On The Road (Again)

After a whirlwind Wednesday morning, Luis, Ashley, the new car and I started south - though, the first day we only went the 50 miles to Northern Virginia. It was a bad sign that Luis cried almost the whole way; I wasn't looking forward to the next 950 miles...

We planned to stay with Sarah, but it turned out that Matthew had some viral infection that included high fever and vomiting (Sarah found out today that he has Strep!). We quickly changed our plans and stayed with Emily Poulin instead! It was great to spend time with her, her daughter Maggie (21 months) and their dogs. (Emily is due with baby #2 in ~ 10 days.) Luis loved all of Maggie's toys, loved Maggie, loved the dogs, and loved having a friend to bathe with. But when it was time to sleep, he wasn't so much loving his setup. So he tossed and turned with me in the guest bed. I don't think either of us slept well OR long (Luis was up by 5:15a).

After breakfast at the Pancake Place with Sarah & Will, we headed south. Turns out that Heather couldn't meet us for lunch as planned, but I thought we'd stop in Richmond anyway. However, Luis was sound asleep when we hit Richmond, so we kept going. Instead, we had a nice lunch at the NC Rest Stop just over the border. We ate next to a family from Atlanta with 5 kids between 2 and 8 years old. The older kids threw the Frisbee for Ashley until she couldn't stand up any more and the 2 year old (twins) provided Luis with all the entertainment & fascination he could take. I enjoyed talking to the parents - he owns his own residential construction firm.

We pressed on to Carrboro to visit Abby, Piers, Charlotte (3) & Cyrus (10 mo). Again, Luis LOVED having other kids to play with and LOVED all the toys and LOVED the group bath. It was a great stop and just what I needed to push on to Rock Hill. Well that and the super-big, very sugary iced coffee I picked up at the drive-thru Starbucks (my new favorite thing in the south - beating out Sweet Tea).

So far, it's been a quiet and relaxing day. Luis slept great last night and during naps today. At lunch with Thomas & Lucy, Luis got his first stranger-compliment on his behavior: As we were leaving, a man at the restaurant told me what a "well-behaved son" I have.

This evening, we'll go out for Pizza (Luis's favorite - seriously). Thomas will then head out for bridge and Luis, Lucy and I will go out to the barn to see her horses. I promise to post pictures (probably when I get to Atlanta). Tomorrow, we head out about mid-day for Atlanta, where we'll spend two nights before heading on to Florida.