:01 pm

    @the ambitious mrs: yeah it was a pretty lovely smell! lol It wasn’t so bad in the front seat, but I got out at the corner store to get milk before we got home, and then got back in the car and WOW. Hit me like a ton of bricks. We’ve had her new carseat for less than 2 weeks and it’s needed to be taken apart and washed twice already. Throwing up when they’re a year old is WAAAAAY different than the cute little spit up when they’re babies.



  3. Athena

    Jun 15 at 6:19 pm

    That sounds exactly like our trip back, minus the puking….Thank God!!! We left at 8 am and got home at 9:15 pm. We must’ve been about 20-30 minutes behind you the whole time!!!! Was miserable. There’s got to be a better way! When you find out, let me know. ;)



  4. Allison

    Jun 15 at 7:44 pm

    Oh gosh…so sorry to hear you had awful trips down and back. And that she threw up again! Yuck! I would have had a mini-breakdown, too :(

    Sounds like the vacation was amazing, though! I loved the pictures!

    Allisons last blog post..Father’s Day



  5. Jen

    Jun 15 at 9:44 pm

    @Athena: oh man, didn’t that just STINK??? Yeah the puking was just the icing on the cake at the end, heh. How were the boys in the car? Maggie was okay until the last 2 or 3 hours… you know, the ones that were EXTRA from all the damn traffic! It was definitely a not-so-good end to a great week of vacation. I hope you guys had a good time down at your place :)



  6. Nichole

    Jun 15 at 11:19 pm

    glad you had a good time!! My sister and brother in law live in VA and we meet at their house on the way to Top Sail NC, so I will tell you what way we take, I dont drive so I dont remember but we dont usually get in alot of traffic like that!! I will let you know when we come back in July!!



  7. Jenn

    Jun 16 at 10:05 am

    If this was her first big trip facing forward, she could have gotten motion sickness. Some friends of ours put their daughter forward facing for the first time on a 6 hr. trip and she puked everywhere (can we say projectile??).
    Glad the rest of your trip was good. What a kitchen window view!!!!!

    Jenns last blog post..Baby proof



  8. Jen

    Jun 16 at 10:29 am

    @Jenn: We thought of that but I didn’t imagine that would be an issue… but hearing your friend’s story, maybe it was! The first day we thought it was something she ate (eggs in the morning?) but she didn’t have anything unusual the 2nd time, so there was no real explanation. Hopefully she gets used to the forward-facing! We won’t be taking any long trips in the near future, so that should give her time to adjust. And hopefully I won’t have to wash the seat a THIRD TIME! lol



  9. Jenn

    Jun 16 at 11:15 am

    I’ve never had any trouble with either of my kids getting sick when I switch them (and we take long trips–both sides of the family live at least 7 hrs. away). But I guess it happens. They should put that as a warning on those seats–”WARNING: May cause motion sickness and thus projectile vomiting. Be prepared on child’s first long trip.” ha!

    Jenns last blog post..Baby proof



  10. Priscilla

    Jun 16 at 11:27 am

    Well, I have to say that I absolutely loved looking at all the pictures…I find myself going back to them all the time on Flickr.

    We were talking about our trip down there next May and now I’m not looking forward to the long drive….we’ll be doing both ways in one day.

    Found out we are going to Whalehead Beach in Corolla. I cannot wait but I’m glad I have a year to prepare myself for the long drive! LOL!



  11. Jen

    Jun 16 at 11:50 am

    @Priscilla: oh Whalehead is just north of where we were! And if you saw the pictures of the lighthouse where we went crabbing, that’s right near there! It’s a gorgeous area… you’ll love it!!!!



  12. Liss

    Jun 16 at 1:56 pm

    Short answer: as far as I can tell…yes, 64 is always that bad. I avoid it like the plague under all circumstances. (And since that pretty much just means our annual beach trip…) I live in the DC area now, but made the trip from Erie PA for many years (my grandparents lived in Newport News).

    I’m assuming that from Baltimore you took 95 south to 64. The best alternate I know of (which may not be the best there is) is to take Rt 17 south along the Rappahannock all the way into Newport News, then pick up 64 for just an exit or two to 664 and around to 168. Coming from Erie, we’d take 95 south to 70 east to 81 south to 66 east to 17 south.

    Taking 17 is more scenic, so the maps SAY it takes longer – personally I’d rather be MOVING on a 2-lane or 4-lane road that’s pretty instead of SITTING on 64 for hours on end. (Which is always what happens when we get cocky and think “oh, it won’t be that bad, we’ll just take it to 95″. HAH – four or five hours later we finally get to Richmond.)



  13. Irene

    Jun 16 at 2:10 pm

    Hi! In spite of all your travel difficulties, it still sounded like a wonderful vacation! That house is amazing!

    Can you tell me, did you rent this house? If so, I would love a link to the site. I seriously would love to look into renting something like that in the next few years. We have been going to Hilton Head for many years, but this looks beautiful too and may be a nice change!

    If you can email me the details, that would be wonderful!

    Thanks,
    Irene

    Irenes last blog post..Snapshot Saturday!



  14. Becca S

    Jun 16 at 3:02 pm

    The longest I ever travelled with a kid was about four years ago, with my nephew who would have been seven… and it was just four hours… you have my sympathy. Everytime I think of wanting kids, I remember the joys (good and bad) that come with them.



  15. Kyleen

    Jun 16 at 5:03 pm

    I’m a new reader….we always joke in NC about how folks from PA come to the OBX….you see so many cars there from PA. My family has a cottage in Kitty Hawk.

    I live in Northeast NC…heres another way to go to avoid VA I-64 traffic. Go 95 S and get off at Roanoke Rapids Exit 173, this is HWY158 and turn right. Follow HWY 158 East all the way to the OBX…once you are off 95 it takes 3 hours, its all two lane. Very Scenic.

    If you want you can ride 4 lane and go down farther on 95 S and get off on HWY 64 east, but that puts you out on the outerbanks but at the south end on Roanoke island (manteo)



  16. Jen

    Jun 16 at 8:58 pm

    @Liss & @Kyleen: Thank you for the alternative routes!! I will definitely keep these for next year (we’re pretty sure we’ll be heading down there again with our families) And I agree, Liss- I’d rather be moving than sitting in traffic, even if the mileage is more.



  17. Burgh Baby

    Jun 17 at 9:31 am

    Thanks! I needed that reminder of why I DON’T want to go on vacation, no matter how great your photos are.

    Alexis once threw up all over herself in the jar after eating YoGo’s. For months people would get in my car and comment that it smelled great! Just like grapes! And then I told them it was lingering vomit odor. Ugh.

    Burgh Babys last blog post..Yesterday’s Tough Girl is Today’s Super Wimp



  18. Gina

    Jun 17 at 9:31 am

    We have family in VA Beach, so we go a lot and I will tell you – you have to seriously time your I-64 leg of the trip because it does, in fact, suck ass 90% of the time.

    Ginas last blog post..Future Star



  19. Susan

    Jun 17 at 10:53 am

    Welcome back. You can enjoy the 60+ degree weather and rain right here like the rest of us!

    Susans last blog post..To all you papas out there – Happy Father’s Day!