You can imagine by now, Jeff and I are ecstatic that we did this trip. It exceeded our expectations on how well the kids did and how much fun we all had. Our conversation turned to when we will return to Dutch Wonderland, what other side trips we want to do in the PA area (Hershey? Hanover? Sesame Place?). I think we decided to visit Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg before heading back up North.
Anyway, I guess our guard was down because the next thing you know, Jeff takes the wrong direction on Highway 276. We are practically in NJ before we realize our mistake. Rather than turn around, we take the NJ turnpike and add on an extra 45 minutes to the already 4 hour drive heading home.
Ah, but it gets better. After crossing over the Delaware Memorial Bridge we soon hit a major traffic jam. It takes us almost a full hour to go 4 miles. Oh my!! Once we make our way through the traffic, we stop at a Cracker Barrel for dinner and find there is a 45 minute for a table. This is at 7:00pm!! We get back in the car and cross the street to McDonald's. Funny enough, there is no wait for a table. :)
These setbacks on the drive back home would take much more than this to break my spirit. We had a wonderful couple of days doing and seeing things we haven't done before. I have a taste for traveling with the family now and want to keep it going.
LINKS FOR ALL THINGS TRIP RELATED:
Hotel
DoubleTree Resort Willow Valley
Horse and Buggy Ride
Aaron and Jessica's Buggy Rides
Cherry Crest Farm
http://www.cherrycrestfarm.com/
Strasburg Railroad
http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/
Dutch Wonderland
http://www.dutchwonderland.com/
Outlet Shopping
http://www.rockvalesquareoutlets.com/
Manoff Market Garden Farms
http://www.manoffmarketgardens.com/
Tips that made this day such a success:
1. I can not say enough good things about the iTouch. In fact I am composing a blog titled "Ode to the iTouch" because I adore it so. It made the drive to Lancaster, Solebury and back to NoVa very enjoyable and peaceful. The kids got to watch or play what they wanted and the hours on the road flew by.
2. Sam slept for about an hour on the drive back. It was just long enough to refresh her and not too long that she couldn't go to sleep the minute we walked back in the door at the end of the trip.
3. Snacks, snacks, snacks. We packed plenty of food and drinks to keep the kids fed in case we weren't in a position to stop to eat. Which just so happened when it was 6:00pm and we were stuck in traffic for one hour trying to go 4 miles making our way to a toll that only had half the toll booths opened and caused a major back-up.
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