Day 9- The Long Drive Home

We left Anna Maria Island at 8:30 on Saturday morning. By the time we dropped off the key and got off the island it was 9:20. Getting out of Florida took FOREVER! The traffic was horrible and moved slow. Delia and Joel were about 30 minutes ahead of us so they'd text us updates on traffic (back ups and construction). Wendy/Jay and Krista/Rhett were 10 miles behind us. We never ended up seeing each other, but it was still nice knowing that we were all sort of traveling together. 

We stopped to see the 13 foot alligator advertised on various billboards. I have to admit that I was disappointed that they forgot to mention that the alligator was stuffed and mounted in the gas station. Lol. This place was the biggest tourist trap filled with anything related to Florida. 

Erin thought these coconut monkeys (like on Mickey) were funny. 

We continued on our way and it seemed like years until we made it to Atlanta. There were traffic backups, detours and more traffic.  A stop at the Waffle House rounded out our evening. They do have great waffles! 

Will thought he was really funny to climb into daddy's seat and drive. He even buckled himself in. 

And not to be outdone, Erin climbed into my seat.

After watching Frozen (three times) and Cars the kids fell asleep around 9:30 (Will had been up since 6:30 am and Erin 7:00 am with no naps). It was at this point that we made the decision to drive all the way through to home. It was a long night and thankfully the kids slept until we got home. I only slept an hour and Mark did all of the driving both ways. He is awesome and I make a better passenger than driver. 

These pictures were taken in the middle of the night in either Kentucky or Indiana. 

We got home at 7:30 Sunday morning. Both of us were/are exhausted. But, it was worth it to have a whole day at home. 

We had an awesome trip and can't wait to go somewhere warm again next year.