Day 2

Hazzah! Hazzah! We've made it another day! We're now just one more day away from our destination. Today's travels were made possible by the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. We were in the van packed and driving by 06:00, local time, made about 4 pit stops, one play stop (thank you, McDonald's Playland!), and only one detour to avoid potential traffic problems in NYC (thank you, Garmin!).

The boys were team-players today. No real problems (except when Angus almost darted into traffic at the rest stop in CT. Or Henry screaming bloody murder when Ryan brought him into the restroom to be changed). We were in the car or about 10 hours, and the rocked the drive. One highlight: Stuck in traffic on the I-84, Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby's Got Back" playing on the radio and Angus ad-libbing his own lyrics which included "Tell 'em to shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, shake that dirty diaper!"

In terms of scenery, today was the best so far. Passing by some of the old towns and cities on the eastern seaboard really made for some great sightseeing. There were some beautiful, historic (I'm sure) buildings in some of these places that would have been fun to explore...but not to be on this trip. Some of the homes we drove past, most notably in Connecticut, were spectacular. Our detour through the Bronx had us drive by 2 old FDNY buildings dating back to the late 1800s (which Angus especially loved!), and driving on the George Washington bridge was really great (although Angus asked a few times if we were on the Angus bridge*...). The New Jersey Turnpike offered some close-ups of a variety of aircrafts, which we all loved (Ryan and the 2 older boys usually head to the airport on Saturday mornings to watch the planes land/take off).

And here we are...at the Courtyard Marriott in Cranbury, New Jersey. Service, once again, has been very good, but we're in an industrial park. Not that we were planning on doing anything. Our view is of the pea gravel-covered roof below us, which suits us just fine. By the time we bathed the boys, fed them, and got them to sleep, the only venturing out of the room we'll be doing is to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. We do wish we had more time to explore NYC (we've both been, but not together), so maybe on the way home we'll take a Sunday and explore.

Tonight's sleeping arrangements: Bed #1: Me and Oliver. Bed #2: Ryan and Angus. Play pen with actual bedding: Henry.

TODAY'S GRADE: A-

*The Angus MacDonald Bridge is one of the connector bridges between Halifax and Dartmouth. We call it the Angus bridge, and Angus likes that it's "named after him." Go with it.