Eastward Bound

Or Road Trip Remix.  Yes, we are headed to Dollywood again. Yes, we really, really like it. Yes, we are staying at Dream More again. Yes, we really, really like it, too. This time some of our crew are the same and some are different. We are going because the Dollywood Christmas lights are up and we want to see them (you can refer to my previous post on Christmas controversies, should you find this distressing). The last time we were at Dollywood, the shuttle driver told us that the Christmas lights are amazing - and so we decided to see for ourselves.  Due to travel and other restrictions on the travel participants, this was the only weekend we could manage to go. And so we're going.

The travelers in this trip include myself, Molly, Lynnette, Lindley, and Everley. Everley's parents both have to work on the weekend, so they have to stay in town (we're only going for the weekend). We're going in Maribeth's mini van, which is quickly becoming the party van for travel (at least in Davidson terms).

Today's agenda is:

1. Maribeth cleaning out and gassing up her van and bringing it to my house and switching it with my car (so she will have transport to work).
2. My loading the car with suitcases, food for the kids (not everyone is open to all foods for consuming), pillows, blankets, paper towels (because we are traveling with kids), and most important - DVDs
3. Picking up Molly at her house and loading her stuff
4. Picking up Everley at her school
5. Picking up Lindley at her school (first time for Molly - quite an eye-opener there)
6. Picking up Lynnette at her work and loading her stuff

AND OFF WE WENT!!!

Of course we had to stop 30 minutes after we started for a potty break. Even though we had had a potty break at school. And of course I didn't pack enough movies for the return trip, and we will have to address that later in the weekend. We did stop for dinner at McDonalds, which got pluses for having bathrooms and pancakes, but got a big negative for Happy Meal toys. And there was that lady who wanted to use our phones to make a call (we had left them in the car). Once we were all fed and drained, we got back into the car and finished the drive to Dream More. We checked in, managed to get all the stuff to our rooms, and turned in for the night.  Molly, Everley, and I all slept in the king-sized bed. Which was fine until Everley had bad dreams. Oh well, tomorrow we get to see the Christmas lights!!

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Thankful today for: success in loading the car and picking everyone up; safe drive to Dollywood; interesting conversation at McDonald's; pancakes at McDonalds; becoming a big sister 56 years ago