Road Trip to North Carolina!

On Thursday evening Ben and I will be taking off for North Carolina. My baby brother is graduating college and I couldn't be more proud of him. So the family is all getting together to celebrate his accomplishment.

This is probably the last trip/vacation that Ben and I will take as a couple! With baby due in September we are running out of time!Very exciting things going on.

The last time I saw my brother was for my wedding in October, and the last time I've been down to North Carolina has been years. So needless to say we are both excited about getting to see and spend some time with one another.

Since I am pregnant we'll be driving down and taking lots of pit stops and breaks in order to stay comfortable. Thursday night we will be leaving late, so we opted to grab a hotel in Pennsylvania. We chose one close to Centralia, PA so on Friday morning we could go visit (at least drive through) the mostly abandoned mining town that is still has a fire burning underground since the 1960's. Ben and I are really interested in the weird/odd type things and this is something we are both interested in at least seeing with our own eyes. We figured it was a good place to stop for the night and would give us something to see.

Then Friday we will spend the majority of the day driving the rest of the way to North Carolina. Obviously taking breaks as necessary. Saturday and Sunday morning will be spent with Lindsay and Nick as well as my parents. We are taking dad out for Father's Day brunch on Sunday. It'll be nice to spend some quality time with dad as well as the family.

Sunday afternoon we'll head back north. Again stopping frequently for breaks. We are going to try and make it to Maryland, staying outside Baltimore Sunday night. Monday we are hoping to meet up with Steve from Running on Awesome or @SteveGrayFTW on twitter, for a little "fake life meets real life" meetup. Steve and I have become great online friends (2/3's of Team Awesome!) and then finally make our way back home by Monday night.

It's a whirlwind weekend, but I am hopeful that everything works out. I am also hoping to have lots of pictures to show for our trip! Most of all I am proud of my brother for accomplishing this. I don't think I could have done what he did. Holding down both work and school and finding a balance, that takes a lot of determination. With all the sacrifices he's made, I am hoping that he is well rewarded.