Trip Report: Pennsylvania

Objective: Take Mother-in-Law to Pennsylvania for her Sister-in-Law's Surprise 80th Birthday Party

Friday, July 14

I was really nervous about getting my Mother-in-Law through the airport. I planned everything. I left exceptionally early and everything was going very well. Little traffic, quick parking shuttle, no line at the American Airlines desk (what?!?!?!) and the cherry on top...we got randomly selected for TSA Pre-Check.

By 9:50, we were at our gate, Starbucks in hand, waiting for our 12:10 flight.

Then, we started getting alerts that our flight was delayed.

Then, our flight got cancelled.

Balls.

We got our flights refunded and then hopped in a rental car and started driving. While driving, I cancelled a rental car, got the first hotel adjusted, and held a hotel room in Virginia. My MIL doesn't drive on the interstate.

We drove 8 of the 12 hour trip to Allentown, PA on Friday.

When we rolled into the hotel we had booked, there was a mix-up with our reservation and we DID NOT have a room. At 11:15 in the middle of nowhere Virginia. We were able to snag pretty expensive rooms at another hotel and slept for a measly 5 hours before getting up to get ready for the party and get on the road to finish our trip.

Saturday, July 15

I got up at 5:30, showered, dressed and repacked my clothes before getting back on the road at 7:00.

Here is the thing about Virginia that EVERYONE should know...They do not have real Dunkin Donuts. Even though they advertise them on the signs...DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. They are "Dunkin Donuts Express" which means they have donuts and a coffee station in a gas station. No breakfast sandwiches.

Things got exciting after that...I added three states to my "been to" list. West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

We made it to the party exactly 5 minutes late. Oops. Aunt Linda was in the parking lot when we pulled in. But we waited in the car and let her go in, waited 5 minutes and then went in.

There were lots of hugs and tears. We had a great get together and then we went to our hotel and crashed for a few hours.

After the break, we found a cute little diner and had a fantastic dinner before going to bed.

Sunday, July 16

Glorious sleep.

I got up before my alarm and washed my face so we could meet my aunts-in-law for breakfast. Then we all went separate ways. Some people took a walk, some sat in the lobby to read and I got ready for the family barbecue. We enjoyed a fantastic get together and lunch at Chris's cousin's house and then got back to the hotel around 5:30. I went swimming and all of the aunts and uncles sat on the pool deck chatting. At about 7:50, we came back in. My MIL and I ordered salads from a pizza place and watched Big Brother and Candy Crush.

Monday, July 17

Happy Birthday ME!

We got up and packed our bags and went met the aunts for breakfast again at 8:00 so we could get on the road by 9:00.

Then we headed to Hershey Chocolate World to take the free chocolate tour!

Here are some hilarious photos that happened because I was wearing a green maxi dress.

After our chocolate tour and our chocolate shopping spree, we got back on the road with plans to get to Roanoke, Virginia.

When we got to the hotel, I went swimming again, then I got 2 drinks and a cupcake from the hotel bar (Hyatt Place rocks, FYI) and we ordered a pizza and settled in to watch The Bachelorette Home Town Dates.

Tuesday, July 18

I had a bit of headache when I woke up, so we just packed up and went down to breakfast before we left. Hyatt Place has one of the best included breakfasts out there. After breakfast, we loaded the car and headed back to Nashville. Tuesday was a rough drive. I was exhausted.

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