Pittsburgh

Day two on the road and I must say it went a lot smoother today.

It took me a long time to get to sleep last night as I was surrounded by a unanimous orchestra of nose flutes. All. The. Snoring... Even baby F!

I woke up before the children and the sun which means I have been a partial mombie most of the day but it did allow us to get a head start on the day.

I must admit I did enjoy watching the sun come up this morning.

We loaded up the car, bid farewell to our hotel and set out for central Philadelphia.

It was absolutely spectacular, and luckily the kids took a million pictures, but I won't be able to upload those images until we get home.

My favorite was a small fishing village we passed, with ornate homes set on the banks of a river, deep in the valley. 

The city is built using a beatiful gray stone. Which reminded my very much of Bath, England. 

The sky line rose up to touch the sky as the mountains stepped back behind us. 

We drove to the liberty bell center. Listening to youtube videos to give us a little more idea of the history.

After a small scary moment where I may or may not have driven down a one way road in the heart of the city. Oh and a spectacular argument with S as to why the spire on top of the distant tower could not possibly be the Eiffel Tower (which she did indeed find in about 300 different locations today). We arrived. The city was just waking up. 

We saw street vendors setting up their carts ready for a day of selling all different kinds of goods. I particularly enjoyed watching a vietnamese couple squabble as they set up their "hot meats" stand. Including hot dogs, hot sausage and hot mash.

The tour busses were also just getting going and it took a lot of restraint not to hop on.

   

I guess it was a little sunny lol.

The liberty Bell center is pretty much the center of the city. It is surrounded by many museums and memorials. I feel it would be impossible to do this magnificent place in one day. We took a look at some of the outdoor exhibits which touched on slavery and the fight for freedom. Also a fascinating archeological site, which has an old kitchen cellar dug up and preserved. 

                           

Then we joined the line for the Bell.

After a pleasant 30 minute wait, enjoying the chitter chatter of fellow patrons they finally allowed us in.

We decided to go right to the back and look at the bell before the rest of the crowed joined us, then work our way back through the exhibits. 

The children we more excited than I thought to actually see the bell. Although J remarked it was rather smaller than he has imagined. S remembered the bell had been rung for George Washington's birthday and G stated she would not appreciate living in a town where she could be summoned frequently by the loud clanging of a bell.

G was absolutely amazed that everything in the exhibit at the Liberty Bell Center was in fact about the Liberty bell... She felt the need to point out all the bells along the way.

Look mum, even the chair has a bell on it!

After our brief detour it was time to get on the road again. I must admit I felt a twinge of sadness over the fact we could only spend one morning there but we had 397 miles to cover today and it was time to head to Pittsburg.

The drive was stunning. We headed out of the city and right in to the heart of the mountains. My GPS took me on to a toll road at which I was most confused. I assumed I would pay my $3 like I had thus far been doing and be on my way, but this one was different. This one required a ticket with the promise of a $40 bill to follow. I took a big gulp and set back in to driving... There was no way out now. 

 We saw the Appilation trail and the beautiful blue ridge mountains. The kids were quite excited that we got to drive through tunnels directly under the the mountains. We of course tried to hold our breath the whole way through but S was distressed that I "MIGHT DIE!!!!!" so we quickly left that behind for want of a quiet ride.

We found a podcast about famous women throughout history and cruised on down the road. I believe it was called something along the lines of Dangerous stories for rebel girls. I highly recommend it.

Eventually we had to stop.

 

All of us desperate for the bathroom we hurried inside as fast as a family of 6 can, when half of its members are 6 and under. 

We scored the family bathroom which is a rare and magnificent treat and S even managed to relax enough she could cope with out her headphones. We all took care of our business and as I went to take baby F from G I suddenly felt something soggy fly at my head. Guess who decided this would be the perfect time to try and use the potty for the first time ever... After ceremoniously throwing his diaper across the room in celebration (I like to think that my head was an accidental target) he proudly plopped himself on the totally unprepared seat of the cute miniature toilet in the rest stop bathroom.  After we waited a further 20 minutes for, absolutely nothing, we all cheered for a jolly good try and then took another 10 minutes of alligator roll type wrestling to stuff the reluctant boy back in to said soggy diaper. I feel the other guests waiting outside possibly contemplated calling the emergency services more than once as there was much squealing, shouting and muttering of choice words rumbling from within.

With a sobbing toddler and the rest of my crew with quickly and quietly exited the building. Outside was a cute little local farmers market so with hopes of cheering up the small boy one we went to check it out. There was all kind of fresh fruit and veggies. Delicious looking peaches and all manners of home made jam's, jelly's and preserves. 

With the mountains looming in the background it took me back to my childhood. Picking blackberry's in the mountains with my mother, and eating the delicious jam she would produce from it.

To my immense joy they actually had a jar of blackberry jam (not something you find quite as frequently here in the USA). I immediately knew I had to buy it to bring home to my mum.

The ride after that was mostly uneventful. Thankfully!

Today we managed to find our hotel the first time. The staff were so welcoming and friendly. They have even given us free breakfast for the next two days (this makes my whole day btw).

We came upstairs to another beautiful room, and this time we didn't have to make as many trips to the car because I was more experienced and prepared. Again all the beds we could possibly need. Although S has suddenly developed a deep and intense fear of "Allarmaclocks". So I did everything just short of cutting the wires off to get it to an acceptable level of presence in the room for her.

Then guys, I had a stroke of genius... tonight for the first time ever I used door dash. Somebody actually went and picked up our food and brought it to us and man was it glorious. I got the kids settled and relaxed, then we all sat down to a yummy hot meal. I AM NEVER LOOKING BACK PEOPLE!

I decided to get them all to bed earlier tonight as we have a full day tomorrow. We are going to the Pittsburgh zoo and aquarium for the day. I am most excited as I found out I have enough children to qualify for the group discount lol.  I know they are also desperate to try out the swimming pool so all in all its going to be busy. Plus we have a rather exciting secret zoo experience on the horizon tomorrow which none of them know about!

I decided we would spend two nights here so we could take a days brake from the driving. honestly two days in a car alone with this many kiddos requires a bit of a breather for all our sanity.

Any way!  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Better be off to sleep now.

Goodnight all

- Sophie