The Little List | October 13, 2022 | Family Road Trip Edition!

Oct 13

We just arrived back home from a ten day road trip - our first family vacation since having Mabel. It goes without saying that the past few years have been a whirlwind. I really grew to appreciate our home and the comfort and peace it provides our family over these strange and trying years, but along with constantly staying home came a lot of monotony. It took finally going away for an extended period of time to fully realize how much of a rut we were in. This time away was the perfect opportunity to unplug from work and responsibilities, reset our minds, and reconnect as a family. Our trip was simple, but so wonderful.

We hit the road on a Friday evening and made our way across the border (the first time since lockdowns hit!), travelling through New York State and Pennsylvania. We made a few stops along the way and stayed a few nights in Lancaster, PA, where many of Curt’s extended family live. We had the opportunity to meet up with many of them over dinner to catch up. They’re such a warm, welcoming bunch and it felt so good to be around them again. Eventually we hit the road again and travelled further south towards Virginia. Curt’s parents and siblings all live in Harrisonburg, VA, so we planned to spend a fair amount of time there with a short stint in the middle to visit the nearby Massanutten Resort. Eventually, by the end of the second weekend, we made our way back towards Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and then onward towards home.

As I mentioned, it was a fairly simple trip and we were able to stay with family for the majority of it, saving us a lot of money in travel costs. But we did hit a few hotels along the way and made sure to do a few activities just for Mabel. We ate some good food, had some good laughs, definitely experienced the expected been-together-for-ten-days-roadtrip-grumpies, and made it back home with a few treasures and even more special memories. I’ll never forget it.

In honour of our rejuvenating time away, I figured I would dedicate this week’s Little List post to some of our favourite parts of our trip. Maybe you’ll find yourself in some of these places too and this list can serve as some family trip inspiration. Here’s what we loved:

Before we left, Curt and I gifted Mabel this digital camera made specifically for kids. We really wanted to make this experience special for her and so we encouraged her to take pictures of her travels. It was a pretty low investment and turned out to be a really fun idea! She’s only three, so she isn’t able to journal travel notes, but she was able to fairly easily operate the camera and take snapshots of the trip from her perspective. It’s pretty cute to sneak a look at some of her photos and even though most of them are from the backseat of the car, I may try to print some off to keep in a special memory book.
One of the main family-focussed activities we picked for our adventure was hitting Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit Hershey’s Chocolate World. They have a variety of different tours and activities you can do at the world-famous chocolate factory, but we chose only two and pre-booked before arriving, knowing that Mabel would only last for a couple of hours. It was worth pre-choosing our activities and pre-booking time slots, as it proved to be extremely busy on a Saturday, but it was fun! We did the Trick-or-Treat Trolley Tour (a special version of their regular Hershey Trolley Works since we visited in October) and the Create Your Own Candy Bar experience. Mabel still talks about our visit to the chocolate factory, so we know it was definitely a highlight of her trip.
We had planned to hit Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, but the day we had purchased tickets for was really wet, damp, and cold. Mabel had already been nursing a cough and runny nose, so we decided to forgo the plan and instead went to some outlets just to get out, walk around and stretch our legs. We ended up getting Mabel a sweet pair of running shoes (similar to these) at the Nike outlet and she has barely taken them off since. Such a good investment.
My only request for the trip was that I wanted to go to Target, and preferably alone. I know it seems kind of basic, but we don’t have an equivalent to Target here in Canada, so when I get the opportunity to go, it really is a treat. I love to look at everything - and I mean really look. I came home with quite a few treasures like cozy new sheets and a quilt for our bed, new sheets for Mabel’s bed, a few small items for my upcoming powder room makeover, clothes for Mabel (I couldn’t resist this pajama set), clothes for Curt and I, and even a new pair of shoes. I went twice and probably could have even gone a third time.
While we were in Harrisonburg, Virginia, we were able to stay with Curt’s parents at their townhome. They were generous enough to feed us meals, but we also made sure to visit a few of the many delicious restaurants that Harrisonburg has to offer. Seriously, they have some of the best food. We took Mabel to Jack Brown’s for burgers one night, grabbed a healthy lunch at A Bowl of Good, got ice cream at Kline’s (twice), and even went to Mr. J’s Bagel’s more times than I can count. We also hit Merge Coffee Company and Black Sheep Coffee for coffee and let Mabel try some jellybean popcorn from Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn. All delicious. All worth it.
During our stay in Virginia, we ventured over to Massanutten Resort for a two-night stay at one of their hotels. It was a beautiful place and we enjoyed an absolutely delicious dinner at their Campfire Grill, but generally, I think it’s a better place to visit if you have older kids and/or are more outdoorsy and adventurous than we are. They offer activities year-round, including golfing, skiing, hiking, and much more. Although there wasn’t much we could do with a toddler, we did visit their indoor waterpark and I would 100% recommend it. It was a highlight of the trip for all of us! In the future, I would definitely venture there again for an afternoon of fun without staying overnight at the actual resort.
I had prepared various activities to keep Mabel entertained in the car. I’m hoping to share more of the tips I have in an upcoming post, but I will just say that she did great with all the travel and even learned a road trip game or two. She loved playing I Spy and was really in tune with all the new sights she got to see, like lots of deer, some mountains, and countless airplanes up in the sky. I’m so proud of her for being so patient with all the driving.