On the road again

We're back on the road for Day Two of our trip to the Midwest. Last night the four of us played in the hotel pool until it closed at 10:00 p.m. We were all in bed by 10:30 and despite Jake's three naps yesterday we were all out pretty quickly. This morning we got up at 7:00 a.m. and Lincoln took the kids down to the pool for a quick 20 minute swim session while I took a shower. Then it was back to the room for showers and we were out the door. My goal was to be on the road by 8:00 a.m. and we pulled out of the parking lot at 8:13 a.m. Not too shabby. I'm estimating about 11 hours today but that might change depending on how Chicago works out for us. Right now we're scheduled to hit Chicago right around rush hour on a Friday night. I'm thinking we'll skirt around the city instead even though it's a slightly longer route but hopefully it won't be stand still traffic like I suspect the main routes in and out of Chicago would be at that time of day.

Last night we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Youngstown. I have to say, it was a nice little hotel. The pool was nice and wasn't too cold so you could easily get in and enjoy it. They had a few pool toys available for the guests as well and we all had fun playing with a beach ball that the hotel provided. The only thing it didn't have was a hot tub which would have been nice but over all it was a great area for burning off some energy. The best part of the hotel though was the breakfast this morning. They had your standard free breakfast down in the lobby but we didn't really have time to grab anything. I figured once we loaded the car we'd run back in and grab a few items for the road but I knew that would take a lot of time because Jake would have been walking back and forth for 20 minutes telling us he wanted everything and actually eating nothing. Instead, when we checked out they had bags on the counter that said "On the Run Breakfast Bag". It was for the hotel guests that didn't have time to eat before hitting the road. GENIUS!!! Each bag had an apple, muffin, raisins, Special K bar, and water. We grabbed two of those and took them in the car with us. It was perfect.

Today we're crossing Ohio, Indiana, a corner of Illinois and then up into Wisconsin to stop at Rachel and Kevin's in Madison for a few days. Sunday we'll head over to Decorah for a few days. Right now Hannah is playing on the DS and Jake is taking what is hopefully the first of many naps again today. Lincoln did all of the driving yesterday but he says he may have to take a work call or two today so I might actually have to do some driving today. I actually don't mind driving but he prefers to do all of it instead of having to be the one in the passenger seat dealing with entertainment and snack duties although really the kids did a great job on their own yesterday.