Well, at least as far as we're going today. We crossed the border into Indiana, so for those of you keeping track, we traveled from, through, and/or into seven states today. All we have to do tomorrow is travel across this one, and it's (thankfully) only 2 hours from one side to the other.
They guys were pretty good in the car, considering we were in it for over 12 hours. Of course, I wrote in the last entry that they hadn't asked how much longer yet, and of course that put the jinx on the whole day, as not ten minutes after I logged off, Nate demanded to know where we were and how much longer until Indiana. I think we were still in New Jersey then, so.... Yeah. 8-9 more hours to go.
We stopped for lunch-- the boys got Burger King, but we drove thru there and brought their food into Arby's so we could have roast beef instead of icky burgers. Of course, neither kid will eat anything except pb&j, chicken nuggets, pancakes or waffles, and Mac and cheese (but only the Kraft kind-- not the real kind). Oh well, nobody complained.
Then we grabbed gas at one of the three gas stations. Two were pretty busy, but one had just one car. We thought, "hey, there's no wait, and it's an easy turn back out onto the road to the interstate, so we'll head there." Cut to 3 minutes later-- Bryan gets back onto the car to say, "This could be interesting. I've never seen it before where the inspection sticker on the pump says REJECTED." Evidently this gas station was empty for a reason, because as we looked all around, all the pumps had the same sticker. It said it was rejected for needed maintenance and accuracy-- but the gauge in the car read that we were on full, there was enough left in the tank when we pulled up that I figured even if the gas was somehow bad, it would mix with the good and we'd be okay, so off we went. Shoulda taken a picture.
Half an hour later, we were passing the first rest area on I-80, and rejected pump or not, we were glad we got gas when we did. There must have been 16 pumps at the rest area, and I am not exaggerating when I say there had to have been at least 50 waiting to fill up. They were clustered behind all the pumps, backed up past the parking area, and stacked up to the end of the off ramp to the rest stop. Nightmare! Again, shoulda taken a picture.
When we were about 15 minutes from the hotel, we asked the boys if they wanted to stop soon, or drive this extra 2 hours to get to the next hotel. We knew there was a pool at each one, so there'd be swimming at the end of the night either way. They voted to stop sooner rather than later (a vote I heartily endorsed), so we pulled off the road a little after 5.
While Bryan was checking in, I saw a text from his mom, telling us that the pool at their hotel (we'll be there tomorrow night) was under renovation and is closed. Crisis averted!
We went out to dinner at a real restaurant-- which we NEVER do, since the kids eat nothing-- but there was a children's menu. With shrimp, fish, corn dogs, and chicken strips. That's it. Arrrgh. So we payed $15+ for them to nibble on 3 bites of fish, 1 chicken strip (respectively) and then mow on fries. The only way they ate anything was by threatening them with no pool time when we got back. So they "ate."
So, about that pool.... When I called to see if we needed a reservation (nope-- plenty of room for these weary travelers), the woman at the desk told me that yes, there is an indoor pool that is open, but was renovated this spring. Evidently, when they redid it, the workers did not paint the actual pool itself blue, and instead left it its natural concrete color. Which makes the water look "there's something wrong," but she assured me that the state inspectors test it every week and the water always passes with flying colors. I assured her I didn't care-- as long as it was open, there would be swimming.
So they are now swimming. But i have to admit, the pool looks... frightening.
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