Since neither Chris nor I have a job yet, we figured it'd be a good time to go to NY for an extended visit. Plus Dr. Singh was in town and my parents insisted on showing Mark to him. So, fine, we dropped Xander off at the vet for boarding, packed our bags, packed Mark's stroller, suitcase, a box of toys, a pack of diapers, several bottles, lots of snacks, a couple of warm coats, you get the picture, and took off. We left on Tuesday evening, hoping to drive as far north as the D.C. before Mark would wake up. Yeah right! We barely made it into Virginia when he woke up and started crying. So after much ado we were forced to call it quits at about 1am and get a cheap room in Fredriksburg, VA (all expensive rooms were booked). Not like we cared much for anything other than a warm bed.
That's the thing about travelling with little kids - you're always on their schedule. And since they don't really have a schedule, you're completely at their mercy when it comes to things such pit stops, hotels, even getting gas (if the Jr is asleep and you still have a quarter tank, no way you'll pull into a gas station!). All we were trying to achieve was to cover as much road as possible while Mark was asleep. That's when I seriously started thinking about buying adult diapers for the next road trip.
Anyway, when it comes to stopping for the night, all we really care is a bed, preferrably king or queen-sized, a warm room, and maybe a complementary breakfast. The hotel on the way up fitted the bill; it could've been a bit better if a queen-sized bed instead of a double, but still - not too shabby for only $40. But man, oh man, did we get into a s**t-hole on the way back! This time we stopped for the night at about 1:30am just south of Washington, D.C. I guess the bed was made out of some spare particle board and a few concrete blocks. And it was tiny (I doubt it was even a double bed). The bathroom door wouldn't lock or fully close. The remote control was glued to the night stand. And I wouldn't be surprised to be woken up in the middle of the night by an army of hungry roaches.
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. So we finally got to NY on Wednesday. Mom and Dad were home and we spent the rest of the day with them. Thursday and Friday were kind of slow and we didn't do much because it was very cold and windy and we didn't have enough money to go shopping. But on Saturday my brother was throwing a party for us and, most importantly, for Mark. So we spent the entire morning cooking. Then the afternoon was spent introducing Mark to the family. Of course, he got shy at first. But after a while he was doing just fine. And he got lots of new toys that kept him busy.
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