Our Summer Travel Plans 2010 - Family Roadtrip

Ah, the open road. There is nothing like driving to your destination and experiencing the world around you along the way. I love road trips. I love planning road trips. Reading and dreaming about road trips is a wonderful pastime of mine.

What is more perfect than a summer family road trip. Parents in the front of the car singing show tunes and angelic kiddos in the backseat keeping their hands to themselves singing along with their parents and never asking, "Are we there yet?"

It could happen, no?

Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? The ideas and planning are the perfect part.

We are doing it anyway and with all my planning what could go wrong, right?

This summer we are going to take a road trip to Portland, Oregon to visit cousin Karen and will be making many stops along the way. Total mileage will be somewhere around 2000 plus or minus. I love the United States and honestly there is an infinite amount to see and do. I enjoy small tiny, ramshackle towns as much as the big cities. Our great country is so diverse in geography and history and I cannot get enough. Road trip, here we come!

I am always looking for new ideas and suggestions on attractions to see along the way so I read reviews other parents have written at Trekaroo. Since I love to perform lots of research Trekaroo is an obvious choice.

Some highlights we will see along the way:

• Several California State Parks, we might see some Tule Elk.
  
• Avenue of the Giants
  
• Redwood National Park
• Several Oregon State Parks
  
• sleeping in a yurt on the Oregon coast
• lots of public transportation in Portland
• Portland food carts
• Portland breweries (of course)
• maybe a lighthouse or two
• sand dunes
• unique, small towns and people
• who knows what else? That is part of the adventure to come!

Our expectations are to make many memories, bond as a family, overcome road trip obstacles, and live the adventure!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the Bing Travel and Trekaroo summer vacation spotlight for a chance to win $500 in cash. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”



Read more about Trekaroo’s Summer of Travel Contest. Visit Trekaroo and start planning your family summer vacation!

see you on the road!

Little house on the prairie?

James and I bought our house 9 years ago and we loved it from the start. All 956 square feet of it. Or is it 976? Either way it is under 1000 sq ft. Then we had kids and our cute, little house became tiny and crowded and messy. I started wishing for a bigger house. A house with a big back yard and a big garage and more bedrooms. How would we ever survive in this cubbyhole of a house?
I have learned that I will always want something different and that is just the way I am. I like change. I also have learned to be flexible and weigh the pros and cons to everything. I am an optimistic person by nature so it really is easy for me to look on the bright side. Therefore, I decided to love my house and tell you why small is wonderful.

• less space to clean up, more time to play.
  
• lower utility bills. This is a huge selling point for me. I like to save where I can and let me tell you our gas bill last month was $29 and our electricity bill was $30. seriously.
• less furniture and stuff to buy to decorate our home, more money saved. In my life, right now, I am all about less STUFF.
  
• home maintenance is so expensive. we have less to maintain. yippee.
• our family is always together at home.
  

Our home will always be a work in progress. I continue to be creative, plan and organize new ways to maximize space. This has been a fun, rewarding challenge for me. Our yard is just big enough and we live in a location where there are parks, beaches, hiking trails and more. Sure my kids share a room, but Laura and Mary Ingalls shared a bed and they turned out swell. I am stealing my next quote from my friend Heather, "I don't want my kids to have TOO much privacy." I hear that and I agree.

Camping

We just completed our second mini-camping trip in 3 weeks. I have to say this by far has been the best trip yet. Since the kids have passed the toddler stage and they actually stay in camp the adventure has become easier and more enjoyable. You still need to plan, though. Here are some lessons I have learned with kids:

• Bring friends along for the ride. Friends of all ages make it more fun for everyone involved.
  
• Bring many, many, many snacks. You will need them...trust me. A few ideas, string cheese, baby carrots, granola bars, crackers, apples, bananas, chips and guacamole.
• Bring many changes of clothes. I packed a big plastic bin with all our clothes.
  
• Bring bubbles, stickers, crayons, balls, playdoh. You will need it and it breaks up the day.
  
• Camp where there is plenty to do. Walk in the morning, play in the water in the afternoons, visit a local nature center, take a hike.
  
• Don't give any naps if possible. Wear the kids out so they pass out easily. Trust me, they will!
• Bring glow sticks and anything else that glows in the dark for fun.
• Don't stress and have fun!

I asked JPL what her favorite things were about this last trip:

"Playing with Emma" (her friend)
"Telling ghost stories"
"Playing in the ocean"
"Sleeping in the tent"

Road Trip Planning

Friday we are leaving to Big Bear for the weekend with our family and extended family. My parents have invited us to stay with them and Kristi and the Vander Heides for the weekend. It sounds like a blast and I cannot wait to go. Prior to leaving though I have some planning and smart packing to do. Since James has to work on Friday he will be driving up separately a day later, so it is me and the girls and Kristi who will ride together. It will probably take 2.5 hours of driving time to get there. I need games and snacks and distractions for the girls in the car. Luckily with some research I found some ideas.

Moms Minivan is a website with a ton of ideas to keep kids happy and busy while traveling. I will be using several of the ideas such as a scavenger hunt for Julia. Instead of words listed on a paper there is a checklist with pictures instead. This will work great for her since she does not read, yet. On the Microsoft website I found templates for paper dolls. I will be printing and cutting these out this weekend. One other site I found which, too me is a goldmine, is Storynory. This site has many FREE audible stories and you can even download them and burn them to CD. I will also be doing that this weekend in preparation for our trip. Books on tape or Cd's are awesome and Julia loves them. Serena not so much, yet...no attention span for this. Hopefully, with these new and hidden jewels (I will not be revealing them until they are in need) and snacks our drive will be much more pleasant and I will be able to avoid some tantrums or at least some, "I'm bored." comments.
http://www.momsminivan.com/
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101439601033.aspx
http://storynory.com/