THE ROWE REGISTER: Spring Break 2018

Well, we are back from our first spring break trip out east! A while back, Judah had expressed interest in visiting Washington DC, which stemmed from all that he has been learning in school. Eric and I knew that we eventually wanted to take the kids to DC, and we had been trying to think of a road trip that we could do, so DC made sense. Our trip was packed with sightseeing, and everyone had a great time. Before I get into pictures, I wanted to jot down reflections/thoughts (of mine) from our trip:

1. I'm not sure why I feel the need to mention snacks, but I do. Maybe it's because I feel that this was so important to the success of our trip. Anyone who travels with kids knows the importance of snacks. This necessity increases when you are walking around all day. I think we heard "I'm hungry" about every hour. :) Eric purchased a messenger bag many years back that has been worth it's weight in gold, since this is what we use to carry water bottles and snacks. I'm not sure this trip would have been doable if it weren't for the "snack bag". Snacks save the day!

2. We went through 8 states, and spent $50 just in toll fees! Once in DC, we walked a bunch, but also took ubers all the time. Despite the fact that we Uber-ed everywhere, Eric's watch showed that he walked anywhere from 8 to 11 miles per day. Judah's vivofit jr. tracked him walking over 20,000 steps (at least) per day, and there was one day where he reached 30,000 steps! That's a lot of walking! Despite tired legs, the kids did fantastic. We took breaks and snacks (thanks to the "snack bag") when we needed to, and they were generally happy to move on.

3. While the two younger kids were glad to see and experience everything that we did, they also looked forward to getting back to the "house" to play, but Judah was always up for whatever was next to see or do. Judah rarely ever complained and was always happy to do whatever we were doing. As a matter of fact, Eric walked to get us breakfast almost every morning, and Judah gladly volunteered to walk with him (something that the other two and I would not be willing to do). We really appreciated his positive attitude and excitement for what we were seeing and experiencing.

4. Eric and I have learned that location is of utmost importance (and our primary focus) when looking for properties to stay in whenever we go somewhere. Sometimes that means we have to sacrifice space to get something that we can afford, but it has almost always been worth it. Eric was able to find a basement apartment in a row house on Capitol Hill. It only had one bedroom, but there were two pull out futons in the living room, so we put the kids in the back bedroom, and we slept on the futons. Staying in the heart of the city allowed us to experience the area in a more convenient way, as well as give us a fuller and richer experience during our vacation.

5. We had lots of stops along the way to and from DC. Our road tripping could have been shorter (and more efficient), but Eric and I have the mentality that if we want to see something that is generally in the area we are going through, we should do it if we have the time to do so (even if it's a tad out of the way), especially since we aren't sure if we will ever be back again. This made for some later-than-expected arrivals at the hotels in the evening, but the stops were worth it.

6. The weather craziness. We experienced everything from snow and high 30's to sunshine and high 70's during our week! Good thing we packed lots of clothing options.

7. Sightseeing road trips aren't always easy with younger kids, and we were wondering how our first historic sightseeing trip with the kids would go, but we honestly had a great time. Not everything was perfect (like Eric spraining his ankle on the way home), but everything all worked out and some neat memories were made.

DAY 1 & 2 (TRAVEL DAYS)

We left on Friday after I picked up the kids from school, and then picked up Eric close to his work. A couple hours before we reached our destination (Cleveland) for the night, the check engine light came on in the van, and the car didn't feel like it was running right. As we pulled into our hotel, Eric noticed that there was both an Auto Zone and Honda dealership right by the hotel.

He was able to get up early and take the van in to find out what the problem was. He was told that the code read that there was a cylinder misfiring, and that it would take at least two days to fix the problem. We could continue to drive on it and get it fixed in DC, but there was also a chance that the engine would stop working along the way. Since we didn't have two days to spare, we continued on our way hoping and praying that we would make it to DC.

We had the kids pray for our safety and that God would protect our car and keep it running. After we had been driving for a couple hours, the light turned off...and it never turned back on again for the remainder of the trip. Seriously. I kept waiting for the light to flicker back on, and it never did. The car was running as smooth as ever. This was one of those profound moments for me...when you see God answer a tangible prayer beyond what you were expecting. Right there. In front of your eyes. Growing up, my parents had stories of how God answered their prayers in these profound ways, and I always loved hearing them. In a small way, I feel like this is one of those stories that we can talk about with our kids. I know it's not moving mountains, but it's certainly moving a big hill, and that's more than we needed. Not only were we SO grateful to see God answer our prayer in this way, but I was also grateful that our kids could witness the goodness of God. Praise Him!

A light you definitely DON'T want to see on a road trip, but praise God for his goodness to us!

Happy to be on the road

We decided to take a small detour, and stop in Stoystown, PA to visit the flight 93 memorial. We stopped in the visitor center first, and then drove out to the memorial. This was a good time to talk to our kids about what happened on September 11th, why people like Todd Beamer were heroes, what being brave looks like, and also what memorials are and why we have them.

Seating arrangement in the plane. I think Todd Beamer was in seat 10D.

This shows where the plane crashed, and you can see how far the explosion and debris spread into the trees.

Some of the debris collected from the crash site.

Photo wall of all the passengers that were killed

This was also a memorable stop because the kids decided (with some prompting from their father) that they all wanted to get a National Park Passport book. This serves as a travel log of sorts, and allows them to get a stamp at any National Park Service Unit that we visit. During our trip, we got 26 stamps (not including two sites that we weren't able to get a stamp from). That's a lot of stampin'!

The kids proudly displaying their new books

This was the overlook from the visitor center looking out towards the memorial.

The wall in the distance shows where the memorial is

This is down at the memorial looking onto the field. If you try, you might be able to make out the rock in the distance. That is where the crash site was.