The Bonner Family Blog: Road trip through the South

We did it! We covered about 500 miles. Together. Just me and Avery. Me and the 4 month old baby. No husband. Just me. And Avery. Hittin' the road:)

To be honest, I was pretty anxious about taking Avery with me for a 3 day weekend, but we did it and had a blast! We went from Irmo to Knoxville, TN, for 2 nights...then, to Asheville, NC, for lunch with my cousin Jean...then, to Gaffney, SC, to stay the night at Wade's parent's house...then back to Irmo!

In Knoxville, I met up with my 3 closest friends from UT, Stephanie, Beth, and Sonya. Beth and I were roommates for 5 years and we all got to know each other through a Bible study our freshman year. Interestingly, we all had baby girls in the past year! Beth had Charin in April 2008, Sonya had Braelyn in September 2008, Steph had Addie in November 2008, and Avery was born in February 2009. This was the first time we all have been able to see each other and catch up on everything...and there was a lot of catching up to do:) It was a great time and I'm looking forward to next year already!

Avery and I stayed at Stephanie's house Friday and Saturday night. We shared a room, something we haven't done since she was 6 weeks old. I was nervous about this...wondering if I would wake her up or she wake me up...but, Avery was out like a light around 9:30 pm each night and slept like a rock in Addie's pack-n-play. Yay! I had her noise maker going at nearly full blast to help tune out any background noise too. She did great and I slept well too:)

Ok...I learned a good lesson as I was driving to Knoxville: Always believe the warnings on the overhead marquee signs on the interstate!

As I was driving on I-26 East, I saw the overhead sign and it said "I-26 East in NC, MM 62, All lanes Blocked, Consider Alt. Route".

My stomach dropped.

What? All lanes blocked? Seriously? Oh no. Where is my Garmin? Oh, it's in Wade's car. Ahhh!!! (insert quick prayer) I better think fast...

So, I called Wade and wanted him to find me an alternate route to take...but, he had already left work and couldn't help me.

Oh no. Who else could I possibly call? Who had a computer in front of them and could look up a map quickly? Ahhhh!!! I do not want to be stuck on the interstate with nowhere to go and a crying baby in the backseat. Help! Think fast...Ok, I'll call Stephanie. Surely she could help me...

and she did!

She really did. She quickly got online and found an alternate route for me to take. I got off the interstate in Landrum, SC, and took Asheville Highway through the towns of Tryon and Saluda (both are very cute little mountain towns!). I hopped back on the interstate near Hendersonville, NC, and it was smooth sailing.

BIG sigh of relief.

By this point, Avery had woken up (I had to slow waaaay down on that back road) and was ready to eat. I got off at the first Hendersonville exit and found a McDonalds/Exxon to go to.

As I was inside, I overhead some women talking, saying "We were sitting in traffic for just a little under 2 hours. It was awful. Did you see that truck? Was there anything left of it?".

A little under 2 hours?! I would have cried! That's insane! That would have ruined my whole trip! Wow. God was really looking out for us!

Needless to say, I'm extremely glad I was able to call Stephanie and that she was able to help me so quickly...and that the interstate has those marquee signs that they can update easily. Whew. What an answer to prayer!

So, I gave Avery a bottle, filled up on gas, changed her diaper, and hit the road. It was an easy drive the rest of the way to Knoxville and it was easy for the rest of our trip too.

It was a great trip and it was really fun to get to see my friends again! I can't wait for next year and I'll remember that alternate route off I-26, just in case:)

Here are some photos of our girl time in Knoxville: