Goodbye Utah, Hello Florida!

Wednesday July 3rd came up on us all too quickly. I was not at all prepared to say goodbye. I had to say goodbye to my sister the night before we left which made me feel physically sick to my stomach all day. I was telling myself, be brave, don't cry and don't make her cry. After we finished dinner the time came to say goodbye....my sister put her arms around me and I immediate lost it (so much for my pep talk). We just held each other and cried. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. The next morning was worse. I couldn't even look my parents in the eye. After Alan packed up the car we all knew it was time. Once again I lost it, I couldn't hold myself together. It was so hard to let go and know I wouldn't be seeing them for months. We all cried. The hardest part was watching my parents hold on to their sweet little grand baby and not wanting to let go. I seriously felt like my heart was going to shatter into a thousand pieces. I felt so horrible for taking her away. We got in the car and drove away and I watch my parents house disappear  in the rear view mirror while my eyes swelled up with tears, Alan squeezed my hand and knew there was nothing he could say and just let me sob. We pulled up to his parents house and I couldn't even handle another goodbye, I walked in already crying and got everyone going. I was doing a terrible job at being strong. We had some more emotional goodbyes and more tears. We finally left and headed for Wyoming.

Our first stop was Cheyenne, Wyoming. The ride there actually went by very fast. Madeline was doing great. She played with her toys and slept. We arrived safely and made great time! We were mentally exhausted by the time we got there. We ate dinner at Village Inn next to our hotel and then passed out while watching TV.

Madeline was always so excited when we got her out of the car. She would give us the biggest smiles and giggles. She loved to eat and have her diaper changed. It was her favorite part of the day!

The next day which was the 4th of July, we headed to Lincoln, Nebraska. We were about half way there when we heard Madeline grunting in the back seat...we knew what that meant. Sure enough she had a blowout. It was everywhere! We had to pull over, get her a new outfit which was sad because she only had one 4th of July outfit. Then we continued on our way. We made it to Lincoln. We had dinner and tried to find a firework show to go to but they did it the night before. So we went and bought some of our own fireworks and lit them off in the parking lot of our hotel. The first one scared Madeline. She screamed a real scream! It was really funny, cute and sad all at the same time. We saw lightening bugs. They are the coolest things ever! We also sat on the curb and watch the fireworks all around us, No wonder they don't have a show, they don't need one. Everyone does their own show. Madeline, after the first one, loved the fireworks!

The next day we were headed to St. Louis, Missouri. The drive went well. I drove for part of the time while Alan read a book that he needed to read for school. I was so scared to drive and traffic was kind of bad it was a little nerve racking. We were so excited when we drove into town and saw the arches. We dropped our stuff at our hotel and headed for a night out. Well the universe had other plans in store for us. We hated St. Louis. We had a horrible experience. Downtown was so crowded, there was nowhere to park and all the streets were closed. We couldn't get around anywhere. We couldn't get close enough to the arches to go up and see them because there was no parking. Then we found a restaurant to go to and put it in to our GPS to find out when we get there it doesn't exist anymore. We ended up going to Pizza Hut and eating in our hotel room at 10:00. This was all happening with a screaming child in the backseat for about 45 minutes. There are no pictures of St. Louis, because, well it just sucked!

The next day we headed for Atlanta, Georgia. This drive was long. Madeline had 2 blowouts, which were all over the car seat. Poor baby was having a rough day. The weather was raining. We stopped in Nashville for lunch. We wanted to find some good Southern BBQ but ended up at a delicious Italian Restaurant instead. It seemed like this drive was never going to end. Finally we made it. We loved Georgia. There is such a thing as southern hospitality, and everyone was so nice! The next morning we went to the World of Coke. It was awesome and my dream come true! 

After the World of Coke we headed out for Tampa, Florida. This was the longest drive of our entire trip. We got stuck in a lot of construction and traffic. It was a good thing we had The Hunger Games series book on tape to get us through. We stayed at a nice Holiday Inn and Suites just a few miles outside Tampa. We were so happy to arrive. Even though it was like 8:30 at night we got in our swimsuits and headed down to the pool. I got attacked and bitten by two bugs..Welcome to Florida. Then we tried for 30 minutes to Skype with my family and finally it worked! We kept Madi up way past her bedtime! We slept in the next morning and then headed over to sign our lease at our new apartment!

The road trip was long but so fun! It was so fun to be together as a family. It was nice to catch up with my husband and talk about our new future together. We made some great memories. We played the license plate game and got 41! We had lots of fun, but we are glad we finally made it to Florida!