613

miles driven today.  99.9% of which were on Interstate 40!  Driving across Tennessee is beautiful, but staying on one road the entire time is Boring with a capital B, and of course it RAINED.  Thank goodness we seemed to miss the severe weather that blanketed the area today, but I can not drive through that state without getting caught in rain (about 5 or 6 times today).  It did make K happy, though, because she was able to use her new Hello Kitty umbrella when we stopped for lunch. 

I drove on a part of Interstate 40 I have never been on before (southeast of Knoxville, TN toward Asheville, NC through the Smokey Mountains) and I have to say it is THE most fun road I've ever driven on.  It really made me wish I still had my little red MR2.  To give you an idea of what this road was like, the posted speed limit for trucks was 35mph.  On the interstate!!!!!  There were twists and turns and hills and valleys galore, and even a couple of tunnels.  I wondered why I saw a sign that said, "Take off sunglasses".  Ha!

Unfortunately I was a little too proud of my children yesterday.  Considering we have spent 22 hours in the car and driven almost 1300 miles in two days, it's understandable, but they were not nearly the super travelers today that they were yesterday.  J took two naps and K took one long one, which did help (especially since we were on the road before 7am today), but I can't tell you how many meltdowns my little girl had.  Even J, toward the end of the day, got very antsy and started acting up and they asked me EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES all day long "When will we get to our hotel??"   I'm trying to be Super Mommy and not lose patience because I know this is a crazy schedule for them, but there's only so much I can take after driving that much and doing it solo!

On the fun stretch of I-40 I was surrounded by huge NASCAR semis who showed no disregard for the speed limit or the fact that trucks were restricted to the right lane.  I don't know if the NASCAR drivers were driving the trucks themselves or what, but it was insane!

We are now at our super cool hotel which has a nice pool, hot tub, AND two tubular water slides that go outside the building and end up inside the pool area.  J is going up & down over and over again, but unfortunately K isn't tall enough (or brave enough).

Tomorrow is another long day of traveling, but thankfully not as long as the previous two.  We should reach our destination by 3pm.  Ocean City, MD, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!