Family Road Trip Part III ~ Back to TN & Home

Our original plans were to leave NY on Thursday morning to drive back to TN & to spend Friday & Saturday with my family there & head home on Sunday giving us Monday to unpack & somehow get the dogs from my dad (in Orlando) well the lack of sleep routine, chasing & entertaining 3 crazy 2 year olds was starting to wear on Donna & I, we were exhausted just one week into our 2 week vacation. After talking to my dad who offered to bring the dogs & the cat back to us we decided to cut our vacation a little short & try to get some rest before Donna had to head back to work, so we left NY On Wednesday morning about 8 am (avoiding being delirious while driving this time) & headed back to my aunts house in TN with a plan of leaving there Friday to head home.

Leaving Amish country

It was a rather uneventful drive, Ohio & Kentucky have got to be the boring states to drive through! There was nothing but corn fields for mile & miles & miles &... You get it. We did drive through Columbus & Cincinnati which were the highlights of the drive, lol... They are bigger cities than I had thought. There were no McDonald's with playgrounds anywhere along the way through Ohio. We did find one that use to have a playground but now just had a fenced area, so we let the boys run around there for a while & treated them to smoothies this go around. Other than that we just drove. We made it back to my aunts in about 11 hours, much better than the 14 it took us going to NY from there!

Passing through Columbus, OH & some dreadful weather

Passing through Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati Bengals

The Ohio River

Donna's favorite baseball team, The Cincinnati Reds

Passing through Nashville, TN from the south

Passing through Nashville, TN from the north

My aunt had to work Thursday so we just relaxed at the house, let the boys play & nap & then went to dinner with my aunt & the kids. My uncle couldn't make it to dinner, their baby wasn't feeling well & by the time we finished dinner the boys were getting crabby & ready for an early night (it really wasn't early to them because of the difference in time zones) but a good nights sleep was needed once again for the drive home.

More bubbles!!!

Relaxing with a video

The whole gang!

Friday we got up & loaded up the car for the last time. We got on the road about 9am this time, it was only an 8 hour drive home so no rush. 

It was another uneventful ride until we stopped for lunch. Neither of us could stomach the thought of a fast food meal so we decided to stop at Longhorn & have some real food. The boys were good but hungry! Another couple came in right after us & were seated in the booth right next to our table. The lady asked about the boys & complimented us all on getting out, how cute they were, & how well behaved they were. The wait staff was super friendly too & when we were done with our meals our waitress informed us that our bill had been taken care of. Donna & I were both puzzled! I just about cried, it was a very kind gesture & I really couldn't comprehend that someone would pick up our entire bill. They wouldn't tell us who paid for it so we thanked the staff & everyone sitting near us, we didn't really know what else to do?

Goofy Garren!

It was good that we had such a nice lunch & positive experience because we sat in traffic all the way through Atlanta & a lot of the rest of the way home. 

Passing through Atlanta, GA

Ok, well really taking our time through Atlanta, GA

Our 8 hour drive took 11 hours but the boys were good sports & everyone was SO SO SO happy to be home!!! The boys always crack me up when we get back from a trip, they get up on the couch & roll all over it (almost like the dogs do on the floor) then they touch all of their toys & stuff as if they are counting or making sure it is all still there.

I couldn't wait to see their reactions when the pup pups & kitty cat got home...