Day 1 Leaving Lorton(ville)

Welcome to our Cross Country Blog!  As you all know, Tae, Bailey, Korean Dad & I are on our way from Lorton, Virginia to sunny San Diego via cross-country road trip.

A couple of themes for this trip…
1)   no more than 5-6 hours of driving per day,
2)   visit friends wherever we can,
3)   eat at Triple D restaurants in towns we travel through, and
4)   have fun doing it!
  
Day 1 (N. VA to North Canton, OH)

We've been planning this move from some time and while we're sad to leave our friends and family on the east coast, it's time for the next chapter of our lives in San Diego. We hope our move inspires each of you to travel to the west coast for a visit and to find out why we love it so!  Our road trip started off simple enough with a mini van filled to the gills (don’t despair, the RV comes later in the trip!).  On day 1, Tae, Bailey and I traveled through Maryland and Pennsylvania (quite uneventful although we did get this awesome photo during that stretch of the road...)

and into Ohio to our first stop in Canton, Ohio.  What pray tell is in Canton you ask?   Our good friend Holly’s parents reside there and kindly offered to put us up on our first stop of the NFL Hall of Fame.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted with much fanfare and love. Mom and Pop Ziarko not only put us up for the evening, but served a first class meal in a home as lovely as a bed and breakfast.  Lucky us! I quickly became engaged with the tales of the kitchen renovation and missed the excess slurping of water by Bailey.  The slurping promptly resulted in a blessing of the Ziarko home.  Fortunate for us they’re a dog friendly family, hence not at all fazed by the inconvenience.  Thanks a million for your kind understanding Momma & Poppa Z!

Holly’s childhood home was filled with beautiful daffodils from the garden and plenty of cute photos of an adorable teenaged version of Cheerleader Holly! The backyard was a field of green shared by all the neighbors with not a fence in sight.  You could just imagine the many neighborhood kids whoops of joy as they played outside (back in the day) into the early evening each summer amid the calls from the moms to come home for dinner.

Dinner was filled with good food and great company!  The pineapple upside down cake was literally the icing on the cake:)  We eventually sent Bailey to bed and stayed up til the late hours of the night enjoying our chosen family.  Thanks again to the Ziarko’s for your kind, gracious hospitality!  Day 1 safely completed!

Bailey's Perspective

Today was a very interesting day.  Mommy and Daddy started packing up for what appeared to be another one of their weekend getaways.  But this time, they were packing boxes into a vehicle that I did not recognize.  A sliver Chrysler minivan with all the seats folded down…. So, I assumed it was going to be a weeklong trip or so. Then, mommy started bringing down ALL of her plants to the minivan as well.  Having my dog inspector license and using my feminine intuition, I realized this particular trip was going to be different.  So, I immediately went down stairs and waited by the door thinking “no way you are going to leave me here in VA while you go away on this fun trip!!”  The minivan was packed to max and daddy saved some space for my bed, where I can lay out and do what I love….sleep.  After taking pictures in front of the house, we started driving and both mommy and daddy seemed a bit sad.  I started thinking…. “we might not be coming back to our home anytime soon……”

We started driving….and kept on driving.  I tried to look out the window to see where we were going but I get dizzy and car sick easily.  So, I just listened to mommy and daddy say “Bailey, blah blah blah blah blah and blah blah blah, California.”  My ears perked up at hearing California.  I lived in California before and I loved every minute of it.  Hanging out in Carmel’s white sand beach and living the West Coast lifestyle….. it was truly amazing.  I am hoping that we are driving out to California, but then again, it is a very long trip and I am NOT looking forward to a drive across country.  As I was thinking about and contemplating on the possibility of the long drive ahead, I fell asleep.  I just needed some sleep to catch up on my beauty rest.

About 6 ½ hours later, that is 45.5 hours in dog years, we pulled up to a beautiful home with well manicured grass.  Yeah!!!!  I had to go take care of business (number 1), so timing was perfect.  Then, Aunt Holly’s parents stepped out of the house and gave us all a very warm greeting.  What a pleasant surprise?  I see them during Easter time in Alexandria, but we didn’t go over to Aunt Holly’s for brunch this year on Easter.  So, I was very happy to see them.

After a long care ride, I was very parched. So, as soon as I walked inside, I drank approximately 6 cups of water very quickly….too quickly perhaps.  Almost immediately, I threw up approximately 5 cups of water in the kitchen.  Don’t worry, I threw up on tile, not carpet….I’m not that rude.  I felt bad about the mishap but the long car ride had me feeling a bit nausea.  After settling down, we had nicely prepared flank steaks, double baked potatoes, and perfectly cooked vegetables for dinner.  After dinner, I was really tired. Mommy and daddy took me to the guest room and I fell asleep soundly for the rest of the night.  Before falling asleep, I wondered how long we will be visiting Aunt Holly’s parents…….. they are so wonderful, I can certainly stay here for a while and I would not complain at all.