Finally.  Our much planned and much anticipated trip has arrived.  Bags are all packed (by day and event, not by person much to the children's chagrin).  The car is loaded.  Our first day of the trip has more driving than any other day in the entire 3 weeks of travel.  We wanted to hit it hard right out of the gate.  So, unfortunately James' birthday falls on a day that is entirely spent in the car.  As a result, we did a mini celebration a day early and he got breakfast in bed and taken out to dinner on Saturday.  Then it was off to bed for us all, so we could get up early and get on the road.  By 2:45 am we were up, in the car, and on the freeway.  The sleep masks were genius and helped block out the morning sun as it rose into the sky.  The freeway was empty and Bryan took advantage of his new radar detector and tires to really put some distance between us and home before the kids awoke.