Long Road Trip with Children: From South to North Luzon

Photo taken at Ilocos Sur

 I never thought this trip was really going to happen. A few months ago, Pakner4lyf told me that he had received an invitation to speak at a church in Mangaldan, Pangasinan.  He said he wanted us (me and the children) to join him. For some reason, I hadn't taken his word seriously.  It's hard to travel with the children, and that's one major concern. I have seen how serious my husband was about this trip.  He informed my parents about the planned out-of-town travel and asked if they could join us. At first, they seemed uninterested, but on the scheduled date of departure, I saw that they were as excited as we were.  It's great that they can come along so we have someone to share the expenses with.  Our original plan was to use my parents' SUV (Sportivo) because it is bigger and more spacious compared to our car (Toyota Vios). However, due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the SUV's tires was flat and badly damaged, and we learned that the tires were no longer suitable for long travels. Therefore, it needed a new set of tires. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to buy new tires and change them, so we ultimately decided to leave using our car.

We left Batangas City at noon on November 16, 2013.  We stopped at Petron in Lipa Star Tollway and filled up there while buying the limited Chevrolet Toy Car.  We always took the opportunity to fill the tank outside Batangas City because gas is cheaper there.  On our way to South Super Highway, Mom and I noticed that Eu-La started to look pale and complained of her stomach.  So we immediately found a nearby gas station to take a break and have our late lunch, which made Eu-La feel much better.  We asked Eu-La to sleep whenever she felt dizzy, and I was glad she was cooperative.  Our little girl slept most of the time during our road trip.  

Ilocos Sur, taken while inside car

Our first destination is Banaoang Christian Bible Church in Mangaldan, Pangasinan, since they were the primary reason we decided to travel up north. The toy car we bought at Petron helped pacify the children. I packed their favorite toys and books as well, to keep them busy in the car. We brought snacks, biscuits, and drinks in case the children and adults got hungry, so we could easily access them alongside our packed food in the trunk. We reached the North Luzon Expressway late in the afternoon, and soon the sun was going down while we were still on the expressway.   I always enjoy looking out the car window, so I don't mind how long our travel time is.  We passed the newly opened Toll Way, TPLEX, and we were surprised that the service was FREE!  We made another stop at SM Rosales City to stretch and take a restroom break. We thought we were already near our destination, but it still took us another hour.  We arrived at Banaoang Christian Bible Church at 10pm.  The tiring journey was eased by the smiles and warm welcome from the brethren of BCBC.

Banaoang Christian Bible Church in Mangaldan, Pangasinan

The next morning, we all get ready for church worship service.  I can't help but remember our brethren we left in Batangas City.  Seeing the BCBC brethren reminds me of our first year when Christ Stewards Fellowship was just starting.  I thank God for the endurance and passion to serve Him in CSF, where He placed us. Now, my prayers for BCBC are for God's grace and guidance to be with them as they serve for God's glory alone.  We had some time to fellowship with Pastor Norving and his wife, Sister Jho Villaflor.  As always, our co-ministers can fully understand how it feels.  I appreciate even the short conversation with Sis. Jho.  I cannot forget to mention Ate Virgie, who accommodated us at her house, prepared and assisted us with our needs, and tirelessly cooked delicious meals for us.  The children also got to meet new friends and still remember their playmate, JR (Ate Virgie's son).

Marvelous Bakery - Agoo La, Union

Since we traveled this far and wanted to maximize our trip, we chose to visit our relatives in the northern part of Luzon.  My Uncle Paeng (my mom's cousin) opened a bakeshop named Marvelous Bakery in Agoo, La Union, and my Aunt Rose (also my mom's cousin) has a bakeshop in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur called Rose Bakery.  Yes, we belong to a family of bakeshop owners since my mom's clan is from Cuenca, Batangas, known as "The Home of the Bakers. " We left Banaoang, Mangaldan Pangasinan, on Sunday afternoon at 4pm and reached La Union around 5pm.  Uncle Paeng is my favorite uncle, I should say.  He used to be one of our bakers in Batangas City, and his wife was our former saleslady, which is how they met and soon got married.  Now they have their own bakeshop and chose to stay up north to run their bakery business.

Calle Crisologo,Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

While at La Union we decided to call the Hotel for a reservation so that we can have a sure place to sleep when we arrive. We can't ask our relatives to have a sleep over at their bakeshops, we know there will be no room for us in there.  From La Union it took us almost four hours to reach Vigan City with one stop over at Mc Donalds, Candon City.  During that long travel my daughter would always ask are we home yet.  She could be wondering we spent most of our time on the road and yet we are not still home. I have previously made an online research of the Hotels to stay in Vigan plus the places we shouldn't miss when we get there.  I did found reviews and blog posts of some bloggers who went there.  It sure helped us to have an idea of what to do and where to go.  I have a lot more stories to tell while we were in Vigan so I'll make a separate post about it.

We left Vigan City on Tuesday at around 11am.  We stopped in Sta. Maria to visit Aunt Rose, then continued our journey home.  (We forgot to take photos with her.)  We stopped in Damortis to buy dried swordfish.  Then we stopped in Rosario, Pangasinan, to gas up at another Petron gasoline station and buy another Chevrolet toy car as we promised the children.  We continued our journey and had another stopover at Villasis Market because Eu-La needed a restroom break.  There, we learned that they call this place "Bagsakan," where most vegetables, fruits, dried fish, and market items are sold at very low prices.  Next time, we'll choose to buy those items here since we can't buy any because there's no more room in the car's trunk due to our suitcases.

We hit the road again, and I noticed that there is a lot of road construction in Pangasinan, causing a heavy flow of traffic. I'm glad we were able to find the TPLEX entry, and having the service for free again made us a lot happier.  We had our dinner at Mega Station on the North Luzon Expressway.  The children played in the playground while I bought food at ChowKing.  I told their crew that we were going to eat outside so we could keep an eye on the children who were playing outside while having our dinner.  He was very nice and said he could come back to get the plates and glasses after we finished eating.  We reached my parents' house around 12:30am on November 20, which is my dad's birthday. Pakner4lyf did a great job driving for us!  To date, this is the longest road trip I have taken. Overall, we literally spent one full day inside the car traveling.  But all in all, it was a wonderful trip that everyone enjoyed.  This was one of the best bonding moments Pakner4lyf and I had with my parents.