4 hour flight or 24 hour drive

A few days ago Aubrey and I started the long road trip to come back to my hometown of Holly Springs, Ms. It took us a full two days of driving with an overnight stay in Omaha, NE. It may seem like an insane take a road trip that will take over 24 hours with Aubrey but to me it's the easiest way to travel. Being alone in an airport with Aubrey has been one of the worst experiences I have ever had. It is always complete chaos. I need to have so many things to travel with her, diapers, wipes, bibs, iPads, and a change of clothes. It's almost the same as when she was an infant except now she weighs 55 lbs and still wants me to carry her. No thank you, I'll drive. When we drive, I can stop when I think she needs a break, we can sing silly songs really loudly, I don't have to worry about her hitting or biting anyone if they talk to her, I can pack a ton of food for her to eat whenever she likes and she does not have to be told to turn off all electronic devices, even the one that is her primary source or communication. She can just sit back and relax for two days. And that is exactly what she did. We did not run into any hiccups until we got into Arkansas and the cleanliness of the restrooms we were stopping at became an issue. Aubrey needs to touch things that are new to her and sometimes her preferred method of touch is with her mouth. She just prefers the oral sensory to touching with her hands. I am constantly saying, "No mouth please" or "Please do not lick that." It's usually not a huge issue because it will be something like the rough feel of concrete or mud or sand that she wants to feel. The bathrooms in Arkansas were something that actually made me put my hand over her mouth. She wanted to lay on the floors because the paint was peeling up and she needed to know how that felt. I had to basically bathe her with baby wipes when we got back in the car. We were definitely out of our bubble and it was uncomfortable. I will change our route home to stay closer to large cities and stay out of places that do not value customer satisfaction. We did make it home without incident and are visiting with family for the next few weeks.