Planning our First Major Road Trip with Kids

As a kid I hated road trips. I hated being in the back of an old stuffy suburban with no air conditioning and I hated staring out the window for hours on end. I couldn’t read because I got carsick and my brother tormented me the entire time. Whenever I was thirsty or hungry my mom would whip up pretend food and that alone was enough to make me crazy.  I DONT WANT “WATER” YOU “POURED” FROM THE RADIO!  So I haven’t been too keen on taking our family on a long drive. Yet. We have travelled into BC and to the tip of Southern Alberta, but both trips were under 8 hours (which was totally doable in a day with a single stop for food and gas.)  But this spring break we are planning a 20 hour drive down to St George, Utah to check out the incredible Zion National Park. It’s been a bucket list trip for many years and I’m SO excited to finally see it.

I really enjoy the planning stages of any trip and it turns out a road trip is no exception. We initially had to decide if we wanted to make the drive “part” of the trip or try to get down to Utah as quickly as possible. We have 10 days off of school- long enough to spend a week in St George with three days of driving.  So it looks like we are going to be able to do a little of both. Being that it’s spring break, we didn’t want to take a chance on hotels being full, so we’ve pre-booked the hotels on the way down. We’ve given ourselves extra time for stops and there’s going to be no driving through the night. But this isn’t going to be a trip where we stop at every roadside attraction either. Making sure expectations from the kids are in line with our travel plans is going to be key in making this trip successful.

So now that we are in the final days before departure I’m double checking my lists and getting really (really!) excited to see new things.

 

Twirls and Travels’ To Do List for Road Tripping with Tots-

 

1. Google the best Route. this may not necessarily be the fastest route but may be one that allows you to sightsee, visit old friends or take interesting back roads instead of faster highways. Google is your friend.  I’ve also gotten a little obsessed with the website Roadtrippers’.  It’s a great site that shows you different routes along with gas stations,  local road side attractions, and interesting places to eat. And it’s all linked into the map with graphics so I can click on things that are pretty or that interest me and easily get all the info I need-  along with links to websites for admission costs or hours of operation. It also prices out gas based on the make and model of your car- which can be handy tool for budgeting.
2. Get the car in for a tune up.  I’ve made an appointment for  a oil change and a double check to make sure everything is ready for a long drive.
3. Figure out what we will actually do during the drive . Organize activities, music, books on tape, podcasts,  movies, and car games for the whole family. 20 hours is a long time to be confined with your family in a small space ;).   I’ll write an entire separate post on what to bring and how to entertain the kids after we get back. I have lots of ideas floating around but what actually works best is a whole other story- so I don’t want to write about what I’m doing until I know it was successful on even the longest trip.
4. Make a Trip Journal.  Right now it’s a notebook with a map glued to the front page. Bigger kids love documenting their days and maps are big around here.  Violet can highlight the route as we travel and learn some (very) basic navigation skills. There’s room for her to save mementos, glue in pictures from her polaroid camera and draw pictures of things she sees. I’m writing different headlines on each page for prompts about what she can document. I’m hoping it will give her a sense of purpose during the drive and will help her remember our trip in the future.
5.  Figure out Snacks. I  made a mental promise to myself as a nine year old to never play the make-believe-food-game with my own kids.  So now I’m also planning and organizing food for the trip, including water bottles, frozen juice boxes, individually wrapped snacks and different types of easy protein.  We are bringing a collapsible cooler to save on space and keep drinks cool. We will stop for meals but not for snacks- so having fresh produce, cold drinks and healthy options is important to me.
6. Book hotels. We have our hotels booked based on how long we’d like to drive each day (giving ourselves ample time to stop and get our energy out). While I don’t want to feel like we are spending our holiday getting to our destination, I also want the flexibility to stop for an hour when something cool appears out my window. One thing I’ve learned is to always budget more time than I think I need when doing anything- so I’m assuming during a road trip this won’t be any different.   We also knew we wanted to spend a full day in Salt Lake City on our way down so we booked a hotel in the city in order to give us lots of time there.
7.  Pack the car strategically. I’m packing the car based on what we need AND when we need it- separate containers for car activities for each girl,  an easily accessible bag for me (mostly surprises for the girls, chargers, wet ones, OTC meds, audio books…). I am also bringing a duffle bag for the actual trip down (only the clothes and hotel essentials we need  for the two nights) and then our suitcase with everything else we need for our week in the condo. I’m hoping that packing in a organized fashion will keep us from having to go through everything every time we leave the car.
8. Research. I’m researching stops along the way and activities for when we get there. Right now I’m going through other blogs, Instagram hashtags and travel sites to decide what we are going to see and do once we arrive in St. George. Planning the adventure is half the fun- I love going through ideas and figuring out what will work best.  A friend I met through Instagram writes for a kids travel blog for Utah and I love reading all her posts.  Finding blogs and personal travel advice is so helpful when it comes to travelling with kids.

 

I have also been making a list of everything I want to do and see on our trip. I figure I’ll have time to do more research during the drive, but for now here’s my Must-See Southern Utah list-

 

• Explore as much as Possible in Zion National Park- I know with 2 kids under 6, our hiking might be limited, but there are several hikes including the Emerald Pools and the Canyon Overlook that are perfect for smaller sized legs. The Narrows hike through the river will be awesome if we have nice warm weather too.
• Hike Red Cliff Desert Reserve
• Pioneer Park and The Crack in St. George
• Bryce Canyon
• The weeping wall in Zion National Park
• Check out Snow Canyon State Park and go sledding in the Sand Dunes
• St. George Children’s Museum
• Check out a few of the many, many historical and Cultural museums in St. George and Salt Lake City- haven’t even narrowed that list down yet
• Eat local favourites-  I may or may not have a list of places to eat at while we are away (whoops!)

 

So Twirls and Travels Family, have any ideas for a fun road trip? Any tips for exploring Southern Utah? I’d really, really love to hear your ideas!