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    Road trip Day 4: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Louisville, Kentucky

    A quick introduction for those just joining us…

    Sharing our Road Trip, Day by Day

    From the day we arrived here and settling down, I’ve dreamed about sharing the daily logs from our road trip (which I shared only on my private Facebook page), photos and videos, as well as some funny adventure stories and practical tips/lessons for anyone planning to travel long distances in a very full car with very busy babies and/or toddlers. I wrote these daily updates as a way to keep our family in the loop and let them know, every night, that we had arrived at our next destination point safe and sound. Little did I know that we would get such a following of friends and relatives who were interested in following our trip! I am so grateful that God gave me the perseverance to keep them up because they are such treasures to our family now, and an online journal we can always look back on.

    Note: I have put the updates I wrote last year in italics so you easily differentiate what I wrote last year and what I’m adding today.

    I hope you join us for the next 15 days as we relive this forever epic #peitocaliforniaroadtrip! Below are the links in case you missed them.
    Day 1 Summerside,PE to Bangor, ME
    Day 2 Bangor, ME to Rochelle Park, NJ
    Day 3 Rochelle Park, NJ to Pittsburgh, PA

    Day 4: July 8, 2016

    Pittsburgh, PA to Louisville KY

    Good night from Louisville! I can’t believe we’re here!!! Our family is staying with one of my dearest friends, Colleen, her husband Matt, and little Baby Kenney who is about to make his/her debut in a few short weeks! What a gift to be here and we are so excited to be spending an entire day and some here- a happy reprieve from the 6+ hours of driving we’ve been doing daily since we left PEI.

    Dominic’s first taste of fresh blueberry pie…

    Due to the late night previously we had a late start of the day. By late I mean Audrey was up by 6:30ish, Dominic by 7ish and we finally conceded to their complaining around 7:45ish and started puttering around. It turned out to be gorgeously warm day with a refreshing breeze which made breakfast on the deck just perfect. We were spoiled with so much fresh, delicious gourmet food, strong coffee that lifted your spirits, and such wonderful company! Dominic ate more in that one meal than he did the previous days combined, and boy did we see it in his diaper changes all day! Haha. The joys of parenthood!

    We left Pittsburgh around 2pm, drove for a good 2.5 hours, tried to stop for a picnic lunch but found the area shady and unsafe so we continued on our way and I served as a human Lazy Susan organizing food for everyone, helping Brendon eat while driving (which included draping Dominic’s extra bib on him. lol), and managing clean up and food distribution. A big thank you to Christyl who packed us such a delicious lunch (they were a lot of mmmmmm’s while we enjoyed it) with such love and attention to detail! We ate EVERYTHING! What a treat for us! Thank you both for treating us so well, just like your own, and making us feel so much at home!

    Our next stop was Swaim Park in Montgomery, a lovely park with a playground near Cincinnati. There I got to visit with Maria, a friend of mine from my RI days. She was so sweet to meet us there so the kids could get some energy out in a healthy way (instead of screaming and complaining in the car), and brought us some treats to help hold us over until we could make it to Colleen’s for dinner. It was so good to see you, Maria!

    An hour and 45 minutes later we finally arrived in Louisville. Colleen and Matt instantly made us feel so much at home. There is something to be said about southern hospitality! 🙂 I probably could have stayed up all night chatting and catching up with Colleen, but our babies are making sure we get the rest we need.

    Despite what Audrey’s face may seem to say, these kids loved our short but oh-so-sweet stay here with the Pittsburgh Browns.

    I am so floored by the generosity and love of the people we have visited with along this trip so far! All of them so faith-filled, so down to earth, so filled with God’s love. We feel so blessed to have these people in our lives, and they help us forget any discomforts and challenges we experience in this road-trip! May God bless you all for your generosity and count on our prayers! Praise God we have made it thus far without any issues. Nighty night!#peitocaliforniaroadtrip #day4_pittsburghtolouisville

    Maria brought us some cool treats – perfect for a hot summer day in Ohio.

     

    Practical Tips & Funny Stories of the Day

    1. Wholesome Meals: Never underestimate how much good a wholesome delicious meal can do for the body and soul. Preparing a homemade meal is such a wonderful act of charity for travelers! Christyl packed us a generous lunch for the road- a cooler bag filled with sandwiches, the most delicious pickled broccoli I have ever tasted, a salad and so many snacks and left-overs including that heavenly blueberry pie we had for breakfast. Not a single crumb went to waste and we savored every last bite! Details like these made us feel so loved!
    2. You will never regret making time for friends, parks, and good food!