This post is sponsored by Bridgestone. Thank you for making sure we don’t end up on the side of the road in the middle of Arizona.
It’s road trip season and the Whoorl family is about to embark on a 10-day trip of epic proportions. A little Grand Canyon action, a little Sedona action, and a lot of Colorado action. Naturally, at the time of writing this post, I haven’t packed a thing and we’re leaving in less than 24 hours.
What is it about road trips and my incessant procrastination? Now, if we were flying somewhere, I’d be ready to hit it, but something about a car makes me think I can just throw a whole bunch of stuff in the back and head out. The sad part about this is that my procrastination is giving me a good ol’ dose of anxiety right about now. WHERE ARE MY MALA BEADS, I ASK OF YOU.
I’m sure a little part of my anxiety has to do with the children. THE CHILDREN. The kids need to be entertained, you see. The days of sitting in the backseat and staring out the window for hours on end doesn’t seem to fly with my littles. (Hmmm, iPad much?) If the kids aren’t entertained, I’m going to hear a lot of whining and bickering and then I might just have to jump out of the moving vehicle, which isn’t very spiritual nor meditative. Do you feel my pain here? I know some of you must, considering that 83% of Americans go on a road trip in the summer.
How true is the “Traveling with Kids” part of the infographic? I can assure you that my children will declare the top 4 at least 359 times in the course of the next two days.
To combat this, preparation is KEY. Here’s how I’m dealing with that.
1. On the car front? Prepared. We are driving on Bridgestone DriveGuard tires, which gives me total peace of mind because you can continue to drive up to 50 miles at up to 50 mph after a puncture or complete loss of tire pressure. Yep, a complete loss of pressure. They take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. And trust me, nobody wants to tell kids that we’ve got an additional half day to spend stranded in the middle of nowhere.
2. Parental boredom front? Still working through a few of these books on my Kindle. Also reading this one and this one. Good music – totally pumped about this Spotify playlist and this one too. Good conversation, if we can hear ourselves over the kids’ bickering.
3. Child boredom front? I have prepared the Bag O’ Entertainment, which includes, but is not limited to, 20 borrowed books from the library, a few new books as a surprise, iPads, paper, crayons, healthy snacks, blankies, plushies, and a totally random assortment of randomness.
Seriously, I have no idea how parents road-tripped without iPads. I bow to you, parents of yore. BOW TO YOU.
Oh! Any absolutely fantastic iPad apps I need to know about for the children? I’m pretty sure the 59,000 we already have won’t be sufficient.
I’m hoping to post a few updates here while on our trip, but I’ll for sure be around my usual online haunts. Feel free to follow the hashtags #DriveGuardGetaway and #WhoorlRoadTrip if you’d like to live vicariously through the beautiful scenery, family bonding, and incessant whining. Bon voyage!
Valerie
June 26, 2014 at 7:04 amI’m not sure if you are aware – but the road from Flagstaff to Sedona is closed due to fires/construction. There is another way to get there that is significantly longer (I’m not exactly sure what it is – I was out visiting last week and just scrapped my Sedona trip due to time constraints).
http://www.azdot.gov/media/news/news-release/2014/05/21/state-route-89a-remains-closed-between-sedona-and-flagstaff-due-to-fire
Jessica Ridenour
June 26, 2014 at 8:03 amFunny, we are about to embark on a very similar roadtrip! (Ours will be a little less light-hearted, though, because we are visiting my husband’s ailing uncle.) Our family has a cabin just outside Sedona in Oak Creek Canyon and we’ll be visiting the Grand Canyon while we’re there, too. FYI — Hwy 89a IS open now, from what I understand. Have a great time, and perhaps I’ll bump into you there. :)
Shani
June 26, 2014 at 9:35 amMake sure you take the kids to Slide Rock in Sedona! A must do.
Stacey
June 26, 2014 at 9:56 amI <3 Sedona. Hope you guys have a great trip!
Nicole
June 26, 2014 at 5:50 pmWould love a post on your kids’ favorite iPad apps! So far, my little just watches a lot of Netflix, but I’d love something more interactive…
Lori
June 27, 2014 at 12:44 pmDownload movies on the Ipad or take a portable DVD player if your car/van does not already have one. Movies are lifesavers in the car!
Giselle
July 11, 2014 at 12:14 pmWe make the drive from Tulsa to South Florida at least once a year, but lately it’s been twice a year (summer and winter holidays). We don’t have children, but we do bring along our three dogs. The best for us is to split up the trip and not drive more than 8 or 9 hours a day. Ten tops. This allows us to leave leisurely in the mornings and still arrive at a decent hour, usually around dinner time, to our stops. It’s also short enough that we don’t reach the antsy, ‘get me out of this car before i rip off my leg and beat myself unconscious with it’ feelings. :)
Hope you had a great trip!