A very long car trip

So on December 26th at 7:00 am we left Jacksonville for the final leg of our move to Virginia. According to my TomTom it should have been a 10 hour ride. A bit daunting since we had the car packed to the limit with personal possessions, not to mention Christmas presents, the 4 of us and Sadie.
It started off fairly well. It was a bit cold and drizzly but we were excited for the new adventure. Still pumped over a wonderful Christmas with Jen, Jeremy & Charlie. We celebrated as we passed the state line ~ leaving Florida and entering Georgia.
Julianne slept through Georgia and into South Carolina ~ still making great time. Richard and I getting to chat and catch up on the last couple of weeks since he was in VA and I in Fla supervising the move. Nate was happy in the backseat playing on his Ipod touch. All was right with the world. Nate asked if we thought the rain would turn to snow. Richard was doubtful but I predicted we'd see snow about the time we were leaving North Carolina. BOY we we ever wrong!
We were still in So. Carolina when Richard said ~ some of these rain drops are looking a bit like snow. Sure enough, I could see a flake or two mixed in the rain and within 10 minutes of that conversation ~ it was full on snowing! No snow on the ground or the road which was great but definitely a good snow. The kids were excited.
By the time we got to North Carolina ~ this was the view all around us. It was beautiful. The sun was shining and the roads were still clear.
Of course not much further than that and we starting running into much slower traffic, sometimes coming to a complete stop.

It was pretty funny though, stopping to get gas and take Sadie for a walk ~ more importantly, her first walk EVER in the snow. She wasn't quite sure what to do but she was certain she didn't want to squat in it! As you can see Nate was quite amused at poor little Sadie but eventually she got her business done and we got back on the road.

The excitement doesn't end there though folks... all this stop and go traffic had us running a bit behind and about the time we hit the Virginia border it was already getting very dark. It did stop snowing about then which was good but the roads were still very wet and the signs everywhere were blinking warnings of ice on the road. The road was also getting much more populated and people in Virginia ~ You all drive waaay too fast! The uncertainty of where we were, combined with the weather conditions in the dark had me really nervous. I had to keep remembering to unclench my teeth ~ but by the time we reached our house ~ three and a half hours later than we had hoped ~ I was a wreck.
But, thanks to my darling husband, we reached our destination safely and in one piece. We were all pretty tense ~ the kids getting on each others nerves as well as ours but I supposed that's to be expected from a 13 1/2 hour car trip in a packed car. We stopped and got some dinner/breakfast (Thank you IHOP) right by the house.
We are sleeping on lawn chairs, blow up mattresses and floors. But we are here ~ so let our new life begin!