To Virginia Beach, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012

So, this trip is a little unexpected.  Julie decided that she wanted a dry run for the trip she's taking students on in April.  She wants to time it all out and see how well she has her days paced.  It's not the first time that she has taken students on a trip like this, by any means, but something about this group makes her want to make certain that things will go smoothly.  As a result, we're off to Virginia Beach on our President's Day break.

We left this morning at 6:00 am, because that's when her van(s) are scheduled to depart.  We followed Lizzie's directions (i.e., the GPS), and swung south on the interstates through Pittsburgh.  We got to Breezewood, PA, just before noon, so it will serve as a good lunch spot for Julie's kids.

We got to the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall at about 2:30.  Scott was a little surprised to see that we had not actually ever been there before, even though Julie had been telling him that the whole way.  We certainly used to pass by it a lot, but we've apparently never stopped.  We explored and shopped.  Julie, Anna, and Emma liked the Disney Outlet.  We figure that Julie's kids could easily spend two hours there, with an extra half an hour for dinner at the food court before they continue on to the hotel at Virginia Beach that night.

Shortly after leaving the mall, around Fredricksburg, VA, we started seeing big snow flakes.  Grandpa Frank had said this weather was expected.  It was a moderately heavy snowfall, though the car thermometer says it's still above freezing.  The snow continued most of the rest of the way, changing to rain only shortly before Norfolk. We got to the hotel at about 8:30, as expected.