Tennesse Trip: Driving there

We left Friday, August 2, to head to Tennessee. On the way there, we split the trip into three days. On Friday, we planned to drive about seven hours to north Mobile. But there was terrible traffic on I-10/I-12 so it ended up being closer to 8 or 9 hours driving. We stopped in Lake Charles for a splash pad, east of Baton Rouge for ice cream at Chick Fil A, and then dinner about an hour from the hotel. We didn't plan to make the third stop for dinner but due to traffic and running late, we had to add it in.

We stayed a hotel in Saraland, AL, which was in a great spot to set us up for an easy drive Saturday morning. Mobile isn't on the way to Gatlinburg but we decided to go a different route so we could see Joseph's grandmothers and some extended family that live near there. We've seen them three times now since moving to Texas. It's fun to do but the towns they live in are little itty bitty towns with nothing much for kids so it's always a bit tricky with little ones.

The hotel went really well! Gemma ended up being a great sleeper when traveling, which I'm grateful for. We got rooms with two separate sleeping rooms, which helps too. Saturday morning, we drove to Brewton to see one grandmother for lunch. She decided to take us out to lunch at a Chinese buffet, which I was pretty nervous about. Not only had our kids been traveling a lot but they also got a little less sleep than normal. And unless a restaurant has a playplace, eating there doesn't end well. Thankfully, I had enough toys to keep them entertained and it allowed Joseph to catch up with some family.

After lunch, the kids and I went back to the grandma's house to play with her kittens while Joseph went to visit his other grandma in a nursing home. We decided not to take the kids with since his grandma is suffering with severe dementia. It wasn't really worth struggling with three kids in a small room just for someone to not even know who they are. Joseph had a good visit though and we were happy he made it there.

After Brewton, we drove north to Castleberry to see a cousin and her kids as well as Joe's aunt and uncle who live on a farm. Once we finished visiting, we drove north to Birmingham for another hotel stay on Saturday night.

Sunday morning came and we went to the local ward. Then we drove further north to Knoxville. A family from Lake Jackson moved there two years ago so we stopped at their home for Sunday dinner and the kids all played together. It was a perfect way to keep the Sabbath day despite traveling. After dinner and playing, we loaded up one last time for the 1.5 hour drive to our cabin. The rest of my family was already at the campground so we were anxious to get there.

Overall, the kids did great traveling throughout the three days. It was a lot of travel time but they enjoyed the stops and hung in there. But we were all very excited to get to our destination and be out of the van for a while.

Careful packing of our van

Ice cream stop at CFA

Playing at Grandma McGlothren's home. I was just grateful they didn't break anything.