American History Road Trip

[miss_mouse]

Hello and welcome to my pre-trippie of our American History Roadtrip.



We are taking a break from Orlando and doing something different this time.

I'm not quite sure where to start.
I guess with us will be a good starting point.

Our family:



This was our last US trip. 15 months ago.
I'm almost at the end of my trippie...see link below.

Here is the next part of the Pre Trippie... the nitty gritty.


I'm Lisa. Turning 41 just before we go.
I do the majority of the planning.
I work for myself in my studio at home.
I love lattes, Disney and making stuff.
This is my 13th trip to the US.


Ade is still 39...b******d! :angry:
He plays a big part in the planning. It is something that we enjoy doing together to be honest. We go to Costa for lots of trip meetings
Ade works for a big US company, also from home.
He is rather geeky! Loves techie stuff, Disney and geeky stuff.
Ade's 7th trip to the US.

We've had some big changes for the kids since my last trippie.
The main one being that Louis has finally grown and left Hollie and I behind.



He no longer looks like my baby.
As I've been writing up my Orlando trippie I'm seeing such changes in him. This photo was taken at the end of October so he's grown since.
I'd hoped that at least one of my kids would reach 5ft... and he has leaving Hollie and I still at 4ft10.
There's no hope for us anymore.

Louis has just turned 14 (yr 9).
Is loud, hardwork and always full on.
I am nervous about this trip where he's concerned as to be honest, he doesn't want to go.
He hates travelling at the best of times. He sees danger & risk in everything. I keep telling myself (and him) that it will be fine and we will have so much fun.
He still loves footy and Disney and wants to be an actor. He's hugely in to movies now and will be celeb spotting on our adventures.
He's a huge Brooklyn 99 fan.
Louis' 5th trip to the US.

Hollie is 16 and first yr A Levels.
The last trip she was working on her GCSE'S when we went away.
I was one of those dreadful parents. Not only did I take my kids out of school for 2 weeks, Hollie was in year 11
You can imagine how proud we felt when not only did she do well in her exams, but she actually did better than her predicted grades and came away with 12 GCSE's, and had more A's than any other grade. It was such a great feeling being able to stick our fingers up and say 'told you so'.

Hollie is SO SO SO excited about this trip.
She's had her New York outfits & shopping lists planned for the past year.
Hollie loves life. She's always been a very happy go lucky person.
She's doing 4 A Levels and loving them. She has a small job at a local Marco Pierre White Restaurant in walking distance from us and loves it. She loves Disney, loves saving and also buying nice things.
Hollie's 7th trip to the US.

So that's us.




Brief Trip Details:

We leave on Wednesday 23rd March.
From Heathrow to New York - JFK
We have 3 nights in New York.

I'm the only one that's been to New York before. I went in the late 90's for a weekend, so have done most of the sights. But things have obviously changed. The last time I went I went up the Twin Towers... sadly this time I will be visiting the memorial of the Twin Towers.
Last time there was no internet planning, no advanced bookings... you just turned up and went in.
And last time there were no kids. That takes a whole different spin, thinking about them getting tired etc..

On Saturday 26th March we will pick up a car from Newark Airport and drive 3.5hrs to Washington DC.
We have 2 nights booked here.

On Monday 28th March we will start our Road Trip.
We leave DC and make our way to my Dad in Southern Indiana.



We have an over night stay and have split the days in to.
Day 1- 6 hrs drive and Day 2 - about 7 hrs drive.

We have decided to drive south and drive through West Virginia, Virginia, Teneessee and up to Indiana.

We could have taken a different route which would have saved about 1 hr. Either way we drive through mountains. So we figured with the weather being unpredictable that time of year, we would drive 2.5hrs south and hopefully there will be less chance of snow/ice/frost.
Fingers crossed.

I also have a friend in Nashville that we may meet in IHOP on the way through.

So we finally reach Dad Tuesday 29th March in the early evening ...hopefully.



I've given up with planning this end of the trip (more about that later).
We've said the 4 of us would like a mall day on our own (I keep thinking about food court Chinese).
I think a trip to the first KFC is planned (Louis is KFC mad). Kentucky fried Chicken in Kentucky!

Hollie wants to go on an Amish hunt. I fancy Lexington and the rest I don't know.

We leave Dad's on Monday to go to Nashville where all of us including Dad and his wife will spend the night and enjoy Nashville.

We leave on Tuesday 5th April late afternoon and fly Nashville - Atlanta - Heathrow.

So that's a quick outline of our trip.


Why the Road Trip?

There's a few different reasons.
We keep saying we need to visit Dad.
He's lived there for 21 yrs now. I've only been 3 times and the last time Hollie was only 10mths old.



This was Hollie the last time we visited Dad. Her first trip to Target and she still gets just as excited

She was such a good baby.
Then Louis came along a couple of years later and was such hard work. In to everything and full on. I could never have taken him on 2 flights like I could Hollie.

Ade and I got married in 2007 and we chose Orlando.
Dad and his wife drove 14hrs to come to our wedding.
But we fell in love so much with Orlando during that visit that we've never wanted to go anywhere else... sorry Dad

Thankfully Dad is so understanding.
He visits us every August for 2 weeks. My brother and sister and her family all come and stay with us. 11 in one house. It's crazy but we love it. We stay up late every night and are all up first thing. Trying to squeeze as much time together as possible.

We love going to pick him up from the airport.



We go on lots of days out.
When I look back on the photos they just make me cry with laughter. All the stupid things we get up to and the pranks we play on one another.

We are all so close.


(my brother and I)


Dressing up at Milestones museum.


Zoo trips.

I love this one.
I took a photo of my Dad and it wasn't until after I spotted my sister trying to climb down off one of the sealion statues.



I think this is the best photo I've ever taken of my brother.



No one makes me laugh like my family.

So it really is about time that we made the effort to visit Dad.

We had originally planned to go to Orlando this summer.
But the whole family decided that they wanted to come.
My Mum and her husband.
My brother and my sister and her family.
But they all wanted an extra year to save, so August 2017 was decided. We even had a meeting about it last year.
That was my 40th birthday wish to get us all together and plan Florida.
I made everyone a planner and bought them Disney stationery sets.

But we didn't want to go almost 3 yrs between trips, so we thought we take a trip to Dad's in the middle.
Then that's when the idea came to add a roadtrip on.
We thought NYC and then during a dog walk, Ade came up with the NYC- DC- Dad's option and that's how it happened.

Now with 7 weeks til we go... looks like it's just us going to Orlando next year
I'm sad because I wanted the family to come but also, Ade, Louis and I really wish this trip was a Florida trip.

I do feel it's the right thing to do though.
Dad has so wanted us to take the kids. Years ago he bought a big 7 seater with dvd players in the back for the kids and they've never been used
Plus Dad and Janet have been talking about retiring to Jacksonville, Florida. How cool would that be?!
So I think it's important we visit him at his home in Evansville.
I know he really wants to show us all off.
We speak to his colleagues on Skype and feel like we know them.

He's a Ford salesman in Kentucky.
He married Janet and had always been an electrician over here since he left school and also when we lived in Germany, but then changed direction wanting a new challenge a few years ago and he loves it.
He's also very good at it.



Salesman of the year again for 2015
He has the English charm.

So that's our story.
It feels the right time and the right thing to do.

Hollie turns 18 next year, so next years Orlando trip could well be the last family holiday. Visting Dad is important to us.
Plus I think it's about time the kids went to some new places and had some new experiences.

We love our history and have been swatting up lots. This is how the name our our trip 'American History Roadtrip' came about.

I will end here for now and come back another time with more details of hotels and itineraries etc...
I think I've gone on and on enough today

Plus I made a booking with Ade to pluck my eyebrows at 7.20pm and it's now 7.30pm so I'm late!

Thanks so much for stopping by ...if you've lasted this long of course.

[MissVincent]

you trip sounds amazing!

[DLS1005]

Sounds amazing! Definitely sounds like the right time to visit.

[mrsdjh]

Me and my husband also have lots of life planning meetings in Costa on my non working days, as he is home based! I love Lattes too

Louis has definitely changed since your Orlando trip photos - he looks much older and taller. I hope he feels better about the trip once you get going. Maybe Hollie’s excitement may rub off on him?

Well done to Hollie on her GCSE results – we have just spent the evening at my daughters school going through her GCSE choices ready for year 10 in September.

I hope the weather is kind to you on your road trip, and you enjoy the time with your dad – I’m sure you will judging by your family photos – and then you will be planning your next Florida trip before you know it.

Diane

ps hope the eyebrow plucking went well!

[Pumba75]

Your road trip sounds fantastic. Love your family photos! Enjoy.

[twinkleshmoo]

You're all set Lisa

Your plans sound fantastic, I hope you all have an amazing trip xxxx

[fa$$a]

I'm soooo looking forward to your trip report. I have enjoyed every one of yours in to the past and this one is of particular interest as I'm about to book our 'Deep South Tour' for Oct, so I'm looking forward to seeing where you go and picking up some trip tips from you X

[Fuellady]

I was hoping you'd do a trip report for your road trip. It all sounds fab and it definitely sounds like the right thing to do. I'm sure your Dad will love showing you all off to his friends over there

New York and DC are both places I would love to visit, so I'll particularly be looking forward to reading about your adventures there.

Hopefully Hollies enthusiasm for the trip will rub off on everyone else, and you'll have a wonderful time. Shame the rest of your family can't manage Orlando next year though

Thanks for sharing Lisa, looking forward to more...

[EJSakaAnna]

Wow this trip sounds amazing . I'd love to explore some of the area you're visiting. The Amish fascinate me & I think a trip to the first KFC is essential .

I really enjoyed your last trip report so looking forward to reading this. Well done to Hollie on her GSCE results . Louis looks so grown up!

I feel like I've missed a trick with these Costa planning trips...I also love a latte, I'll need to squeeze some in before we go. Any excuse for coffee & cake

[WileyCoyote]

Lisa, your trip looks wonderful. I hope you have a brilliant time and I can't wait to read about it.
I hope the driving bit goes well with the teens. In the end we dropped our two day drive from DC to Orlando as the thought of three boys and no wifi for many hours was too much to cope with. So we are flying to Miami instead. I know, total cop out !

I love that Hollie has her NY outfits planned already.

It will be so nice for the kids to see where your Dad lives.

Er , just one thing, what is an Amish hunt ? I haven't heard that before. It sounds ... curious!