A/N: Thank you to all who read part one of this story. Part two will contain the stops in DC and Charleston. Watch for hilarity, one lost DJ and your worst family vacation come to life. Ok maybe not the worst. Possibly just the funniest! Happy Reading!

Road Trip or How Taylor Lindsay Messer Survived 27 Days in an SUV with Her Five Brothers and Sisters or Why Danny and Lindsay are Never Taking a Road Trip with Six Kids, Two Stowaway Pets and Their Best Friends' Stella and Don Flack and Family Ever, Ever Again (Part Two)

The next morning did not get any better. First I missed my alarm and wasn't up when I wanted to be. Second, Bella didn't want to wear what Mom had picked out the night before. I had to go down to the car and dig out something else. I was then going to stick both Bella and PJ in the shower but they didn't want to take a shower. They wanted a bubble bath. I had to play the big sister card and tell them that they could take a bath tonight. The only child/pet that wasn't giving me a hard time was Miracle. She happily played with Pig-Pen while I argued with Bella about her clothes. For an eight year old she sure was picky about everything matching.

I was finally able to herd us out of the room and down to the lobby/kitchen for breakfast. I helped Bella and PJ get their cereal and fruit while Miracle went to Aunt Stella. I sat with Eric and Hunter.

"Be thankful that you don't have younger siblings," I sighed.

"Well, technically-" Eric started.

"Finish that sentence and your GameCube disappears," I said, pointing my unintimidating spork at him.

"And listen to DJ and Evan complain that they don't get to play anymore?" Hunter teased. "You're not that cruel."

I smiled and went back to my cold pancakes and warm Froot Loops. After breakfast Dad sent us up to clean out our stuff so we could be back on the road in twenty minutes. Not trusting my sisters, I did the once over of the room. I cleaned up Pig-Pen's breakfast and put everything back in her kennel and put Pig-Pen herself in my large purse. We girls were the first ones back to the car. Poor DJ tried to get back in the SUV with Dad and Uncle Don and was sullenly lead back to our truck. I took pity on the little guy and let him sit in the backseat with me.

It was a short trip to the Metro Station. Once in the parking lot of the station, DJ, Evan, Bella and PJ were locked into their connecting leash and that was hooked to the stroller that Miracle was in.

"Taylor, Eric and Hunter," Dad called to us. "I am trusting you three to take care of yourselves in DC. You cna go to any of the museums and buildings you want as long as you check in with us every two hours. We will meet back at the Metro Center Station at five. You are granted a ten minute window. Have fun, be safe and stay together."

He then handed each of us a day pass for the train and the bus. The three of us smiled happily and took off for the train. Since DC was my top choice for stops I already had my locations picked out. Poor Eric and Hunter were just along for the ride. They were looking forward to the Cubbie game a few weeks away.

I drug them to the Natural History Museum, just so I could see the Hope Diamond up close. It was so pretty. I indulged them and went through the dino wing, where we actually ran into our families. From there we went through the Air and Space Museum. After we finished with the Smithsonian museums we wanted to see, we walked to the Capitol and got our picture taken in front of the fountain. Then we started the 2.2 mile hike from the Capitol building to the Washington Momument, the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. If I know my brothers, they would be begging Mom and Dad to let them sit on Lincoln's lap.

By the end of our day we had seen almost everything you can possibly see in the DC area. We were even cornered by both the Obama and McCain camps. Since I was the only one of us even eligible to vote I listened to both sides politely and told both camps that I hadn't made up my mind yet. We got back to the Metro Center Station Eric, Hunter and I were dead tired. Even Pig-Pen, who got to be carried not only in my bag, but by the boys as well was pooped.

On the train back to our park and ride location we were told in four different voices, overlapping, about my brothers and sisters day in our nation's capitol. From what I could decode from them, DJ's favorite place was the Air and Space Museum. Bella liked looking at all the pretty jewlery. Evan liked the dinos and PJ liked everything. Miracle just kept saying fish over and over. Mom explained that she, Aunt Stella and Miracle had spent a great deal of time at the zoo.

We ate a nice place in Richmond, where we stopped for the night. I was so tired when we got back to the hotel I could barely take Pig-Pen out for her potty break. Bella and PJ were kind enough to remind me that I promised that they could take a bath tonight. Which I let them do. I could hear the boys next door playing their video games. I got the girls dried off and into bed. I was out and didn't wake up until my alarm on my phone sounded, the next morning.

The morning process went much faster the next morning. Bella had no issues with what she was wearing. We had the same breakfast and then went back up to collect the rest of our stuff. From there we hit the car and I think I slept most of the way to South Carolina. We got to our hotel in Charleston just in time for dinner. The next day we went to Patriot's Point. Patriot's Point was Hunter's pick. It was a museum built into a decommissioned Aircraft carrier. There was also a destroyer and sub. There was so much to see that we got to split into groups of four. DJ, Evan, Eric and Dad were in one group. Mom, Bella, Miracle and I were in another and Aunt Stella, Uncle Don, PJ and Hunter made up the last.

Mom, the girls and I went through the Medal of Honor Museum first. Every single person who had ever recieved a Congressional Medal of Honor had their name listed. The very first award was given by President Lincoln to a 12 year-old drummer boy in the Civil War. It was very humbling and awesome to see.

We didn't find out until much later that night that Dad and Eric had accidently left little DJ up on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown. He had been looking at the fighters and didn't notice that Dad, Eric and Evan had left. Dad didn't notice until he got halfway through the rest of the tour that he was missing someone. While on the flight deck DJ made a new friend. An older gentleman had been watching the little boy look at all the different planes on the deck. He went up to DJ and the two began talking.

The man had been a fighter pilot in World War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He told DJ all about the different planes he saw while in the navy. After the man told him about the F-14 Tomcat, that's when DJ noticed that he had been left behind. His lower lip quivered in the way it does when he's about to really cry. The gentleman took his hand and offered to hel DJ find Dad. He led DJ back down the ladders in the Yorktown. They walked right into Dad who was in a panic.

"Not to worry sir," the gentleman said. "DJ here and I got to be good friends."

"Yeah Daddy," DJ agreed. "Mr. McCalwey told me all about him and his buddy Danny. They shot down dozens of Japanese planes during Pearl Harbor."

Danny thanked him profusely for taking care of his son. They walked back to where they had left Eric and Evan. DJ was still sputtering on and on about the man he had talked to. Something tells me that we will be listening to DJ embellish his getting lost story all the way to Daytona.

There you have it folks. Our DC and Charleston adventure. The girls are fast asleep in their bed. I convinced them that they would sleep better if they were all together in one bed. I'm such a horrible older sister aren't I? Well our next stop is Daytona Beach. Dad's plan is to leave us girls on the beach while he and the boys go over to the speedway. I'll be damned if I get left behind on that one.

Eric just knocked on the door. He and Hunter are going to jump the fence to the hotel pool. I have to play lookout so they don't get busted by management or the parentals. Later!

Weary Traveler, Taylor Lindsay Messer