Roadtrip Experiment: Day 6 (With More Photos)

Having spent 3 days in Atlanta, it was time to get back on the road.  Alex was exceptionally good, probably because this was the day he'd been asking about for over two years: a chance to see the Market Parking Garage in Roanoke, Virginia.

For those who don't know, there is a whole section of YouTube dedicated to elevator videos (by which I mean videos of people riding in elevators).  Alex's favourites are by DieselDucy, who has posted multiple videos of the Roanoke Market Parking Garage elevators.

Due to some traffic blockages (a brush fire and a truck accident), we didn't arrive in Roanoke until almost 4, despite having started our day at 6 am.  It was actually a fairly tense time for Dave and I.  We'd worried about the timing and had made sure that we had an extra day built in for travel just in case we got to Roanoke and the garage was closed for the day.

We also wondered if the elevator would live up to the hype in Alex's mind.  He's been nagging us non-stop for two years about this elevator.  Would he be let down by the experience?

Easy answer: no.  The only other time I have seen him this delighted and excited was when he got to meet Princess Ana and Queen Elsa at Disney.  We rode each of the two elevators twice, shooting our own video footage.  (Alex has his next elevator target in mind: the City DartRail Station elevators in Dallas, Texas.)

After the elevator, we got back on the road.  Again, the kids did better than they have for the rest of the week.  Nathan fell asleep between Roanoke and stopping for the night in Mitchburg, West Virginia.  We hit a snow squall, reminding us that we haven't quite finished with winter yet, but overall, we made excellent time, which should allow us to get back to Ottawa without having to do a late night.

The last day of driving will be the big test.  No more special stop to look forward to and six previous days of a lot of family-togetherness.  If any day is going to be full of cranky meltdowns, that will be the one.