6 planning tips for our road trip

We’re about 10 days away from an epic summer road trip. So I’ve kicked my planning in to high gear. We’re driving from Missouri to Washington and back with a six-year-old and and one-year-old. Today I thought I would share some of the plans I’m putting together to make the trip a success.

1. Leave early. Our plan is to put the kids in the car by 4 a.m. with the hope they sleep for another 3 to 4 hours then stop for breakfast and a stretch then head on for another 4 hours before stopping for lunch and the day.

2. Unless we need gas we are going to try and stop at grocery stores. We figure there is more room to move around and more to see with the kids. The snacks are cheaper and if we’re lucky the might have some good food service there too for lunch or dinner.

3. We’re renting a car. I wish we could afford a van or an RV that would make the trip pretty nice. But we are renting a full size car. We’ve made a commitment to pay down our debt so we’re not going to be buying any new cars in the future which leaves us with a 10-year-old Chevy and a a 12-year-old Ford both with high miles. I’m just not confident that either of those two cars could make the trip.

4. We have DVDs for the kids but to save some money I think we’ll go to the library and rent a few extras so they have something new to watch.

5. I hope to remember to pack some toys to help the kids burn off energy when we pull over at a rest area. I’m thinking beach balls that are easy to inflate and deflate.

6. We learned this the hard way, twice. If you take your own pillows put a very colorful pillow case on it to help you remember to take it with you when you leave the hotel. This will save you from having to buy a new pillow, or driving an hour back to the hotel to retrieve it.