The Road trip from......

D.C. to G.R.... Betcha thought I was gonna say Hell, huh :)

Let's observe a moment of silence at the sheer magnitude of the fact that I drove 11 hours, with no co-pilot, and Caleb (2.5) and Logan (.5) in the back seat... and we actually made it... alive... with the last few shreds of sanity and patience still in tact...

No, seriously... I am NOW observing a moment, actually many... of pure unadulterated silence, to which I am eternally thankful to my in-laws, for making possible!

I also owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Acura driver who was moving with such speed and agility through the early morning traffic out of Northern Virginia, that band of cars from New Jersey who navigated the Ohio Turnpike with me, and the Beamer that was haulin cookies up 23 and then along 96... Thank you all for letting me draft off of you.... for acting as my sacrificial lamb should we happen upon any law enforcement... To the law enforcement that I did happen to cross paths with along the way: Thank you for either not paying attention, or using your special discernment to realize that an SUV, manned by a single woman, with two car seats in the back needed a special pass.

Also gotta thank the big guy for the beautiful sun rise over the Appalachians as we drove through them, for somehow keeping me alert despite the 5am wake-up call, for getting Logan to sleep for ~6 of the 11 hours, and only scream for 2-3 of them, for keeping Caleb happy for the most part, despite his ONLY sleeping for 45 minutes (ugh!), and for helping me keep my cool. That alone was DEFINITELY an act of divine intervention, as there were certainly a couple times where I opened my mouth, paused for a sec, and took a deep breath instead..... Wooooosaaaaaa.... Gooosefraba.... Ahhhhhh :)

I also was able to stop in Pittsburgh to visit with my Cousins Nick/Sarah and meet their new baby boy Luke, which was a special treat! The only downside of that PITT stop (get it... PITT... Pittsburgh... This is why Kevin and I were made for each other :)

I digress... I do that a lot in my blogs... oh well... the downside...

Has anyone else realized there is a MAJOR difference between "Shortest" and "Fastest" navigation routes when selecting one of those as the option for your vehicles navigation system to follow?!?

I didn't. Not until I'd gone ~45 minutes through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh, past the Mall, down Main street, through a neighborhood... I'm not kidding... Thinking after each turn I was gonna see the on-ramp to my beloved Inter-State. After literally screaming in exasperation in my car, which made Caleb think I was mad at him (which made me feel AWFUL), then having to explain mommy was just mad at her car, to which we both had to roll down our windows and give the car a spanking. (Judge if you will, to each their own) I finally pulled over to see JUST what my navigation was doing. That's when it hit me... "Shortest" was doing everything in its power to reduce the actual number of MILES I was going to take to get to my destination, and it was doing so at an EXCRUCIATINGLY MIND NUMBING pace... I went over SPEED bumps at one point... I mean REALLY people! I reset the navigation to "Fastest" and we were on an Inter-state in less than 5 minutes.... Stupid car (I do realize the car was just doing what I told it to do... we'll leave that for another day though)!

BUT.... We did make it safe and sound, and now I am thoroughly enjoying the fruits of my labor, still in peace and quiet, thinking maybe just maybe I'll get crazy and watch a movie... From beginning to end, in one sitting, during the middle of the morning... UNHEARD OF...WAHOOO!!!