Made it to Colorado!

Wow, I have not updated in a long time! I've had some time, but not really, ever since my last post at the beginning of September, its be go-go-go for the McIntires!

Basically, our last 2 weeks in Fayetteville went something like this:
Workout at the Y almost every morning. The girls got to play, and I got to run, but literally would spend less than an hour, sometimes less than 45 mins there, because then we would have to head home and have lunch, and put babies for their naps. Then I would find other things to do, i.e. Paint the kitchen, then paint and chalk both bathrooms. Meanwhile, Aaron did other things, like take donations to goodwill, replace bathroom facets and shower heads. We also had the house power washed, and placed nearly all our furniture on Craig's list. Before we left, we sold our washer/dryer, kitchen table, living room couch, bed/mattress from the spare bedroom and baby walker. Since we were moving into my mom's house, we obviously were not going to need these things. The best part was, none of it was picked up until the day the packers/mover came to move us, so we weren't living on the floor or anything, other than our last night in our house.

The movers came on a Friday morning (Sept 16th). The 2 packers and 3 movers, had everything loading into their gigantic truck within 6 hours. We didn't have to pack anything, other than what we would be bring in our cars. The last night in our Raeford house was bittersweet. We lived there over 2 years, and since we own it, at some point we may be going back to it. (Lucky for us, we had it rented out less than a week after we left it.) Our last meal there was at a delicious Mediterranean restaurant. The last night I spent mostly cleaning and taking care of sickies babies. Aaron was sick, Kelly got it that night, pretty much loosing her voice, and Layla had it by Saturday morning. None of that mattered though, we left by 0930 Saturday morning. Because we have 2 cars, Aaron and I would be driving solo, him with Kelly and me with Layla.

I would have thought after driving from upstate NY to NC in August that the drive to CO would have been an even bigger nightmare, especially with sick babies. However, I was indeed pleasantly surprised and grateful it was not. The first day we drove through NC, past beautiful Asheville and into Knoxville, TN. We drive about 300 miles that day, and stayed at a Marriot. Because the babies did so well in the cars, resting a lot and all, they were both ready to play all night! I don't think they went to bed until around 10pm or later!

The next day we got up early and I ran about 3.5 miles before we drove around 6 or more hours through beautiful TN (reminded me of upstate NY, because of all the trees--Smokey Mountains are smaller, but still very pretty! I am definitely a mountain girl! haha) to Memphis, having stopped in pretty Nashville for a delicious meal at a top notch Mexican Cantina. Memphis was kind of dumpy, but we stayed at the Marriott Downtown, which was a very nice hotel. We went to Beale Street for dinner, which was basically a tourist trap, because the BBQ was disgusting! We ended up getting most of our money back, because it was really that gross and couldn't even force it down. So we had a couple beers, and walked around all over the place. We probably walked at least 3 miles that night, each wearing a baby, I had Layla in the front carrier, and Aaron had Kelly on his back.

Monday morning we had to find a store to buy dry ice from. We had over a gallon of frozen breast milk we were transporting, and the dry ice only lasts about 24-48 hours. Also that morning, we both got up early and went running. Aaron ran through the city, and when he got back, I ran on the hotel treadmill for about 30 mins.  With all the junk we had been eating, it was nice to get a couple workouts in. That morning was not good however. Right before we were about to walk out of the hotel room, Kelly puked allllll over herself and the bed. So I gave her a quick bath. It was mostly mucous, because she had been battling a productive cough and nasal congestion for several days at this point. Then we left the hotel and made our way further into town to find the Kroger we were getting the dry ice from. We all went in to the store, because we also were finding breakfast, and I really wanted fresh fruit. So we did that, got the BM repackaged, and were about to leave, babies in their car seats and all, when Kelly puked again! This time all stomach bile. So I sent Aaron into the store to get towels, while I attempted to strip her down and clean her off. Just as I had her standing in the parking lot in only her pull up, I look up and Layla is projectile vomiting! I look around for Daddy, but he was no where to be found.

I got the girls cleaned up, and re-clothed, and again we were on our way. I would have thought that this was going to be the worst day, but the only other bad time was when I started my PERIOD for the first time in like 3 years! That was shitty. But the rest of the day was uneventful. We drove through the boring state of Arkansas and through Oklahoma, and setting in at the Courtyard Marriott in OKC. By the time we got there, we had driven over 370 miles and about 7 hours of just driving, so I was pretty exhausted and grumpy. Plus I was also feeling sick too. That night was like all the rest, babies up late, mommy wanted sleep. But it wasn't too bad.

The next day we drove probably about 7 hours, to make it to Clovis, NM. That is where Aaron's brother Sam is stationed (Air Force). Clovis is basically a dump, but Sam lives in a cozy house that had a swing set in the back yard, and Kelly really liked that. We grilled out and then basically went to bed pretty early because we were exhausted and Sam had to work the next morning.

The next day, Wednesday, was our last day on the road. We took the back roads out of New Mexico, which offered really beautiful veiws from dinky little mountains, and platues, but it was interesting any ways. It was a little scary, because there was absolutely no cell phone service and from where we got gas until we found another gas station was well over 200 miles and my oldie but goodie Rav4, filled as it was, could barely get 250miles to the tank. We eventually stopped so I could feed Layla, somewhere I think still in NM, and then hit the road again. We managed to make it to Colorado within about 4 hours, and from that point, it was only another 3 or so to the place we would call home for the next few years, at least.

Everyone, especially me, was so happy to see us. We arrived here at my mom's house around 4:30pm. I was so mentally spent, I couldn't wait to go to bed! Kelly was insanely happy to see Uncle and Nonnie. She latched onto Dylan and was squeezing him and kissing him so hard, it was so cute! The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Aaron went and picked up some champagne and we toasted a safe journey back to the mountains.

All in all our road trip was not really bad at all. We drove 2,016miles over the course of 5 days and 4 nights. We spent an ungodly amount of money on gas and food, thanks to the U.S. Army. In fact we are set to make about $4,000 or more, just because we moved and were "displaced." Yes the babies were sick, and yes it was hard driving 2 separate cars with 2 babies aged 2 and under, but I am so grateful to be here, it never mattered how much it might have sucked for someone else. Because we were doing it, I think we blocked out the parts that could have been really bad, its the only way we could survive :) And now we are finally home!