Road Trip: North Carolina to New Jersey

I really wanted to get up to Vermont again before my brother and his family move away. I was so glad we were able to make this trip work the last few weeks of summer. Ben had some work in Virginia at the beginning of the trip and more at the end of the trip and worked from my brother's house one day. In the end, we were able to get away for two weeks but Ben only had to use five vacation days which was really nice. I had always wanted to visit Maine and this seemed like the time to finally do it. Our trip to Vermont turned into an epic road trip traveling 2,700 miles through 14 states. Definitely one of my favorite trips we've done. Car travel is so much less stressful than airplane travel. And nobody got sick!

The kids did great in the car. I created the "store" again where they could earn pretend money and then buy prizes throughout the trip with their money (mostly dollar store items). We had loaded up on library books before we left, including books about all the states we would be visiting. Lots of snacks helped too.

Getting ready to leave. These kids had no idea how much time they would be spending in the car. 

Our first stop was Richmond, Virginia, where Ben had a work meeting. The kids and I ate lunch and played at a park while we waited for Ben. And tried a delicious donut shop in Richmond, Sugar Shack. Our first of several donut shops on the trip.

Unfortunately, we left Richmond later than planned and ended up passing through D.C. at 5 p.m. It was pretty painful to inch our way along the beltway. Things picked up after Baltimore and we finally made it to a hotel in New Jersey for the night.

Licorice kept him happy in traffic.

Finally got the licorice cleaned up. And then this happened.