Road trip to North Carolina.

We went on a road trip to North Carolina visit some friends last weekend.

Ella is a rockstar on road trips. She was a happy girl watching Calliou (her obsession right now) and Ni Hao Kai Lan on the iPad.

Whatever did we do in the  1970's and 1980's without technology on road trips? (Oh yes, I remember we played crazy car games, read books, and etc... but the iPad is an amazing tool to keep a 3 year old happy!)

We left Thursday mid-afternoon to begin our trek across Ohio...honestly for small-ish state it takes FOREVER to get out of it.

We were going to stop at some point in West Virginia for the night (cue the banjo music, I can say that...I am a descendent of a "hill family." ). We ended up staying in West Virginia but further than we anticipated...David rocked out the driving with the crazy inclines of the mountains, as well as, those crazy mountain road curves. It was also an educational part of the trip as David learned what a "holler" was, as well as, how to say it correctly and not like a Northerner!

We had a delicious breakfast the following morning....NOT. I thought we were far enough south to have a delicious southern style  breakie...I wasn't expecting microwave eggs, toaster pancakes, and instant oatmeal!

We made it to Raleigh in the afternoon and met up with Uncle Todd and Aunt Elizabeth soon thereafter. We went on a tour of downtown Raleigh, ate a delicious dinner, went and got some gelato ice cream and then crashed at our hotel.

The hotel area was so neat. The hotel was at the end of a dead end area/street, but all around on either sides of the street were resturants, shops, Target, a movie theater, it reall was neat. So, if you find the need to stay in the Raleigh area, then the Renassiance Hotel in North Hills is the place to stay!!!

We went for a great breakfast with Uncle Todd and Aunt Elizabeth on Saturday, went for a dip in their neighborhood pool (Ella liked dumping water on Uncle Todd's head), we played with their doggies Brie and Clouie, had dinner and a yummy dessert.

Sunday morning we left for Waxhaw, North Carolina to visit with Miss Debbie, Mr. Rick, and their three boys.

Ella and Zach had a blast with each other.

We cannot thank Debbie and Rick enough for their southern hospitality. They totally spoiled us in every way. We ate, we laughed, we ate some more, and the laughter continued.

We left Monday morning to head back home. The trip back started out a bit bumpy as we only went 40 miles in 3 hours!!! After that though, it was all smooth sailing.

We stayed in West Virginia again on the way back, and had a much better experience, and we arrived home on Tuesday afternoon!

We had a great time, but I think one long road trip a year is enough for....um...this Nommy!
~Nommy dee, Driver Daddy David, and our roadtrip rockstar Ella