We did it! We were up by 5 a.m. to shower, waking kids up by 5:30, down to breakfast by 6:00 and on the road by 6:50 a.m. Whew!

We made pretty good time, even with stopping every hour. If we ever drove for more than an hour at a stretch we felt very speedy.

We stopped at a Walmart to look for a GameBoy DS; no luck. We stopped in Hopewell, VA, to tour Michael’s home town, and while there we stopped at “Roses” (where he used to work) to see if they had a DS, but they didn’t. Later on we stopped at another Walmart and I ran in to check their electronics department. Score! One DS in stock, so I bought it. We’re calling it one of Michael’s Christmas presents. He had some Christmas money to spend, so it’s not too much of a stretch. Now I look wistfully at department stores as we pass by. Our hunt is over.
Some of the interesting sights we saw today:

1. A modular home being hauled down the highway in two parts.

2. A multi-car accident on the highway, only minutes after it happened, and then we got to see various emergency vehicles heading for the scene as we kept driving.

3. At our lunch stop at Hardees, the girls went into the bathroom, and while they were in there, the staff called into the bathroom to check on someone in the handicapped stall. Turns out, the lady was collapsed on the floor, so the staff called the ambulance. As we were carrying our food out to the van, we got to see the police and ambulance people coming in. We don’t know the end of the story, but it sure made for a curious lunch stop!

4. At yet another stop, I was able to purchase one of my favorite Southern specialties… Boiled Peanuts. I even pronounce it like a true Southerner… ‘”bawld peanuts”. The rest of the family can’t stand the smell, but I don’t care. I break open the peanuts, drip and squirt salty juice all over, and slurp the soggy peanuts out of their shells. Yum! At that same stop Isaac was able to buy a really cool knife from the knife case. He’s so pleased with his purchase.

5. At our last stop of the evening before we arrived at the motel, Michael and I saw a guy riding a unicycle! That was cool.

6. If you know Savannah, you know we shouldn’t have been anywhere near this sight, but I was amazed to see the Talmadge Memorial Bridge. We saw it at night, and it was really an amazing sight. But unfortunately, the reason we saw it was because we were lost! We thought our motel would be obvious to find, and it wasn’t. So we arrived an hour past the time we would have if we’d had specific directions. Still, it all worked out, so it was fine.

Our motel tonight is so cool! It has two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchenette. It has a bathroom next to each bedroom, so we are living in the lap of luxury. The outdoor pool is heated, and the hot tub is really nice and hot. We can’t wait for the breakfast tomorrow. I took the older children to the lobby in search of hot cocoa tonight, and we saw all the stuff that must be what they use for breakfast. The thing that really made us ooh and aah were the two waffle irons. We are drooling already!

Well, I’m exhausted. Three kids are already asleep, and the other three are watching the Animal Planet channel on t.v. That’s a luxury we don’t have at home, so I don’t begrudge them.

Tomorrow we’ll take our time enjoying this motel, pool and breakfast. Then, once they shoo us out of here, we’ll head for Orlando to meet up with the rest of the family. Then our Disney adventure will start!