TanFamRoadTrip2016:Day 15

Day 15/July 17th: 386 total miles
165 miles in South Carolina
111 miles in Georgia
110 miles in Florida

We reached the last day of our trip! Mixed feelings for the day, of course, as we near the end of our journey.

We left our hotel by 8:30 a.m., so we could drive 1.5 hours and attend sacrament meeting at a branch in Waltersboro, South Carolina. The branch members were friendly, and it was a nice meeting. We were glad to be able to attend sacrament meeting throughout our trip.

Sunday family selfie in South Carolina.

Then we drove on into Georgia. Quick rest stop, and we found our spot on the Georgia map on the wall.

After more miles of driving, we made it home to Florida! What a trip!

 Our van had done well for us and earned a rest in the garage.

TanFamTrip2016: Day 14

Day 14/July 16th: 330 total miles
109 miles in Virginia
183 miles in North Carolina
38 miles in South Carolina

On Day 14 we woke up at our beach hotel in Norfolk, Virginia. Jared was up early to take some photos of the sunrise.

Everyone else was up pretty early also and were motivated to eat a quick breakfast so we could go play!

In contrast to the evening before, the water was so calm and still, with really no waves at all. 

Zach dug a big hole and put himself in it.

Then Adam helped me bury him.

The girls wanted to get in on the fun. Three children buried in the sand!

Ew-somebody needs a manicure! Ha-Jared found a shell that looked just like a toenail.

We really enjoyed the beach. It was lovely to be out first thing in the morning, and avoid the hot direct sunlight. This is the way to visit the beach!

But...we had to get on the road again, and were checked out of our hotel by 11 a.m. We drove through Virginia. Adam napped for 1.5 hours (hurray-his longest car nap yet!). We got on the I-95 drove through pretty North Carolina. NC does a nice job with roadside flowers.

We stopped at a rest stop mid-way through North Carolina. It was hot! Adam made friends with a dog on a leash, so we held the dog for the owner while he used the restroom.

We reached our hotel in Florence, South Carolina at about 5:30 p.m. We picked up dinner at Zaxby's, then relaxed in the hotel and watched Toy Story 2 on tv until bedtime. 

TanFamRoadTrip2016: Day 13

Day 13/July 15th: 215 total miles
55 miles in Delaware
47 miles in Maryland
113 miles in Virginia

Our trip is winding down, and we are now heading south toward home. Today we drove we through Delaware and Maryland. There were lots of farms. 

Blurry picture, but everyone is looking.

 On the road in Delaware...

 ...and on the road in Maryland.

We happened upon a NASA Visitors Center just over the state line in Wallops, Virginia, so we stopped there for a break and let the kids play. 

Then we drove across a bridge for a brief stop on Chincoteague Island. Anwyn has read and enjoyed "Misty of Chincoteague" so that was a meaningful place for her. We stopped for ice-cream and saw a pony. (We decided this was a better option than trying to view the wild ponies on Assateague Island, since reports were that the bugs there are awful).

More driving. A storm was coming in, and we saw some neat lightning flashes.

Next up was a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This was pretty amazing, and a little crazy to think about just driving on a bridge right across the ocean bay.  

The distance of the bridge from shore to shore is 17.6 miles.

 

Pretty impressive engineering. 

Pretty sky from the bridge.

The bridge is interrupted by two one-mile tunnels. 

 Entering one of the bridges.

The bridge was definitely the most interesting thing we drove on this trip!

Once we reached land again, it was just a short distance to our hotel in Norfolk, Virginia. We were excited to have a hotel with direct access to the beach, and had arrived early to allow time for playing on the beach after dinner. Unfortunately, it was really windy and stormy with lightning. So we were only able to be on the beach safely for a few minutes.

We watched some tv in the hotel and went to bed a little early, with plans to wake up early and play at the beach the next day.