The Way Way Back

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to family and our lovely little chalet that had been our home for the past four days. It's always hard saying goodbye to Trip and Katie especially now with Nicholas in the picture. But, we do have other holidays and visits to look forward to. And we do owe them a trip to Maine and/or D.C. in the near future! Trip decided he could not leave before dropping a pillow on somebody's head from the upstairs bedroom window. It turned out to be my mom who was the victim (happy birthday Mom!). It's funny to think that fifteen years prior he would have gotten a timeout for a stunt like that. Now it's just funny. My dad actually wound up leaving with Trip and Katie. They were going to drop him off at the airport in Asheville for us where he would catch a plane back to Florida. He said ticket prices were less expensive for a round trip as opposed to a one way so he got to avoid the long car drive home.
My mom, Chris, Nick, and I got everything loaded up in the Pathfinder and started the drive back. We took a different way home this time. We got onto I-26 which took us through Asheville and Columbia. If we had more time, I wish we could have stayed on it and gone to Charleston, but people have to be back at work I suppose. :) We then took I-95 which would lead us all the way back home to Florida! Oh, and the day we left was October 20 which is my mom's birthday. So major kudos to her for being a trooper and spending her birthday in a car. She said she didn't mind though since we did all the driving and she got unlimited grandson/Nana time! I also wanted to make a detour when we went by the exit for Savannah on I-95, but I guess I will have to wait on that one as well.
We had a special visit planned out for our stop in Jacksonville. Our dear friend Beth was in town to celebrate her dad's birthday who shares the same birthday as my mom! We had it timed out just right so that we would get to Jacksonville just in time for dinner! My dad decided he wanted to meet up with my mom so after his plane landed he drove to Jacksonville to whisk her away to a romantic birthday dinner at Denny's. I think he was just hungry and wanted some good breakfast food. After dropping off my mom and saying our goodbyes we drove over to Panera's to see Beth. I was very excited to get to spend time with her since the last time I saw her was in Tahoe in February 2013 before I was pregnant. And even more special of course was getting to introduce my son to her. It was such a great moment, and I am very glad we were able to make that happen.

So, in short, the trip was a success. Nicholas slept great, even after getting home at 11:30pm. He did excellent for all of the car rides, and, as we discovered, has no issues with motion sickness. I think we will have to do this again sometime. Just not right now :)