Yes that title is correct... We went to Pennsylvania and we DROVE…in an RV! Crazy I know right, oh and it was not just us four there were 11 of us in the RV, even crazier huh? To be honest, it actually went very well!
We started the journey on June 27 at about 9:45, leaving Omaha and heading east. I really was unsure of how it would go and what to all expect. but I just prayed and tried to stay calm in such a small area. The boys LOVED it, every part of it. They took their naps great and slept through the night. On the way out, Landon slept almost 3 hours for nap, I was impressed. I barely slept with the worry of Jared driving, the old RV, boys falling off beds and the fact that it was very bumpy in the back but all was well. On the way out Jared drove a couple times with his longest stint from 9:30 pm until 4:30 am (Long huh?) He did great and I was glad we just kept driving and made up good ground while the kids were sleeping. I brought many activities and crafts for the three 3-year olds (Jared's niece is 3 too:)). I felt I was busy with the three little ones the entire time we were in the RV so didn't get to sit and relax and catch up much, but that was okay. We got there about noon on June 28, yep 26 hours(map quest said 18 hours, I figured 24 so 26 was not too bad). Once we were there the vacation got even better!
I will let the pictures do much of the talking, but we stayed at Central House in Beach Lake, PA, a resort with homestyle meals, a lake, a pool and many activities for the kids. Janet (Jared's mom) and her family used to go there for their family vacation years ago so it was fun for them to be back. Oh maybe I should tell you this was a family reunion for Jared's moms side. Many people I have never met and many Jared had not seen since 1988 were there. There was 40 of us in all, which was so awesome! We all had our own room/place which was really nice. Janet, Rich, Jared, the boy and I had a little cottage down by the lake. It was real nice and nice to have our own place. The boys had their own room as did Jared and I upstairs with our own bathroom...very nice. Most of our days consisted of pool/lake time, FOOD, activities, nap time, MORE FOOD, and some fun activities at nights sometimes with kids sometimes without. There was meal time and if you missed it you didn't eat so that is why I say FOOD, I felt like I was always eating! Meal times were 8:00 am, 12:30, and 5:30. Which the 5:30 was a bit early after just finishing at 1:30ish. The other hard part was 8:00 am as the boys were usually still asleep and we had to wake them. At meal time we would sit at a round table with eight other family members and pass the food. The boys enjoyed this as well, they liked to dish their own food on their plate.
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| Paddle boat fun! |
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| Lake time with all the cousins |
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| Pool time, boys love jumping in the pool |
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| Little soccer with new cousin Ethan and their buddy Braeden which the boys especially Landon wanted to always go with Braeden. |
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| Landon and one if his many frogs he held, he loved them |
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| Jared's uncle Jeff and boys jumping in hot tub, what a good sport |
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| Dance, boys stayed up for a bit of it |
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| Pet rock |
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| Camp Fire at the resort |
Our stay was supposed to end Saturday, July 5th at 10:00 am so we pulled away around 11. However, instead of heading to Omaha and then to Sioux City we went to….New York City. Tara really really wanted to (I didn't care either way). So we decided to head there with a quick pit stop at Walmart to get umbrella strollers because there was no way I was taking two (three) 3 year olds into New York City to have them walk the whole time or to have us carry them. So we headed to a train station in Jersey and then into the city. We left the RV and Rich (he hurt his knee and does not like big crowds anyways) at the train station and off we went. The boys were really excited about the train.
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| "The RV" |
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| Story time in RV before nap on the way to New York |
Like I said it was a quick trip. We got to the train station about 3:30 and on the train and back to the RV about 11 pm. We came right into Penn Station and we walked up the stairs to Madison Square Garden, which was nice to see but we couldn't go in. Then we just stayed around midtown and saw as much as we could (or as much as time allowed) - Times Square, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Saks Fifths Ave, CBS Studios - Today Show building, David Letterman Theater, Radio City Music Hall, etc... A decent amount in a little amount of time! I could not believe the number of people…. I knew there was a lot, but wow! I also could not get over the roads and how small they seemed.
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| Train |
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| Madison Square Garden |
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| I can dream right…. |
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| Nathans Hot dogs |
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| Times square |
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| M & M world |
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| Rockefeller Center |
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| This is made of baby crocs…too cute |
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| Empire State Building |
So we got back to the RV about 11 and on our way. Dave drove us out of New Jersey until about 1:30 and then Jared drove from 1:30-7:30 am. Another tough shift, but he did great! I stayed up with him until about 4:30 then woke up Hunter. (Hunter stayed up with him almost the whole way out…he did great) Then, I tried to sleep, but of course I couldn't so went back up with him about 6:00. The trip went well on way home. I feel it went a lot faster, but it was a little warm in the RV as the air struggled to keep it cool on the way back. We arrived in Omaha about 10:00 pm and then we showered quick and got on road and got back to Sioux City at about midnight. I had to work on Monday morning.
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Last nap on the RV
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I have been asked if I would do again and I said yes I would if I can guarantee no break down with the RV and if the the air could keep up the entire trip. Oh and maybe once the boys are potty trained through the night…just one less thing to worry about! But I would like that even if I wasn't traveling in an RV for a day or more at a time. What I continued to tell myself is that it was an adventure and that we were making memories even if things didn't go exactly as planned.
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