July 2013–Family Road Trip (Part 2)

(see part one here)

Day 7:  Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

So we said goodbye to Cleveland, Ohio (and my phone) and headed toward Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  On the way we drove through Cuyahoga Valley National Park (we like to visit as many national parks as we can, so when we map out our trips we add in little detours if there are any nearby).  While in the Park we did a short walk to Brandywine Falls.  Normally it is a gentle cascading type of waterfall, but because of all the rain in the area there was lots of flooding going on, and the falls were super impressive.


When we made it to Pittsburgh we went straight to Primanti Bros. for some of their famous sandwiches.  Our waitress was very impressed with the number of kids we had, and put lots of extra piles of fries on our table for us.  I was surprised at what a friendly reception we got in Pittsburgh – we’re used to getting strange looks when we take our big crew on these road trips, but in Pittsburgh there were several people who stopped to congratulate us and compliment us on our large family.  It was nice. 


After lunch we drove over to the base of the Duquesne Incline and got ready to ride in one of the cable cars up to the top of Mt. Washington.                  


In the cable car, ready to go:

Our view as we headed up the track.  It was pretty cool.  Henry was being super dramatic about it, shouting out happily the whole time (“Oh my gosh! This is so amazing! Are we going to crash into that other car coming down?! I can’t believe this!!”).  And when Henry gets that excited about something, it’s hard not to get excited yourself.  (If you ever feel a lack of excitement in your life, come borrow Henry and he will find some random thing for you to get super excited about.  It’s pretty great.)


Looking back down on the river and the city:

I think Pittsburgh would be a cool place to live. 


Looking out the screened window on our way back down.  It seemed a little bit scarier and precarious going back down.  Just across the river on the right-hand side you can see a fountain in this picture – we were going to go visit it and let the kids play around, but after we got down off the incline and back to our car a giant rainstorm hit, so we headed to our hotel instead.   


After we got checked in Daniel and the boys (Tristan and Oliver), walked over to the baseball stadium.  They wanted to get there early in time for batting practice, but with lots of rain still in the forecast we weren’t really sure what would happen with the game.

The rest of us had fun hanging out at the hotel.  It was a really big hotel room with lots of open space.  We made some popcorn and arranged the furniture to be like a little movie theatre, and the kids watched Superman on TV.

Then we went down to the pool for some swimming. 


Cindy discovered the magic of goggles on this trip.  I love how she is using them to peer into 1 inch of water on the step:

When we got back up to the room I got the kids all bathed and cozy in jammies, and then they each got their own little cup of hot chocolate, which was very exciting.                                   


After that they settled in for some reading before bedtime.  It was a perfect evening for us. 


The boys were not quite so lucky over at their baseball game.  The game was delayed forever because of the stormy weather. 


While we were swimming at the hotel, we could look out the windows (the pool was indoors) and see that the storm was getting pretty crazy.  It rained really hard and got super windy.  Right outside the pool area we could see a big tree that had been knocked down and was blocking the whole street in front of our hotel.  At first I was frustrated that I couldn’t contact Daniel at the game to see how things were going because I didn’t have a cell-phone anymore, but then I figured out that I could write him an email on my kindle, and he could check it on his phone and write me emails back.  So we emailed back and forth and he updated me with the progress of the game.  He took these pictures of the sky on his phone while they waited.

It finally started about 3 hours late (around 10 pm), so they were pretty late getting back to our hotel room. 


Day 8:  Gettysburg, PA and Baltimore, MD

The next morning we started on our way to Baltimore, Maryland.  But first we stopped at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.  Here are the kids posing with Abraham Lincoln.  I can’t remember why Cynthia was so distressed.  I think it involved us taking away a caterpillar that Oliver had caught for her:


Me on the battlefield:

Cynthia at our hotel in Baltimore.  At each hotel she would usually find a quiet corner and take her backpack full of toys and make little set-ups. I think it helped her feel at home.  She really did so great on our trip.  She loves having the whole family all together, so since she was a little baby she has loved going in the car with everyone. 


We walked down to Inner Harbor, which was just a short walk from our hotel.  A few years ago on one of mine and Daniel’s trips we spent a night in Baltimore and really liked it.  We stayed at the same hotel and also spent a lot of time walking around Inner Harbor, so it was fun to be there with the kids this time. 


Inside the mall the kids got to watch some guys make fudge and then clap along as they performed their "that's the recipe for making fudge" song.  Then we bought some fudge for dinner.  We followed that up with a little shrimp from Bubba Gump's.  And then some milkshakes.  We weren't really sure what we were doing.

After we ate, Daniel and the boys walked over to the baseball game and the other kids and I stayed at the harbor and hung out for awhile.                                                                                          


Here is a recipe for some free fun on any road trip – go to a city with some sort of public fountain.  Let your kids run through it with their clothes on.  They will think it’s the best trip ever, and will remember that city always.  And you don’t even have to do anything except stand there and take pictures and laugh when your kids get sprayed in the face.





After everyone got nice and wet we walked back to the hotel and ate cookies in the lobby (free cookies in the lobby for dinner should also be added to the recipe for a successful road trip):

And then went swimming:

Henry and Cindy taking a quick break from the pool to do some drawing:

Then it was back up to the lobby for some hot chocolate and a movie (you can’t see it, but there is a TV in that little cubby area, and Planet of the Apes was on.  They loved this – they felt super fancy and grown-up.


I loved it, too – after all the time spent in the car and the rush to get places, it was great to have evenings when I could let the kids do things like relax in the fancy hotel lobby and drink hot chocolate.

On one of the commercial breaks we rushed up to our room, got everyone bathed and ready for bed, and then they got to watch the rest of the movie while tucked into bed.  They were so amazed that the same movie that was on down in the lobby was also on in our hotel room. 


Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the boys over at the Orioles game at Camden Yards.  It is an awesome ball park.  Daniel and I walked around there during our trip a few years ago, and Daniel knew he wanted to come back and go to a game there someday. 

Oliver and Tristan with Babe Ruth:                             


Filling out the scorecard:                                           


Oliver and Daniel with “the ball that got away”.  They had quite a few missed ball opportunities at this game that are still a little hard for them to talk about.  I might not have the story straight, but I think this one was headed right for Ollie, but when he reached out his mitt he misjudged it a little, and the guy behind him got it.  Everyone around was yelling at the guy to give it to the kid (meaning Ollie), but Oliver knew it wouldn’t mean anything to him since he hadn’t caught it, so he told the guy not to worry about it.  But he did get his picture taken with it.                    


Day 9:  Washington, DC and Richmond, VA

The next morning we drove to Washington, DC, where we met my sister and her four kids, who live just outside of DC.  The kids were excited for a day of sightseeing with their cousins.                 


I love cousins holding hands:                                                 


And kissing?                                                                      


We walked and walked and walked up past the capitol building to get to the restaurant we had picked for lunch.  The kids were good sports, but it was a lot further than we had thought it would be.

The girl table:                     


The boy table:                     





It rained on and off throughout the day.  We were happy Marian brought umbrellas to share.

Air and Space Museum.  Daniel took the older 6 with him so they could actually learn about some of the cool things there, and Marian and I stayed with the younger 4 and let them roam around and look at random things.  It worked out great.

American Art Museum.  I really love this picture:                                                        


Natural History Museum:

Elizabeth and Victor (2).  She was his little mother the whole time:                                     






The kids in front (kind of) of the White House.  It’s way, way back there.  But at least they saw it, and now they know where the President lives.                                                                     


After that Marian and her kids had to leave so they headed back to the car, but we kept on walking to see the rest of the memorials along the National Mall.

World War II Memorial:                                                          


It started raining pretty hard on us, but we kept on going (we were sad to be without Marian’s umbrellas).  Cynthia decided the best thing to do was fall asleep in the stroller. 

Vietnam Memorial Wall:                                                          


Lincoln Memorial:                                                                 


Cindy didn’t see it, but at least someday I can show her this picture and tell her she was there.

Looking back at the Washington Monument:                            


Pretending to fall off the steps at the back of the Lincoln Memorial:

Henry actually did fall off the steps at the back of the Lincoln Memorial.  It was pretty crazy.  I really don’t know how he didn’t break his head open.  They are giant concrete steps, and he fell backward, landed one step down, and then his momentum took him down one more step, where he landed on his head, and then flipped over one last time down to the grass at the bottom. 

Here’s Daniel re-enacting the fall with Henry:


Henry's Big Fall (A Re-enactment) from Joanne Mott on Vimeo.

Cindy still sleeping:                                                               


The Korean War Memorial:

The Jefferson Memorial:

We finally made it back to our car after lots of walking.  Then we drove to Richmond, Virginia, where we spent the night.  Everyone was pretty worn out.  These kids walked almost 10 miles that day.                


Day 10:  Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia

The last city we were headed to was Atlanta, Georgia.  On day 10 we woke up early and drove from Richmond out to Norfolk and Virginia Beach to see the Atlantic Ocean.  Then we drove through Charlotte, North Carolina, where we met up with some good friends from grad school for some great barbeque. 


We left Charlotte after dinner and then drove through a giant rainstorm (it was the heaviest rain I’ve ever driven in), and finally made it to Atlanta late that night.

Day 11:  Atlanta, Georgia

The next morning we hung out at the hotel for a little bit and ate breakfast, and then we all drove to Turner Field to drop Daniel and the boys off for batting practice and the baseball game.

The rest of us headed back to the hotel for some lunch and some swimming:

Trying to all jump in at the same time.  This always fails:

Good friends:               


Lizza teaching Henry how to slide dramatically down the railing into the pool:

Dressing up like fancy towel princesses:                               


Back inside the hotel for nap time/quiet time/reading time/writing-in-journal time (Lizza documented our whole trip in a journal.  It’s pretty great). 


Meanwhile, the boys were having fun at the game.  Afterward they got to go down on the field and run around the bases.

When the baseball game was over we drove down and picked them up and headed into downtown Atlanta.  We walked around, ate dinner at Baja Fresh, and let the kids play in the fountains at Centennial Park:


It started raining while we were out there, so most of us ran for cover.  Tristan, Oliver, and Henry stayed out in the rain.  It was a wet ride back to the hotel that evening. 


Day 12:  Drive home to Texas

I don’t really remember anything about this day.  It’s a long drive from Atlanta to home.  I always have mixed feelings when we finish up one of our trips – on one hand, I think we were ready to be home and back to a normal routine and not living out of suitcases.  But at the same time, it always feels sad that after so much planning and looking forward to it, it’s finally over.  I guess the only thing to do is to start planning next year’s!