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2 Moms. 5 kids. 1 van. 3 weeks. 3000 miles. Are we amazing or are we crazy? You decide.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Day 6: Travelling to Philly

Today was our travel day to Philly. All of the kids have passports, which they can get stamped at each National Park. Somewhere between taking the last picture at the Yorktown battlefield, and getting back into the car, C lost his beltpack with his passport in it. So we did a quick drive-by of Jamestown to buy another passport and get it stamped there, and then we went back to Yorktown Battlefield, since the Visitor's Center had been closed when we visited before.

After the ritual stamping (C's passport went in MY backpack after that), we toured the museum. We got to see the actual tent that George Washington slept in! They also had a recreation of one of the French ships that blockaded Cornwallis. This was C and J's favorite part. You could go into it and see the sailor's bunks and all the cannons.










After the obligatory picture on the cannons we were headed to Philly. (We had thought we would make it to the Yorktown Victory Center, but with a 5 hour drive to Philly, and a somewhat late start, we decided to head north)
We went by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. (The Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia. The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels.)





We drove up US 13, which was a very pretty drive - however, there are NO McDonalds with Playplaces on US 13. When we had finally given up on finding a playplace, we went ahead and stopped at a plain McDonalds. We then discovered that there are no McDonalds with Wireless Internet on US 13. This is actually more dire than it sounds, as AtlMom had to email a press release (the deadline was 5 PM). After lunch we pulled into a hotel parking lot and pirated their Internet long enough to send off the press release.
The kids were all excited when we got to Philly, because we had crossed four states that day (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania). AtlMom and I had been through a few more (Confusion, Anxiety, Denial). But we arrived safely at the KOA Campground, and settled into our 2 room cabin. With 1 bathroom. We had been very careful to make sure everyone had a bed when we made the reservations, however, we had forgotten to do the math - 7 people (including 1 toddler) and 1 bathroom.
Tomorrow we will visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. This is one of the highlights of our trip for me. Incidentally, tomorrow is also my 40th Birthday. What better way to spend your 40th Birthday than immersing yourself in American History with your children?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you sing the Elton John song when you got to Philadelphia? I can't get it out of my head.

I know I saw the Liberty Bell as a kid, but I don't really have an active memory of it.

Remember the cabin in Starke where we had way more than 7 people (25 or 30?) and one bathroom?? Perspective is good--like the ships compared to the minivan.

Atlanta Aunt

JaxDad said...

But did you explain to the kids beforehand that they would NOT see any fish from the tunnels???

Willow said...

HIPPO BIRDIES TWO EWE
HIPPO BIRDIES TWO EWE
YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY
AND YOU SMELL LIKE ONE TOOOOOOOO.

Ok, so I can't call and harass you. Know that we're sending you big, squooshy birthday hugs!

Anonymous said...

In my family we have a little competition going for at least 10 years now for who can get the most, or the most remote, national park stamps! Go to San Francisco some time and you will get at least a dozen!