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Driving across the USA
  • Elisa Gatti

Driving across the USA

A 150-day adventure by Elisa Read more
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  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti
    1

    Family Reunion Nags Head North Carolina

    May 25, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Elisa's mom rented a gorgeous house in Nags Head so everyone could get together.

    The house was 3 stories, has 8 masters bedrooms and 2 rooms with bunks and twin. They were 12 bathrooms. It can hold 18 people but we had 24 for a few days.

    The house had a pool, spa, right on the beach, pool table, small 2nd kitchen and bar downstairs with a pool table and 3 grills. A tent was also put up and taken down everyday on the beach.

    This was home for 7 nights. Danielle, Desmond, Daemon, Wade, and Aurora were 3rd to arrive late afternoon on Friday with Kristia, Charlotte and Maverick very close behind. Chuck's family of Michael, Dawn, Christian and Korban came a few hours later to make up the house for the 7 days.

    Elisa 's uncle Tom and aunt Claire, along with her 3 grown up cousins, Catlin, Juliet and Isobel, along with Caitlin's wife Maria all came late Friday night and left Monday morning.

    The whole week pretty much was hanging at the pool or beach, or drinking. This was the first time all the cousins got to meet each other all together. It was also the first time Michael and his family met Barbs family. The kids had a great time with each other. Brandon loved playing with Wade. Inara played with Charlotte more and warmed up to everyone by the end. Even Desmond was able to take her to the beach with no fuss.

    It was a good time and pretty relaxing. We had lunch out at a Seafood restaurant one afternoon and did some shopping & Elisa and barb went hangliding but other than that there wasn't much leaving the house. The last day we all went to the Dunes in Nags Head to check them out. There was crabbing at night as well as some game to play.

    Christian is a photographer and did family photos for a couple hours as well.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Hangliding

    May 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today Elisa and Barb went hangliding about 30 min from where we were staying. This was Elisa 's bday and mothers day gift. It was a mile high and approx 30 min long.

    Elisa said getting pulled up by the airplane was scary but the hangliding part was serene and cool. Barb had no idea what she signed up for but loved it and was more adventures than Elisa with the instructor doing a bit more moves.

    After that we went to a brewery called the Weeping Radish.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Family photos

    May 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Here are some of the family photos and then the shirt painting afterwards and bbq.

    Brandon had Caitlin help him paint his shirt to say "You're Killing me Smalls" as this has been a saying throughout the trip.Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

    June 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Our original plans were to meet our friends Sarah, James and Cora here at the KOA for the weekend and head to Busch Gardens amusement park and maybe Water Country USA. We had a cabin at the KOA rather than camping as we were both going to have a cabin, next to each other, as it was not possible to get a tent and cabin next to each other.

    The weather didn't want to agree with our plans and Sarah asked us to her house instead in Towson (Baltimore) Maryland. It wasn't going to be fun while there was torrential rain and thunderstorms.

    Today was a sunny day and wanted to make sure we used it wisely. We packed up the car and got out of the KOA before 930am.

    We made it to Colonial Williamsburg and had a few hours before we had to drive North. As we only had a few hours we bought a sampler pack which we got to go into 4 "red" buildings but did not include any of the museums.

    The kids got to play colonial games in an area just for kids, Brandon learned mancala, as well as another dice/numbers game. We also made it just in time for a archeological dig, where Brandon got to dig at a site. The dig uncovered glass, oyster shells, brick pieces, pottery and smoking pipe pieces. It was pretty cool.

    We got to see horse and carriages, people dressed up in period costumes and our last stop was the blacksmith and tin Smith shop house.

    It was an extremely hot, humid and sticky day, nearly reaching 40/100 degrees. Inara was so tired and hot she fell asleep on josh's shoulder sitting up while at the blacksmith. (She refused being in the pram). This is rare for her to do.

    Our 3.5 hour drive resulted to almost 5 hours because we are on the East Coast. There was numerous accidents that added 20 min here and there in the drive and well it is a Friday afternoon in June. We finally made it after a petrol stop and McDonald's dinner stop for the kids. We have almost driven 7000 miles and the first major traffic issues we have had.

    That night Jeff Janos, a old friend also joined us and it was great being around just chillin.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Baltimore Aquarium

    June 3, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    As we didn't go to Busch Gardens, the aquarium was perfect for a rainy cold day. On our way good old Jeff came to join us and we picked him up on the way.

    The Baltimore aquarium is Awesome. It's not huge but is layed out over 3 floors. The bottom floor is mostly reef and throughout the levels you can see the large pool below with the reef, sharks,fish and sea turtle. At the end we watched a dolphin snow as well.

    Afterwards we had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then hung out at the house. For dinner the group got crab cakes as Josh needed to have Maryland crab.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Dutch wonderland

    June 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Since we didn't get to go to Busch Gardens, Sara suggested we head to Dutch Wonderland a small kids amusement park an hour or so away from them.

    We had to check in to camping in South Delaware and was the wrong direction but was only an hour out of the way. Either from Dutch wonderland or from Baltimore, it was a 2.5 hour drive to our next destination.

    Off to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA (home to the Amish). It was a overcast day that started on the cooler side but by the time we left it was perfect temperature and sunny skies.

    Brandon and Inara had so much fun. The amusement park is just for kids and Brandon couldn't go on just 2 rides. We saw a cheesy dragon diving show and went on 95% of the rides. Even the dads, James and Josh went on the big roller coaster and had fun. Busch gardens might have not had enough kid rides. This was perfect.

    We left at 530 and made it to our campsite at Cape Henelopen State Park in De about 930pm, with a dinner stop at the Green Turtle. This was the latest we put up a tent and the latest night yet, not sleeping till 11pm.

    The camp must be full of wildlife as we saw a fox sitting in the middle of the street and Josh and Inara saw a snake near the bathrooms.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Rehobeth, DE Breweries

    June 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    As we got in late last night, we had a sleep in and a lazy morning. We got to see the campsite in the day light hours and it's a very cute place.

    We got into the car to check out the Cape Henelopen Beach and spent 2 hours in the little cute seaside town of Lewes waking around, getting coffee, window shopping and playing at the playground near the little marina /boardwalk.

    Our campsite is only 5 min away from the Cape May, NJ/ Lewes Ferry. Elisa's friend Deb and her family love in Cape May so they took the ferry over for a late lunch/early dinner.

    We added to our breweries and started at the Dog fish head brewery where we had food. We then headed to Revelation, a stop at the Rehobeth Beach and then to the Big Oyster Brewery before they had to load back on for 745pm ferry.

    It was a great sunny afternoon and all the kids had a great time.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Cape Henelopen State Park

    June 6, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We didn't need to check out till 12 noon, so it was another lazy morning. We actually got the car packed by 11 and then checked out the park.

    We walked to the old army barracks and went up the tower which we think was about 550 steps. We were going to have lunch near the park but it was a bit windy and Inara fell asleep before we could find a place to eat.

    We then had an hour and half drive to Elisa's sister Danielle's house to hang out with her family and all the cousins before her Dad finished work. We will be at Newark De for the next 5 nights.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Friday night shenanigans

    June 8, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We didn't do much today. It was hot and Lou can't do too much with a bad hip. The kids did scootering to the nearest park and Brandon even helped Nono walk the dogs.

    Danielle and her crew came over after dinner and had ice cream and then went to the other play ground near the house.Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Bowling with the family

    June 9, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we went bowling with Danielle' s kids and Lou, Elisa's dad. It was a lot of fun for all. The little kids could only do a game but Josh and Daemon continued on another 2 games with coaching tips from Lou.

    Josh had the best score with Elisa was the worst out of everyone. The kids did get side rails and assistance with the bowl.

    Danielle and Elisa took the kids to the arcade area and let them run a muck.

    After bowling we had an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant where Danielle thought it was amusing to get all of us Bday sundaes.

    It was a fun day for all.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Lazy Sunday and saying goodbye

    June 10, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Elisa woke up early to get her Dad a father's day gift as she thought it was Father's Day. Later after all her running around she found out it was next week. She went to Kolhs and bought picture frames as well as went to Walgreens to print out photos.

    In the afternoon we went to Danielle's house. Danielle and Elisa went shopping so Elisa could find an outfit for her reunion in July. Desmond and Josh watched the kids as they played with each other.

    This was the last time to see Danielle and her crew so we had to say a sad goodbye to them all.

    That night Elisa 's dad made a delicious steak which Elisa always raves about.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Elmwood zoo

    June 12, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today was a perfect relaxing day. We got up and had a lazy morning and then when Jack and Jen came home we made our way to the little Elmwood Zoo not far from their house. Jack and Jen have been members for years and have seen it grow over the years.

    The zoo was definetly little and local but it was so cute and had mostly animals that were endangered or critical. The kids were spoiled by Jack and Jen as they fed the farm animals, the bison and the parrot and birds.

    After the zoo we played at the pool and has an amazing rib and salmon dinner that our hosts has cooked for us.

    Nothing but a great day.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Sesame place

    June 14, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Lisa and Bill live 20 min from Sesame Place so it was the perfect place to take the kids on a gorgeous sunny day.

    We had a fun time and went all the dry rides and made it to some of water park. The favourite ride for Brandon was Oscar's wacky taxi. It was a super fast old ridgy roller coaster. Brandon went on both with Josh and Elisa as the lines we very reasonable.

    We got to see the 4pm Sesame Parade before we left back to Lisa and Bill xs house where we had yummy stromboli and pizza.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Walking around NYC

    June 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    We had our first night at Ger and Ed' s apt and we all slept well. The ac was on and the kids slept in our queen blow up beds together while the adults slept on the futon.

    Ger's neighbor Dianna and son came over and we then adventured out in the neighborhood. We got bagels, coffee, dollar store stop and then to the Greenwood Ave playground which was great.

    Ger had to work at 3pm, so after lunch we took the train into Manhattan and saw where she worked. It has a awesome roof top where they grow veggies and a beautiful view.

    We then left Ger to her few hours at work and we walked around down W Broadway and finished at the World Trade Center site and the new building in its place. We unfortunately had to take the train back during rush hour but we all made it back together. Josh almost had the door shut on him while trying to get into the train with the pram.

    The kids went to bed and us 4 adults had a lovely time staying up and chatting.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Coney Island

    June 20, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    This morning we made our way to the bagel shop and had a lazy morning while we waited for Ger to get home from work.

    The adults stayed up way too late the night before and finished the Tenessee whiskey in one sitting which Josh bought so were all a bit tired. The kids were cranky so after lunch it was nap time for all.

    After naptime everyone felt better and we made our way to Coney island. Brandon was unfortunately to small for most of thr exciting rides so we stuck with sno cones and a ride on the Ferris wheel.

    The Ferris wheel had cabins that swung or were stationary and we were adventures and went on the cabins that swung. The first swing was scary but the rest were fine. We had a great view of the city, boardwalk and beach.

    While we were up in the sky we saw the whalburger, a hamburger shop owner by Mark Whalburg, and we read about it months ago. We stopped there for gator tots and fries and made our way back to Ger' s house on the train.

    We wanted to get the kids to bed early but before we knew it, it waa already 9pm after dinner was finished.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

    June 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Another morning of sleeping in and being lazy as we wait for Ger to get home from work. Today she brought Cecil home with her, a friends little boy who is almost 5.

    We sunscreened up, hats on and out into Brooklyn. We had a decent walk to the Q line train where the we took the train to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Ger is a member there and used to volunteer there.

    There was an area for kids and of course lots of trees and plants. It was an extremely hot day and resting in the shade was the best part.

    We spent a few hours there before we headed back to the apartment. Cecil and Brandon got on fine, even though Cecil was quiet and Brandon loud and handsy.

    After Cecil left Brandon had a major melt down and we finally got him to nap at 5pm. It was a hot day and he just had too much. That night was quiet with NYC pizza and one last mancala game with Ed before we leave tomorrow.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    East Coast driving

    June 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Today we thought we had a easy drive from Brooklyn to Peabody, Massachusetts where we are staying with Elisa's Aunty Dina, Uncle Steve and three grown cousins.

    We have passed 8000 miles and 19 states.

    Yesterday Google maps said 4 hour 16 min, this morning it said 4 hours 45min and by the time we had reached our final destination it was a 7 hour drive including a short stop for lunch.

    We left at 1120am, as we had a lazy morning and waited for Ger to get home from work and day goodbye. We were very lucky and got a perfect parking place to pack up the car.

    The first 2 hours was bumper to bumper and we barely went the speed limit for more than an hour in a row. The kids did extremely well though and Inara had a great long nap.

    During the drive Josh decided to check out our banking and discovered that our credit card has been used and a ticket to tigerairlines was purchased. It was still a pending transaction and easy to fix but it's just annoying and Josh spent some time chatting to the bank.

    We finally made it to the house. The house has a great big yard and the kids just ran around screaming. After a lovely homemade pizza dinner the rest of the Gatti family came over and we all had make your own Sundaes. The kids loved all the attention and Brandon was in heaven with older boys.

    It was a a large group with 6 aunty and uncles, noni, and 7 adult cousins, either in college or just out of college.

    It was the latest night for the kids yet, finally in bed at 1130pm. They better sleep in.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Gatti family

    June 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today we spent the day with Elisa's family. We slept in the basement of the house which was quiet, on the colder side and very dark so we all had amazing sleep, exactly what we needed.
    We woke up to Dina bringing all types of bagels, muffin and coffee to the house.

    After we all got dressed our gang along with Dina and cousin Steph met up with Aunty Lisa, cousins Jackie, Terri, and Jimmy for a extremely fun time at the Willows, an arcade area. Everyone had fun and our kids got spoiled as the kids got all the tickets from the group and was able to win a light up moving wand and a light up sword.

    About 3pm everyone came back to Dina 's where we had a bbq and played outdoor games. Inara and Brandon warmed up really well to the entire family and it was so great to see Elisa 's cousins playing hands on with them. Brandon held his own when we had a table of 9 or so playing uno.

    Everyone included the arcade group, cousin Nick for a brief time, cousin Joe, Uncle Danny, Steve, and Scott, Noni, and cousin Andrew and aunt lynn. Everyone from Elisa's dad side was there except Elisa 's family.

    The group dispersed about 8 and Josh headed with Joe and Steve to the local bar to watch Boston play baseball.

    The kids were in bed by 9pm with the help of Stephanie playing with Brandon.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Whale watching

    June 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Most of the time in Massachusetts was on the colder side but humid. Today was a gorgeous warm and sunny day.

    Originally we were to leave for Franklin, NY for camping but we decided to not go to Cedar Point a bit later on as the kids are too little and wouldn't be worth it. We has 2 days to play with and Tom and Claire were only 30 minutes from the Gatti family so we thought we would have a few days there.

    Tom and Claire invited us to go Whale watching and the only day we could go was today. As whale watching was 20 min away and early, we had the whale watch and then headed back to Lisa's house yo sat goodbye and pack up.

    Whale watching was awesome. Tom used to work on the boat about 5 years ago over the summer busy months. We had the mates rate treatment and Brandon even got to drive the boat on the way back into the marina.

    We had a very lucky trip and we were a 10% boat as we saw breaching, tail flipping, flipper flapping and saw whales everywhere , including a mom and calf. We also barely got out of the harbour going no more than 3 miles off of land and still able to see land.

    We also had confirmation that Brandon gets motion sickness. We knew he got headaches in the car on the ride to the snow mountains back at home and he had a few headaches on car trips here, but halfway through the boat ride he had a massive headache and needed to lie down. He perked up when he got to drive the boat back.

    After the whale watch we headed back to Lisa's house and said goodbye to the family. It was so nice the cousins were around to hangout with. Elisa is at least 10 years older than the oldest cousin so this was the first time hanging out with them as adults with their own lives. They were also amazing with the kids, even when Brandon was being his high energy.

    We headed back to Tom and Claires in Rockport, had drinks on the porch, ordered food where Josh tried a lobster roll and was a pleasant night, heading to bed with the kids about 930pm.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Lazy day in Rockport

    June 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Tom had to work in the morning and Claire went to yoga, so we left at the house about 10am and went down to down town Rockport, which is small roads, cute little shops right on the coast.

    We had coffee, did some shopping and added a Xmas tree ornament to our collection from around the country. It is such a cute little place.

    The afternoon was spent at the house, we walked around the quarry which is near the house, we played corn hole and a catching game which Brandon caught on quickly. Cousin Isobel was able to come home after class and hang out for a little bit before she needed to study again.

    Dinner was a yummy spaghetti dinner made by Claire and we were able to hangout out a bit after the kids went to sleep.    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Drive to Franklin, NY

    June 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    This morning started with Elisa attending a fitness class with Aunty Claire and Brandon sleeping till 10am, the latest yet of this trip and more than a 12 hour sleep.

    We left rainy Rockport,saying goodbye to the MacCrate familu, just after noon and headed to the closest Costco to eat a quick lunch and to buy Kirkland liquor. We have heard many good reviews of Costco name brand liquor and as we always bring liquor home, we thought we would try this.

    After Costco we had a 6 hour drive to Franklin,NY where we we are having our last camping trip in this adventure. We have 2 nights booked at KOA in Onenata.

    We made it to the campsite before 7pm, quickly put the tent up and headed back East 20 min to the closest town for dinner. We ate at Applebees and then a stop at the grocery store so we had food for the next day at the campsite .    Read more

  • Elisa GattiDriving across the USAElisa Gatti

    Franklin KOA

    June 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today we did nothing but relax at the KOA. It was a cute KOA, with our tent site being right next to a little pond. The KOA was mostly RV's and had permanent campers as well. This KOA was not close to the highway and therefore was quieter than most of the KOA's we stayed at.

    The day consisted of lying in the shade, playing bocce ball, playing mancala, basketball, and anything to keep the kids entertained. Brandon even made friends with the owners and we got to paddle boat in the pond.

    That night the kids watched a movie in the rec room and after that we a fire and Smores and watched the fireflies. This was our last night camping on this trip.    Read more

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