Wow… what a whirlwind week we have had! We had a basically free trip to New York fall into our laps. Our Aunt Pucci (my sister) is in the process of moving back to Texas after living in NYC for 5 years. She came to Texas for our Grandma’s birthday at the beginning of March and decided to stay for a while to search for an apartment and start the planning process for a cross county relocation. While staying with us, she decided that it would be more cost efficient to purchase a vehicle and drive to NY to get her stuff, rather than rent a U-Haul or something similar. Those things are expensive and she doesn’t have *that* much stuff that is meaningful.
Two days before she was scheduled to leave on her drive back to NY, we were watching Frida, the movie about the painter Frida Kahlo. I am teaching an art class in co-op this semester and one of the artists that we studied was Frida and I have become a little obsessed with her. As we were watching the movie, I was googling the locations of certain pieces of art and came across one that hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I told Lauren that she needed to make sure to find time to go to the MOMA before she moves back and to be sure to take a photo for me. She jokingly said that we should just come with her. And the idea was born… I googled the cost of flights for me and the kids to fly home and it was out of our price range so I put the idea out of my mind.
The next day we took Grandma to eat and Lauren cracked a joke about us coming with her. Grandma jumped on the idea and said that we should most definitely go with her. When I explained that I had already looked into it and that it just wasn’t in our budget, Grandma said that she would pay for it. Uh, what? I wasn’t expecting that! All of a sudden my brain started searching for a reason why we couldn’t go. But as I started working through it, everything started falling into place. Co-op was easily taken care of (so thankful for my supportive HS friends!), Chris and Julie both urged us to go, and planning the trip with only one day to prepare wasn’t as difficult as I was anticipating. I think this trip was meant to be.
We spent all day Sunday doing laundry, packing, grocery shopping, and prepping for the trip. I feel like it was easier to plan for this trip than it was to plan for any other trip we’ve taken. Less time to freak out and feel anxious, I guess. And I’ve always worked pretty well under pressure.
We pulled out of our driveway at 4am on Monday morning.
Roadtrips are the one time that I am actually thankful that my kids are obsessed with video games.
We stopped for a picnic lunch at a park in West Memphis, Arkansas.
Unfortunately, it started raining on us!
We hit traffic in Knoxville Tennessee and the kids started getting antsy so we bailed off the highway and stopped in at a McDonald’s to play and eat. I really, really hate McDonald’s but when it’s the only option and kids are screaming you gotta do what you gotta do. They played for an about an hour before we hit the road again.
We stopped for the night in Christiansburg, Virginia. We slept in a little and tried to have a relaxing morning in the hotel before hitting the road again. We drove about 16 hours the first day and had about 8 hours left. I didn’t take any photos, but we stopped at a Chick-Fila for lunch in Pennsylvania so we could stretch our legs. I had planned to stop off at a park and have a picnic, but we hit some nasty weather along the way and it was cold and rainy.
We started to get close to NY around 8pm
We took the Holland Tunnel from New Jersey into New York. The kids were amazed that we were driving under the water, but a little disappointed that the walls weren’t made of glass so they could see, haha. 
The Holland Tunnel spits you out into Manhattan. It was so crazy to actually be in NY.
Traveling 8 miles took nearly an hour!
We made it safely and we were even able to find a parking spot right in front of Lauren’s building! We gave the kids a nice warm bath with some lavender to calm the excitement from our whirlwind road trip and then settled in with some dinner.
Stay tuned for more from our adventures!