On The Go Chicago

My husband and I love road trips, and having two toddlers has not slowed us down yet…well, maybe a little, but the important thing is we still do it!  We recently embarked on our third family road trip in the last two years of over 2,000 miles (not to mention the many, shorter weekend getaways).

We left Chicago Thursday, stopped in Springfield for the day and then pushed on to St. Louis for dinner on the Hill (historic Italian neighborhood) and frozen custard at Ted Drewes, a famous Route 66 roadside stop .  Day two we checked out the Arch and some other St. Louis sites and then headed to Memphis.  Today we visited Graceland.  Tomorrow we are off to Mobile and the beach.  Woo hoo!

Traveling with children requires more planning, patience and a lot more gear.  We are currently piled into our Jeep Grand Cherokee with two pack-n-plays, lots of luggage, a portable high chair, two bikes and a bike trailer.  Lets just say, this baby is loaded like a giant Jenga puzzle!

I thought I would blog from the road and share what we’ve learned on past adventures and what we learn on this one.

Past Adventures:

• Be patient with each other and be willing to adjust your plans.  Don’t try to see as much as you used to before kids.
• Joie De Vivre, find the joy in the journey.  We research fun roadside stops between destinations.  I can proudly say we’ve seen the Rocket Man on Route 66 in Illinois, the Paul Bunyan statue in Northern California, Boonesborough (Daniele Boone’s fort) in Kentucky and countless other pieces of Americana on our road trips. 
• Bring lots of snacks and drinks for you and your kids. We’ve found that a soft side cooler fits behind the center console perfectly.
• Kids get carsick, so be prepared with wipes, towels/rags and water for the quick roadside cleanup. Unfortunately, we’ve suffered this fate twice, and it is messy and SMELLY.  A machine washing is essential if you hope to get rid of the smell.  Many hotels have washers and dryers, but if they don’t, they will likely launder the car seat cover for a fee. Another piece of advice on this one….make sure you thoroughly clean the straps/buckle of the car seat too! 
• We have a basket of toys, books and coloring pads between their two car seats, which they can both reach.  This tends to keep them busy, but we also play a lot of “eye spy.”
• We keep the DVD player as a last resort.  If things start going south in the car, Cailou to the rescue.  Make sure you have one with a car cigarette lighter adapter if your car does not have one installed.
• Get gas before they fall asleep.  Numerous times we have woken our kids up from a peaceful slumber because we were running out a gas.
• If your not staying in an all suite hotel like Embassy Suites, reserve handicap accessible rooms.  The bathrooms are huge.  We have two kids in pack-n-plays, and can usually fit both in the bathroom (one in the shower and one near the toilet).  Make sure that your toddler cannot reach the shower curtain (I usually wrap it around the rod) or anything else from their crib (towels, blow-dryer, etc.). This effectively makes your room a two-room suite without the extra charge!

This trip

• One of you should check-in prior to getting the kids and luggage out of the car.  We had a little issue with our room not being ready, and wrangling two TIRED toddlers and lots of luggage in the lobby was not FUN last night.
• Bring a night-light.  Since we usually have our kids sleep in the bathroom, it can be quite dark in there with the door closed.  A night-light provides the perfect amount of light to keep them happy.
• More to come…I am sure!