Driving to Maine...............

Washington DC TempleI know you've all been dying to hear about out trip up to Maine, so I thought this would be a good day to tell you all about it. Since we chose to stay a day longer in Warrenton, we were looking at having a very long day's drive up to Maine. And, just like everything else with this move, it was a struggle. We left town when we wanted to, but hit traffic within an hour. We needed to get to the capital beltway (the interstate that goes around DC) and then take it around until we hit I95. That was easier said than done. I don't ever really like to drive the beltway because the traffic is so heavy all the time anyway.

Maybe, I should back track a little here. We have 2 vehicles and the navy doesn't move any personal vehicles for you. So, that means that Chad had to drive one and I drove the other. This was probably one of the top things that I was dreading most about this move. I don't like driving, me driving, through big cities and heavy traffic, especially in places that I don't know. Chad and I have gone through lots of big cities together, with Chad driving, but I have never personnaly driven through them. (Except the capital beltway and some of the surrounding cities up there)

Now, knowing that we would have to drive the capital beltway, go through Philadelphia (which we found out later we could have gone around), drive the New Jersey turnpike, go through New York City, through Providence, and around Boston, I was having some major anxieties about this trip. And, Chad was following me, so I had to be the navigator, too.

Ok, back to the trip. We were in stop and go traffic, we hadn't even gotten to the beltway yet and Chad calls me. Noah's throwing up...................Unbelievable, huh. We really had no where to stop and after a short while Noah fell asleep. We decided to try and get to I95 before we stopped, but when I saw the exit that lead to the temple I decided to stop at the visitor's center and regroup.

Really, it was the perfect place to stop. We couldn't all go in together, because we had Nutmeg and it was so hot that we didn't want to leave her in the car even for a little bit. So we took turns going inside and seeing the visitor's center. Chad and I wished that we could stay longer. Just seeing the temple and being on the grounds was so peaceful and just felt so wonderful.

We managed to clean Noah up. Chad gave him a blessing, which was really neat on the temple grounds. We got resituated and were on our way again. I saw the temple in my rear view mirror, looking like it was floating above the trees. It was amazing. I wish I could say that it took my anxieties away, but it didn't. It was a much needed break, though, and I'm really glad that's where we stopped.

We managed to hit traffic practically everywhere we went. Philadelphia was pretty crazy and I really was not liking it. New York City was probably the worst, though. It was just completely insane. I just can't even put it in words that will do it jusdice--bumper to bumper, trying to get in the right lanes for the right exits. It was amazingly crazy traffic.

There was traffic in the cities, traffic from construction, traffic from accidents. I was really beginning to wonder if we were suppose to be making the trip at all. Noah never threw up again that day and that was a huge blessing. It was a very long day. We ended up staying outside of Providence for the night. We were exhausted and I was completely stressed out. We got in the hotel, ate a very late dinner, slept in our clothes and were out again before 7AM the next morning.

We hit traffic again throughout the moring, until we got to New Hampshire. The traffic definitely let up then. It was definitely good to see the Welcome to Maine sign. This is the first rest area in Maine and we stopped for a break and had to get a picture.

So, now we're here. We survived the trip, but if you've been reading, you already knew that. I know that for most people it wouldn't be that big of a deal to drive on their own, but for me, I didn't like it. It was really stressful to me. I have to say that I'm very proud of myself, though. I can now say that I personally have driven through all those places and I did a pretty good job of it, too, I think. I don't want to do it again, but still, I did it!

I've already told you about our house and we are starting to feel more settled. I think when Chad goes back to work then it will start to feel even more like normal, I hope. We're hoping that in the next couple weeks we'll be able to take a little drive up the coast to our "old stomping grounds" near Ellsworth/Winter Harbor/Bar Harbor. That would be fun. But, for now, we're here, we're getting settled and I don't have to drive through any big cities for a long time!