July 10 - The drive

Today is Monday...well, I think it's Monday...yep, it's Monday...or at least that what the calendar says. You know how it is when you're on vacation. Things like which day it is and what time it is become unimportant. So, today is Monday and we're in Corolla.

We drove down Saturday with a very packed car - inside and out as the kayak accompanied us this time.
Bright and early we set out for the 10 hour drive. Left the girls in their  p.j.'s and threw in a dvd to amuse them while they breakfasted on Dunkin Donuts donuts. Nutritious, huh?

The drive went smoothly until the rain set in. Rain, which we desperately need at home, but which is a concern with an open kayak on your roof. Normally John and I take turns driving, but this time he drove the whole way. There were times when the rain rendered visibility...well...it was pretty much non-existent.

We got to the Chesapeake area in normal time. Around 3-ish we were about an hour away from Corolla when traffic stopped. And stayed stopped. Then crawled a few inches and stopped. We sat. We wondered if there was an accident. We wondered if this was just normal Saturday afternoon July beach traffic. We wondered if this was all back-up from the first traffic light across the bridge which was still about 10 miles away.

We sat. We got rained on at least twice more. I called my family to update them on our crawling speed. Finally we got to the bridge and were greeted by the sight of a rainbow.

It only took 30 minutes or so to cross the bridge...which would normally take...oh, 5 maybe. Yep, it had turned into that kind of drive.

When we turned onto Route 12, my mood lifted. There was still traffic, but we'd expected it here. We weren't far now. Or so I thought.

The thought of crawling on a two lane road for 20 more miles was not a welcome sight. At this point, we'd been in the car for at least 12 hours. In the end, the trip took 13 hours - 3 more than normal, 3 hours to go the last 30-40 miles. Arg!

Ellie and Grace were wonderful on the drive and very happy to finally be set free to play with their cousins. The girls soon discovered that the couch is just the right height for new age gymnastics.

They kept us entertained until we were all so tired we toddled off to bed and dreamed of sunny skies, warm waters and a gentle breeze.