Florida trip report - travel day

Up and out the door nice and early is the only way to start a day of over 800 miles of driving!!  Our annual getaway to Walt Disney World and Zephrhills, Florida to visit grandma and grandpa was upon us and we were all excited to get there!!  Even my sleeper, Andy, was up with our alarm clock (that NEVER happens - EVER!!) We were on the road by 6 am and at 9 pm we were in Manning, South Carolina.  We always pick up those hotel booklets at the welcome centers when we know we are going to stop for the night and they really save a lot!!  DH was waiting in line to check in and the person in front of him paid $30 more without a coupon!! - I hate that and wished  I had picked up an extra one just to share!!  We stayed at a Baymont - had never heard of them until we went out to Cleveland, Ohio last summer and we really like them.  This one was a motel, not a hotel but it was still nice.  Large, comfortable beds, refrigerator, microwave, free internet, and all the channels we like on the TV.  The only complaint I had - and we just saw this on Seinfeld - was that I put in a 5 am wake up call, opened my eyes and it was 7!!!!  I was upset at first but then remembered that God has a plan and He didn't want us on the road that early for some reason, so I let it go.  All it cost us was time and we had the whole day ahead of us!! 

I have a tip for packing that I would like to share - my very good friend, Kim, shared this with me and I use it all the time, especially when packing up clothes that Austin outgrows until Andy is ready for them and especially when packing for a trip!!  If you roll your clothes, they take up less space.  Jeans and bigger sweatshirts, don't roll as easily but when you go to Florida this time of year, you have to pack for summer and winter and I got two weeks worth of clothes for all 4 of us, in 2 bags - I put as many in the bags as I could before rolling them, just to see if there was a difference - could only get one of the boy's clothes and my husband's in the bags when they were folded - had room for ALL of our clothes plus two beach towels when they were rolled. Nice for saving space on the trip - I am always looking for ways to have less in the van to take out at our destination..