I’ve been in Virginia two months and one day. Getting settled has been so much more hectic than I ever imagined. I thought it was time I finish my trip report. This is going to be a bit long, and still only gets me to Herndon. Finding a permanent place to live in Reston was an entire adventure in itself!

Shawnee, OK to Jackson, TN

It was New Years Eve. (Boy we had a strange holiday season this year.) We woke up early and took turns going to the lobby for another hot breakfast, while the little one slept. It was very windy outside, with wind predictions of over 30mph, which meant having to drive slower so our bikes would not suffer too much abuse, or fly away. I pushed us all out of the hotel room and got us on the road shortly after 8am. I had a goal of being off the road by 5pm… I’m a bit paranoid about driving on New Year’s Eve, especially since Memphis was late on our route today.

We drove. Entering Tennessee was exciting, since it’s hubby’s home state.

Even though it wasn’t a long day, it seemed to drag. We were both tired, or maybe just sick of driving.

We were very happy to see the Hampton Inn, a splurge for us on a road trip, but we figured it was New Years Eve. After checking in and getting everyone settled, I went out to pick up dinner. Everything was closing already so we ended up finishing our 2010 with Dairy Queen, and the little one stole my chocolate milk shake!

Dan and Mackenzie watched a kids channel do a New Years Eve count down, and I fell asleep. Yes, every now and then I fall asleep before our little one.

Jackson, TN to Morristown, TN

The beds at Hampton Inn are the most incredible. I wanted to take one with me. I really enjoy sleeping and don’t get to do enough of it.

We woke up and moved slowly, enjoying breakfast downstairs. It was our last night on the road, and I was done rushing. At 10am we were finally in the car, and started our drive to Dan’s parent’s house in eastern Tennessee. Being from New Jersey, Tennessee certainly seems like a big state. We went through some heavy truck traffic and one intense rain storm. Then up and down mountains to get to the other side of the state.

It was day 7 and Mackenzie was done being in the car. She was so great through most of the trip… singing, playing with her toys, talking to me. Today was different. I had to pull off the road twice to get my head clear from the tantrums. Then when I announced that we were going to her grandparents’ house, she got scared. I think she was used to the routine. Every day we had talked of what the hotel would be like that night, and it got to be almost a game. Would the hotel have two beds? What size? Would it have a pool? Mackenzie begged to please stay at a hotel.

Once we got next to their house, she saw the neighbor’s Christmas lights, and her mood changed. Within minutes of pulling into the garage, she was holding hands and playing with her Nana and Papa. We arrived to home made dinner too!

Morristown, TN to Herndon, Va

It was difficult to leave family after just one night, about 15 hours really. Mackenzie asked Nana if she could come with us. Cars loaded, we took off for our journey through Virginia around 9am. An hour into the drive, near the state border, Dan asked to stop. I needed coffee, so we ventured into town instead of going to the rest area. The .5 miles to food became much longer, and I think it was 45 minutes later before we were on I-81 again.

There is something about that last day, when you are thinking “we are almost there” that makes it seem to take longer. We must have stopped 5 times for a snack, coffee, gas, bathrooms, and so on. Then when we were truly close, we hit stopped traffic. Luckily it cleared up within about 20 minutes, and we made our way east towards Washington DC. The sun set as we were getting near Herndon. I had really been hoping for some daylight to help navigate. Driving was suddenly much more aggressive all around us.

I started following my hubby, instead of trying to follow directions for myself. As we hopped from one highway to the next, we eventually ended up in dimly lit quiet streets. One more turn, and we saw Staybridge Suites. I stayed in the car with Mackenzie as Dan checked us in. The hotel room was so much better than we expected.

It was close to 9pm by the time we had made probably 20 trips to the cars for our stuff, and our delivered dinner arrived. We happily sat at the dining table in our little cute living room enjoying pizza and salad. We arrived just barely 12 hours before my hubby had to report for his first day of work. Our trip was over and a new adventure about to begin.

Missed the beginning? Read the 6 part series – Beaverton, Oregon to Reston, Virginia