The beginning of our Disney 2010 adventure

Emma says "let's go to Disney!"

When it comes to planning for a Disney vacation, I am obsessive.

I plan every little detail. Where we are going to eat (counter service or sit down), what rides we are going to ride at what time, what time we MUST arrive at the parks, when we are taking breaks, what snacks we should eat...you get the picture.

And, I obsess over the weather. Is it going to be sunny or rainy? Hot or cool? I start checking the extended forecasts on Accuweather.com and The Weather Channel at least 15 days before our arrival date.

And this time, I saw a lot of rain for our first full day of driving. We were supposed to leave home on April 24th and drive as far as we could and then arrive in Orlando on Sunday, April 25th. But...I told Kevin that I did NOT, under any circumstances, want to be driving through the mountains in Tennessee when it was raining or storming.

And so...our adventure started a day early.

Friday, April 23rd
Bright and early I check the weather for Saturday. It looks bad. Really bad. Kevin suggests "well, we could leave today at noon and drive for about 7 hours and then get to Orlando tomorrow."

I'm sold! I mean...arriving in Orlando a day early? That's music to my ears!!! And, due to my Neurotic Disney Mom-ness, we are completely packed (and have been for about 10 days). All we need to do is pack up the car and we can GO!!! (after Kevin works 1/2 a day and Olivia gets home from school and I take Emma to a doctor's appointment).

By the time Kevin gets home at 11:45 a.m. I have packed the entire car (yes, even the 55 lb suitcases were NO match for me!). The kids have been sitting in the car since 11:15 a.m. I'm pacing with nerves/anticipation/eagerness/anxiety! I just want to get in the car and GO! GO! GO!

OH MY GOSH WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

Noon: We are in the car. We stop at McDonald's drive-thru for lunch.
Finally! We are on the road.

By 3:30 p.m. we are in a traffic jam in Cincinnati. For the record, I dislike driving through big cities on road trips. Too much traffic and too many crazy folks who don't know how to drive. Case in point - as we near the end of Ohio and are crossing into Kentucky we are still in a JAM, yet the driver behind us is LAYING ON HER HORN in a futile effort to get us to somehow drive OVER the 100s of cars in front of us. She suddenly whips around us and then cuts us off, only to get off the interstate in a huge hurry...all the while, flipping us 'the bird' out the driver's side window as she drives away. Really.

Kentucky was a rather uneventful drive. The girls keeps asking "how many more hours?" and I jokingly ask Kevin every hour "Are we there yet?"

We make it to Tennessee and know that a trip through the mountains is ahead of us. I don't like mountains. Or big hills. I'm from the flatlands of Ohio - the glaciers took care of us a bazillion years ago. We have no mountains. Or hills. And that's just how I like it.

Thankfully I have Twitter to amuse me as we begin the drive through/over the mountains. I tweeted at least once "I don't like mountains!" Finally we are 'on the other side'. According to our trip tik from AAA, the rest of the "scenery" is "rolling hills" ... this I can handle.

We make the executive decision to stop just outside Knoxville, TN and are lucky enough to score the last room at a brand new Comfort Inn! We are tired, yet relieved to be on our way.

As I drift to sleep all I can think is "tomorrow we'll be in Orlando!" ... and I am happy.