Road trip, by the numbers

We're back from our first major road trip with the boys and it was a resounding success...of course, now we have to deal with the post-vacation let down - groceries, unpacking, laundry, bills, mail, etc. Ugh. I am also behind in my writing work...but I'm still going to take the time to update the blog with our trip highlights. Not sure what that says about my priorities!

We went from Virginia to Ohio to visit my relatives, Ohio to Chicago to see friends from Penn State, Chicago to Indianapolis, Indy to Dayton for the Air Force Museum, and Dayton back to VA.

So...our road trip in numbers would look like this:

1720 total miles, 31 total hours in the car

469 miles, 8:14 hours drive time, 10 hours including rest stops - day 1 (VA-OH)
379 miles, 6 hours travel time - day 4 (OH-CHI)
185 miles, 3:30 hours travel time - day 6 (CHI to Indianapolis)
117 miles, 2 hours travel time - day 7 (Indy to Dayton)
459 miles, 8 hours - day 7 (Dayton back to VA)

(For those of you doing the math, the 111 extra miles and extra driving time was around Ohio and Chicago!)

Then, there are all the things that can't really be quantified:

• The number of times (Day 1) that Brady sang God Bless America and Rudy responded with, "Brady NOT bless 'merica!!"
• Playing tackle football with the boys on a perfect autumn day.
• The number of times on the drive that someone said, "Wow! Look at the colors of those trees!"
  
• Watching the boys do all the things at Grandma's house that I used to love (OK, still do!) to do...ride the merry-go-round, play on the swingset, play in the pond, explore Grandma's woods, bake with Grandma, play marbles...
• Hanging out with our Penn State friends and realizing it was like we're still neighbors!
  
• How truly wonderfully the kids behaved the entire trip!