Travel Log Day 7 - 11/21/11

The kids woke in the morning and we were all ready to get moving, well except for Eva who had decided she needed a bit of beauty sleep.  So everything was ready to go before breakfast which was nice and once we finished eating it was time to go off to our final destination Lake Charles Louisiana.

This was an average mileage day for us, nothing out of the ordinary about 360 miles, but it just dragged on forever.  We took side highways, and what I mean by that we were on a major highway for about one and a half hours and the rest of the day on roads that went from 60 mph to 35 to 70 to 35 again, single lane, double lane, passing lane turns, anything but an actual freeway.  While we actually averaged 70 mph, it felt long...really really long.  We gave in early on movies and just let them watch a ton.  Eva was a champ in the car, she slept, she sang and she played.  She hardly cried and if every time we were driving it was that easy I wouldn't even have to parent in the car.

By the time we stopped for lunch, around 12:45 the kids were fried.  They were done being in a car for days, done driving and were an emotional mess.  Of course the lack of sleep for Drew wasn't helping and Sean just wants to move, heck, I just want to move.  We ate a chain deli called Jason's Deli, as far as chain food goes it was about as good as it gets health wise, was reasonable in cost and okay tasting.  I wish I knew more about Beaumont Texas and where I should have stopped, Yelp wasn't particularly helpful with nearly every recommendation being a chain restaurant.  We ate rather quickly and much to our children's chagrin we left right after finishing, fortunately with only 50-60 miles to drive.

We pulled into my Dad's, tired, I'm sure smelly, and ready to relax.  About an hour into our stay we ditched the boys and went to Target to pick up some needed trip necessities.  It was nice having a home base for a week.  Mary Jo made us an incredible chicken and sausage gumbo.  Being in Louisiana where they really know how to create savory delicious food that is like having a bowl of feel good.  The kids discovered the greatness that is gumbo and were great eaters.

We were able to put our kids down relax a bit with my dad and Mary Jo, all this driving had paid off.  Spending quality time with my dad in his home and allowing my children to see Grandpa in his environment which was exactly what I was hoping for them.  The journey here was a breath of fresh air for us, we discovered what we could do as a family and it has really opened our options up for future years of vacation.  Hopefully Drew, Sean and Eva will spend the week connecting with Mammo and Grandpa and it will all be worth while.