Road Trips & Travel Tips List

I love road trips. Growing up, road trips and camping were our family vacations. We would sing songs, talk, read, and listen to my dad. He is a wonderful storyteller, knows everyone (seriously - pick a truck stop anywhere and give him 10 mins. and he will find someone that he knows or that they both know in common. I am not exaggerating) and he has eagle eyes for spotting and pointing out wildlife, waterfalls, or interesting features along the road. 

Every family should have at least one really long road trip in their history. It becomes iconic - all other road trips pale in comparison. Ours was the summer I was 10 yrs. old. My dad's family all lived in Ohio and there was a family reunion. After much discussion, it was decided that we would drive from Oregon to Ohio with 5 kids ages 10 -2 (two yr. old was barely potty trained), and a pregnant mother in a Subaru hatchback. Yes, you read that right. My dad took out the back seat (pre-seatbelt laws) and laid down 3 opened sleeping bags. My mom sewed each of us our own small duffle bag that had all of our clothes, necessities and served as our pillows as well. We had a small cooler, and one small bag with some coloring books, etc (pre-technology.) We lived out of that car for the next month - we visited Mt. Rushmore, Custer's Last Stand, Ohio and all the relatives and Temple Square on the way home. Every rest stop we would shake out the sleeping bags and rotate the least dirty to the top. I remember Nebraska taking forever to drive through. I remember vowing to NEVER take cookies on a road trip and I developed a hatred for crumbs. When we would ask how many miles more, my dad would answer "Only 271 smiles more!" and we kids would start smiling and counting. I remember catching fireflies and walking on stilts at Grandpa's house. I remember playing at my Grandparents house and especially in the barns and cornfields. More than anything, I came away with a new level of independence that I didn't even know I had gained at the time. I actually like packing everything in the car and taking off. I love car conversations and being away from all of the distractions. I love the bonding experience of listening to great books together on cd, laughing at comedians, crying along with amazing talks, singing silly camp songs at the top of our lungs or sleeping to calm music as we roll down the road. I love all the games we invent and the rest stop stories that emerge. I love the sincerity of prayers said on a road trip. 

Summer is here and road trips season has arrived. Because I am so scatterbrained, I scoured the net and some discussion boards a few years ago and added it to my 'after the trip' notes and compiled this travel list to help me pack for our road trips. Just thought I would share. (feel free to send me a comment with any suggestions) 

Julie

Travel (with Children) Tips

Entertainment:

Rest Stop toys: Nerf football, Frisbee, inflatable beach ball, squirt guns, small parachute/sheet, bubbles

Family Blanket for rest stops

Books on Tape (Jim Weiss, Bill Cosby, Andy Griffin & John Bytheway)

Music (Raffi & John McCutcheon, Cajun for Kids, Kids Party Music, & some calm)

BSA Cub Scout Song Book

Scripture Scouts (Desert Book)

Family Times Virtues CDs

Scripture Stories (LDS distribution)

Magnadoodle / Etch-a-sketch

Colored Pencils & color books (NO crayons!)

Travel Bingo (very fun – buy at Cracker Barrel)

Metal Cookie sheet & magnets

Magic Markers & books (the ones that only write on paper)

Maps (laminated) & highlighters (yellow marks route, blue road covered)

Mad libs, Word searches, kid magazines

Surprise Bags: treat, well wrapped toy, new book or game

Individual Snack Bags packed each day

Individual pillows

Favorite small blanket/fleece throw

Leap Frog/Leapster/DS/Gameboy

Portable CD player &/or DVD player w/ head phones

Bordom Games:

License Plates - keep track of how many states you see

Count how many types of cars you see (i.e. count all the vans)

ABC game – find the letters of the alphabet in order from things that you see

I Spy with my Little Eye –

Who Am I? Pick someone everyone knows and give yes or no answers until they guess who you are.

Scripture Chase (for littles – find the index, a footnote, the title page, etc.)

Letter boxing & Geo Caching (google them - they are awesome!)

Words that rhyme with________

Animal names that start with____

General:

Cooler: Bottled water, apples, oranges, grapes, baby carrots, bagels/English muffins, cream cheese/Laughing Cow Light Cheese, cheese sticks, Gogurts, Tuna pouches, Mayo packages

Snacks: Pretzels, Pringles, Trailmix, crackers, goldfish, licorice, smarties, nuts, raisins, dried fruit, seeds, crème savers, lollipops, starburst, Chex Stix, jerky, gum, certs, tic tacs, 

Camera

Wipes

Hand Sanitizer

Flashlight

Journal & a couple of pens

TP for rest stops

Walmart bags for trash/small trash can for car sickness

Car Timer

Zip locks

Sunscreen

Air freshener vent sticks

Double check for license, current insurance & registration and ER numbers

Cell phone & charger 

The Friendly Skies~

Friday, July 3 we flew out of OKC for the Northwest to visit family for 2 weeks. We arrived at the airport and only checked one bag since they now charge huuuuuge fees to check your bags. The result was that Ry & I each were carrying a backpack & additional (heavy) carry-on. The airport prices are so outrageous we decided to share a small sandwich and a bottle of water. Thus appeased, we headed to our plane. 

We boarded toward the beginning of the line,  found our seats and settled in. Within a few minutes it became apparent there was a problem. Some of the seat assignments for our fellow passengers (seats they paid extra money for) do not exist. The pilot came on and told us that we are on the wrong type of aircraft. The next 15 mins. was spent trying to sort everyone out when the pilot finally said, "we are going to be late, get on board and find a seat." Another 15 mins. and we were underway. 

The next time we heard from the pilot, he informs us that Denver airport is closed due to a violent thunderstorm. We circled Pueblo, CO for a while. 45 mins. later he tells us we have clearance to land in Denver, but we now do not have enough gas. We are diverted to Colorado Springs to fuel up. We land only to find out that we are one of many who need gas. We are #7 in the line up. 

The pilot comes on again - (we are learning this is not a good thing) to say that they are working on a plan to de-plane us and shuffle us between the planes ahead of us so that we can get to Denver and hope to make some of our connecting flights that have also been delayed. They are going over flight manifests, trying to determine available seats, and figure out how they are going to handle the luggage. They are also trying to get stairs or jetways cleared for us. 15 mins. later the pilot comes back with the news that there have been lighting flashes and all ground personnel have been called in. We can't get gas, we can't de-plane, however, we can sit and wait. 

30 mins. later the pilot comes on with "I have some bad news and a bit of good news." Turns out that our pilot & co-pilot have been flying since 3am and with FFA rules, they only have 6 mins. to get us to Denver before their allowable flight hours run out. Not gonna happen. Soooo, the new plan is that we are going to de-plane here in Colorado Springs. We can choose to stay there overnight (on our dime) or they will bus us to Denver and book us flights for the morning. We all get off the plane, find our bags and walk through the deserted Colorado Springs airport. It is a holiday weekend so the airport basically shut down at 4:30 that day. It is after 7p.m. and we are all hungry and nothing is open. We spend another hour of being shuffled around in the confusion. Ryan & I teamed up with a family with 2 tiny girls and tons of bags. Between all of us, we get loaded onto one of the busses, thinking that it will be better to get to Denver. Larger airport, a better chance of food and we can get flights first thing in the morning. 

We load and enjoy some sleep during the drive. Suddenly, we are awakened when our driver pulls off to the side of the road. The check engine light has come on and he can't get the bus to drive. Eventually it is decided that the second bus will continue to Denver and drop off those passengers and come back for us. Of course we are in the middle of nowhere. The 3 little ones on the bus had been doing so well. They were so tired. There was some crying but they really did well considering everything. We shared what food we had, we laughed, we texted & called family. When the other bus returned an hour later, we de-bussed into thick mud. I will never forget participating in an assembling line along a remote highway in the mts. of colorado at 11:00 at night as we transfered our baggage to the new bus. It was so crazy.

We arrived at Denver after midnight where they had hotel & food vouchers waiting for us. Some even got their baggage fees returned since we had handled our bags more than the airport personnel. We were estatic to find that Burger King was open!!!! After eating we found our shuttles and drove the 20 mins. to our respective hotels. Ours was a very modern one called Aloft. We were at the same hotel as the babies & I was very proud of Ryan. He helped all the parents with their bags without even being asked. We finally crashed into a very soft bed a bit after 1:30a.m. 

Four hours later my wake-up call sounded and we bumbled our way back to the airport, made our way through Denver security and found our gate. There we find that our plane is seriously overbooked and they are desparately  looking for volunteers to be bumped. After everything, I decided what did we have to loose? We didn't have young kids, we didn't have a connecting flight and we would be booked first class on the noon flight. So, we volunteered and cheerfully went to collect our free flight vouchers. We even had time to find the Sees Chocolates! 

In the end, we finally touched down in Seattle on the Fourth of July around 2 and made it to my sister's house by 3:30, 25 hours after we had left OKC. We learned a lot about choosing to be positive, laughing, and helping each other. We made some great friends and definitely have a wonderful memory. We can hardly wait to fly the friendly skies again!