Road Trip. . . with two babies. . . yeah. . .

Well, I believe the title says it all. Oh wait, it doesn't tell WHERE the road trip was, which is quite significant. . .

So, we decided that we would take a trip to visit my husband's parents. Now, my in-laws do not live in your average community. My in-laws live in a town called Charlottetown, which is located in the Labrador section of Newfoundland and Labrador, the province in which we live.

Charlottetown is a beautiful community. I just want to make sure that I make that very clear. It's a wonderful town with wonderful people. Now, that being said, it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We left our house at 5:30 in the morning to drive to the boat to take us to Labrador. We drove the 2 1/2 hours (or so) to Deer Lake, stopped to eat, and then began the drive from Deer Lake to St. Barbe (up the Northern Peninsula, where we had to catch the ferry). That drive is about 4 hours. We then took the ferry across, which was another 1 1/2 hours. Once we got to Labrador, we drove the beautiful drive through until we got to Red Bay (perhaps another 2 hours. . .give or take). Then we started the drive from Red Bay to Charlotte town. On gravel road. For 3 1/2 hours. On gravel road. With two very tired, very antsy babies. Did I mention it was on gravel road? haha. . . anyhow, after it was all said and done, we arrived in Charlottetown at about 7:30 pm.

This was on Thursday. Yesterday (Tuesday) we left to come back. We left the house at 4:30 am so that we could catch the ferry at 10:30 am. We drove the dirt road. Trust me, I have never in my life been so happy to see pavement! It was CRAZY! Anyhow, by the time we got home yesterday (Brad had to run some business in Deer Lake), it was 9:30 pm. What a horrific day!! But, we made it home. Although, now our children never want to see their car seats again. They were livid when we tried to put them in their seats to run out for a bit today.

It's amazing, though, what you have to consider when travelling with babies. Especially with babies so young, to somewhere so remote. Making sure we have enough formula, enough homogonized milk (we couldn't get any up there), enough diapers. Making sure to allow time to change diapers and to stop and eat. Finding a way to keep the mixed formula cool for the long day, and then trying to find a way to warm the milk when my baby needed it. And trying to pack the vehicle in order to fit everything you need for two babies is a feat in and of itself. Trying to fit two strollers (we have yet to find a suitable double stroller), the playpen, and luggage for the 4 of us. . . not to mention Brad's work supplies and the supplies I had to bring to try to get some work done for me. Obviously, we can't put anything in the back seat, since there are two car seats there already and there needs to be space between them for me when I have to feed Andrew. Thankfully, we had the good sense to buy an SUV in order to pack all of our things in. CRAZY. I remember the days when all we had to do was pack a suitcase each and throw them in the car to go. We won't see those days again for a while.

Despite all of the work, it's a wonderful feeling to put your family in the car and to go on a roadtrip. To have my oldest in the back watching a movie, and my youngest sleeping, with myself and my husband listening to the classics on the ipod in the front. To see my oldest child be so excited about being on the boat and seeing the water, waves, and whales that are inevitable when you take a ferry ride to Labrador. I so look forward to when the boys will actually be able to enjoy things like sight-seeing and museums and other road-trip/vacation type activities. I can't wait until those types of trips become common-place and we can document them in scrapbooks with pictures and stories. . .