The LONGEST Trip Ever-Part 1

I recently drove 22 hours, 38 minutes, and 56 seconds (over 3 days) in the car SOLO with my 2 kids-2 years old and 4 years old.  I have been trying to figure out how to capture the magic and wonder of this experience on paper, so here goes nothing…..

My husband is the USAF and got picked up for a 6 month job in Tampa, Florida-they wouldn’t pay to move us since it’s only temporary, instead, we are in a fully furnished apartment-I know, sounds rough right?! Well, this is the pay-off for the aforementioned car trip!

Now, how did I end up on this long haul from Maryland to Tampa solo, you may ask. Well, my family had committed to hosting a foreign exchange student from Spain for the summer, but that was before we knew my husband had to be in Florida the first week in July.  So he left and the 3 kids and I stayed in Maryland until mid-August when our student went home. 

After 7 weeks alone with 3 kids I thought I could handle pretty much anything, but NOTHING prepared me for the car trip, NOTHING!

Day 1:

I’m optimistic, and also feeling like I could conquer the world b/c I managed to put the top carrier on the car, pack everything, and get the house ready all on my own.  I didn’t realize my proud victorious attitude would only last the first 40 mins of this 22 hour trip!

I got the kids loaded up, cued up the DVD player in the back seat, set the GPS and off we went.  We made it about 20 miles before I started to realize this may be the biggest mistake of my life. 

We live north of Washington DC-if you have ever driven there, you feel my pain right now, if you haven’t, let me help you get an idea what it’s like.  Imagine locking yourself in a small room with 10 screaming toddlers for 2 hours while trying to write the most important term paper in your life-that's what driving in DC does to your nerves!

So we get to DC, and I expected some traffic, but it was 10am, so I thought I'd planned it pretty well to miss most of the various rush hours-NOT even close! We found lanes of traffic being diverted to the shoulder for construction.  Of course, I’m still feeling like I got this, so I pump up the radio, and prepare to sit for a while, and what should happen next? I hear from the back seat, “Mom, I have to go potty” come out of the mouth of my 4 year old, Natalie.  I am sure she doesn’t have to go, after all, she went right before we left and we’ve only been in the car for about 30 minutes.  I tell her to hold it and turn the radio back up. 

About 5 minutes later (and still in the same place we were before) she yells, “MOOOOOMMMMM, I REALLY HAVE TO GO!” at this point, even if I wanted to take care of this situation, I can’t.  The nearest exit is about 3 miles up and we’ve gone literally about 15 feet in the past 20 minutes-at this rate I could walk to Tampa faster. This time I’m a little more creative in my response, “Well, we could go in the bushes over there if you REALLY REALLY have to, but there’s no nice potty for a long time” She quickly says, “I can hold it” and I am once again feeling triumphant. 

Fast Forward a meager 10 miles in 2 hours, and we’re still just getting outside of DC.  Natalie once again requests to use the bathroom.  It’s been a while, so I figure she probably really does have to go and I’m starting to see the infamous potty squirm, so I look for an exit.  I find one, and hop off the freeway in search of any place with a bathroom. 

I am not super familiar with DC-when we go there to sightsee we usually just take the train and when we do drive, it’s just passing through on the way to see family in Virginia, so I have NO IDEA where we are, but it’s starting to look scary.  Not like, oh, “that store is a Walmart not a Target”, more like, if  “I make eye contact with that dude standing on the corner, I may get shot!” 

So after only 3 hours in the car, we’re lost, my kid has to pee, and we all may die-I believe it was at that moment I fully realized I was in a little over my head.  Yep, 3 hours in the car solo with my kids and I was waving the white flag. 

Funny thing about those situations, nothing magical happens when you admit defeat, there is no fairy godmother who rescues you, no choreographed musical number doesn’t begin to play to lighten the mood, and a kiss from Prince Charming won’t help clean up the pee now in my back seat. 

SO-I call foul on all those fairy tales, musicals, and chick flicks.  I love them as much as the next girl, but geeze, talk about a false sense of reality.  Just when I’m doubting I can do the next 4 days and 19+ hours in the car, my sweet little 2-year-old starts singing “Jesus Loves Me”  When she finishes she says (in broken words that only momma can understand) I WUUUV you, Mommy-Thissss fuuuun Twip! 

I love how in life’s moments of defeats God uses our children to remind us what’s really important.  So, I put on my big girl pants, decided it didn’t matter if the car smelled disgusting, and onward we went.  We made it the next 3 hours with lots of snacks, happy singing, and Elmo!

Victory (well sorta) for me! The only problem: I had to do this AGAIN TOMORROW and the next day AND the day after that…..