Day 1 - Twelve hours in the car!

We live in Dublin, Ohio. To get to Hilton Head Island, we have to drive nearly 12 hours in our 6-year old Honda Odyssey van. It has 140,000 miles on it and is still going strong. We packed the night before (7/11) our trip, but had some last minute things to grab before setting out early Saturday morning.
Mark's alarm clock rang at 4:30 AM. He popped out of bed but let the rest of us sleep until 5. Thank God for small favors. We finished loading the van, writing some last minute notes and grabbing some perishable food from the refrigerator. The full van - suitcases, food, pillows, and 5 tired people - pulled out of the driveway at 5:53 AM.
We made a necessary detour to Tim Hortons for coffee. The kids insisted on ordering donuts and bagels, as the vacation mindset was underway.
We loaded our destination address into my newest birthday present/gadget - a Garmin Nuvi GPS system. "She" told us we would reach our villa by 5:35PM. We jumped on the highway, Mark at the helm.
Soon, Hannah and Pat were sleeping. Polly, like me, has a hard time falling back to sleep once she's awakened. She selected the way-back seat of the van where she could spread out and enjoy the added space. She tooled her way through a word puzzle book while her siblings rested. I drank my coffee, then hugged my pillow and slept a bit.
We stopped in Nelsonville at a McDonald's for another cup of coffee. Mark has become a fan of their new Premium coffee. He has also recently stopped his long-held ritual of "with cream," and changed it to "with sugar" for some reason. I don't get it, preferring to stick to my with cream preference.
The kids watched a dvd - Miss Congeniality - as we made our way to West Virginia along Route 33, then 77.
At about noon, we stopped in the mountains and got a sandwich at the slowest Subway I've ever seen. (I inserted this comment for the kids' benefit. After working in the restaurant industry for the past 12 years, I critique every experience, they say.)
I offered to drive and took the wheel. The family munched on Subway while I maneuvered the van through the mountains. I quickly got sleepy because the sun was beaming on my left shoulder and I had just eaten a turkey sandwich! I decided to find a drive-thru for coffee (I didn't get any at the McD in Nelsonville). What a mistake. I first chose an exit and could not find the restaurants within a couple of miles. Got back on the highway. The next exit I chose was a major traffic jam, so we immediately got back on the highway. Finally! We found an exit with a convenient coffee source. By that time, 2PM, the kids decided they wanted ice cream.
There was a Dairy Queen in the same shopping center, so they indulged!
Patrick was still sporting his pajamas even though we all told him he should put his day clothes on. He got some funny looks at the DQ!
Our Garmin told us that we had about 4 hours left in the journey. We committed to no more stops before we reached our final destination.
Mark took the wheel for the final leg. I know, I only drove for 2 of the 12 hours. I felt bad, but Mark said he was ready to go again. I didn't argue with him, as driving is not my favorite sport.
We drove through Virginia and North Carolina before finally enterin South Carolina.
The kids watched a second movie - She's the Man. A take-off of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Mistaken Identity. Romance. Happy ending.
When we finally approached Hilton Head Island, the van was on fumes. I kept telling Mark to stop and get gasoline, but he said we would make it. Garmin was telling us we had about 20 minutes to go. I guess he finally agreed because he stopped for gas. He also picked up a few essentials in the convenience store by the gas station - milk, beer, bread.
With the help of Ms. Garmin, we easily found our villa. A lovely two-bedroom, two-bath condo in the heart of the island. It was after 6:00 when we arrived at the villa, exhausted but happy to be here.
We decided to order pizza and looked in the yellow pages. We found a place called Bravo! Pizza and called them. Apparently they relocated their business from Ohio. Mark and Polly went out to pick up our order. Hannah tidily unpacked her belongings and Pat watched tv.
We went to bed at about 10PM, thankful for a safe start to our family beach vacation.
Good night!