Driving across the country (and back)--fun or torture?

[hana]

I have the opportunity (time) to drive across the country in May with my two kids, ages 12 and 9. We live on the East coast, and I've never been to the Southwest, so it would be a "sampler tour" of some of the national parks (one of the Utah parks, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Mesa Verde for sure). We would be gone about 24 days--one adult and two kids. We would car camp along the way and in the parks, though I'm open to hotels in bad weather.

 

So, fun or torture? My family really needs to break some habits we have (too much screen time, siblings not getting along), and this would help with that, I am sure. I just can't decide if this is an adventure worth taking on .

 

If you've done it, I'd welcome any thoughts.

[regentrude]

Fun!

We have only driven half-way; we live in MO and have driven to CA, and to VA. But we drive every year to Utah, so are used to spending time in the car.

With babies and toddlers it would be hard -but with older kids, it should be a great road trip.

[Farrar]

A little of both. :)

[twoxcell]

I would imagine a little of both, but with kids that age more fun than torture. I would go for it!

[creekland]

Some of the best memories we have as a family have been our road trips - the longer, the better - and usually camping in order to make them affordable.

 

I'd go.

 

ps When we first started our long roadtrips we involved each member by having them pick a place they wanted to visit, then playing "connect the dots." At the end of that trip (one month long) I made a list of all the places we'd been and had them rank them in order of their favorite to least favorite. The places they thought they'd like seldom ranked very high, but some unexpected gems were there.

 

Our family still talks about the trips we've made - just include them rather than totally doing it all yourself. By the end of the trip our kids could set up or take down camp and pack the van themselves - and were proud of that fact.

[jar7709]

Fun!

 

For us it would be anyway. We love road trips and the kids are pros these days. It might be a lot harder though if we weren't use to it. We've never done all the way 'cross country, but we do at least one 1000+ mile trip each year, make a point of it. Just a little planning and the right mindset and let's GO! :)

[Rosie_0801]

Fun!

 

If it wasn't for petrol prices, I wouldn't be home.

[Ravin]

Mostly fun, but don't count on it as a cure for siblings not getting along. I keenly remember the first time I got in a fight with my older sister (she was fostered into our family when we were 12 and 13) was on a road trip. But we also did a lot of bonding on that trip and getting to know each other in a way we wouldn't with other peers around (we have very different interests and personalities).

[NotSoObvious]

Fun! We are doing it in June!

[TLovesT]

Fun! I did it last year with a two year old. We had a blast! DH and the dog were miserable though, so hopefully next time I get itchy feet they can come too.

[Donna]

Fun! Best vacation ever! We went when dc were 12, 10, and 5. Used a conversion van and a tent to camp our way across America and back.

[Julie Smith]

Personally not my idea of fun. My Dad had us go on several driving trips as a kid. I did not see the point of them then or now. In my mind I would make the best of the situation, and read.

 

So ask your kids and talk to them.

[SFM]

TONS of fun, moments of insanity but it makes for GREAT memories.

[Arcadia]

Fun but tiring. We had more adults than kids for most of our road trips. At national parks, our kids went exploring in different directions so it was good that one adult was with one kid, My boys slept between stops so that helps.

[Jilly]

I have taken my kids cross-country many times, and we always have a good time. Most of the time I go with my mom, and it is nice to have another adult along for the trip. Last summer though I did it with just the kids, and we had a blast. It was a great bonding experience.

[Crimson Wife]

I have done cross-country 3 times and from S.F. up to Vancouver & back once. Every time we go on a long road trip we vow "never again!"

[weederberries]

The trip sounds fun. The camping? I'd rather die than camp in the southwest between the months of May-September (it can be obnoxiously hot - it's already 90 degrees this week in TX). Well, to tell the truth, camping anytime, anywhere sounds horrendous, but I guess that's just me. ;)

 

We take loooong driving trips through the southwest all the time. We live in Texas and you can drive all day and still be in Texas, so we know all about long road trips. My children don't sleep in moving vehicles, so we have to take along a lot of entertainment. Ipads, audio books, coloring, even just letting them play with their own digital camera...we laugh at all of the shots up their noses when we get home.

 

I imagine it could be a really great bonding trip with the kids, lots of time to chat about life's big and little things, but being the only adult, I might get pretty tired by the end of it all.

[GWOB]

FUN!!!!! We just drove from the Great Plains to Arizona last September. We had a 12yo, 9yo, and 5yo. We pulled our cheap little pop-up camper the whole way. We stopped at Mesa Verde National Park, the Grand Canyon (for a few days), Petrified Forest National Park, and Albuquerque (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). We had so much fun as a family. The whole trip took 11 days. We stopped at KOA campgrounds along the way. The kids learned so much more than they would have from any text or curriculum. I say go for it!

[Momling]

Fun!!!

We've done Maine to Florida and San Diego to Seattle several times. And one California to Connecticut and one Connecticut to Oregon. Best trips ever!

[RoundAbout]

Fun! We are doing something similar this summer.

[Jayne J]

Sounds like the very definition of Hell. But that's just me. I am not much for long distance driving or camping, so...

[Kathy in Richmond]

I did it three summers ago: Atlantic to Pacific and back again!

 

My 18 yo daughter was starting college out west, so it was one last hurrah for the two of us to celebrate an end to homeschooling. She and I drove out west, taking our time and visiting lots of sites and parks along the way. Hubby met us in CA, we moved her into her college dorm, & visited our son & other relatives. Then dh and I did the car trip in reverse, albeit at a faster pace.

 

So many good memories! would do it again in a heartbeat...

[choc0holic]

My vote is definitely on the 'fun' side of things. Last fall we drove from UT to North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennslyvania before heading back with our 4 (3, 6, 7, and 9 at the time). We did stay in hotels instead of camping because we had to get to the East Coast by a certain date, and once we factored in the stops along the way, we weren't arriving at our destinations until VERY late at night. That and it was getting pretty chilly at night. I wanted to ensure we had a good night's sleep so we could travel safely.We pretty much stay with one chain so we can earn points. I don't think we'll try the camping thing until my youngest is at least a few years older.

 

We have family out east so we had a nice 3 week stop on the east coast , and while still driving between locations, it wasn't nearly as much driving, so we had a break in between the 'cross country' drives. We're doing it again in June and my kids can't wait! We'll take a slightly different route and see new things along the way. It has been an amazing opportunity for my kids to see things I saw for the first time with them...Gettysburg, the St. Louis Arch, etc. Loved it!

 

Oh yes...I wouldn't count on it curing the 'screen time' thing if you have portable devices. We limit it by giving them 'tickets' for every 60 miles and they get to trade in the 'ticket' for screen time, a special snack, etc. We didn't watch a single movie on the way out east though. That was a HUGE victory for me. Audio books were a great distraction as well. They could still see the scenery, but have something to pass the endless miles.

[creekland]

I guess we were the meanies on our trip. My guys didn't get any screen time except when we were driving after dark (rare). They didn't read much either (some brochures or info about places).

 

On the plus side, they invented their own "trade" game of sorts getting items from cattle to water rights by what they could see out their window. It was fun to listen to them.

 

As an additional plus, they all still absolutely love traveling (or hiking) and seeing new sights (some of that might be genetic). They also recognize many of the places they've been (49 states and the Eastern half of Canada for road trips) even though some of the travel was when they were young. Traveling fills in the mental maps far more than books or videos.

[Cricket]

Fun! I just did over 2000 miles with my two girls. A few years ago our whole family (6 total) did over 5500 miles with a van and tent trailer in about 24 days. My advice is to plan longer stops. Like a pp said you don't want to be arriving after dark all the time and feel rushed every day. Every so often find a place where you can spend a few days in order to relax.

 

I got each of my kids maps so they could follow our route. Pinterest has some great roadtrip ideas, like mailing yourself postcards with journal entries on them and then when you get home binding them in some way. We took a big cooler and bought food at grocery stores instead of eating out all the time.

 

If your kids generally get along and fight out of boredom (like mine do!), I think they will do just fine and have great memories!

[hana]

Thank you all! I have a lot to think about--if we decide to do it, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about destinations. :-)

[dm379]

Fun! Both dh and I are taking Sept. off of work and packing up the RV and doing just that. We each picked a place to go and have figured out a cost estimate. We all can't wait.

[besroma]

Fun! We love Zion NP!

[weederberries]

Hmmm...people who forbid screen time on these trips don't drive in the southwest much. There is nothing to see. Nothing. Flat brown ground as far as the eye can see. If you're traveling through west Texas, most of New Mexico and Arizona...get a screen and use it liberally. ;)

[creekland]

Hmmm...people who forbid screen time on these trips don't drive in the southwest much.

 

BS We've been to 49 of the 50 states... including all of the southwestern states (more than once for all of them).

 

Whether there is much to see or not is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. We love all sights (except large cities). We have great memories of the things we've seen in the southwest - from the mountains to the flatlands AND the miles in between.

 

Even when we are traveling well-traveled (by us) roads here in the northeast we STILL don't have screen time in our vehicle. Some of our absolute best family conversation times have been in our car on long trips.

 

Kids may get screen time from folks who choose to use it, but they certainly don't NEED screen time - ever. Mine do get to watch some TV and a few computer games at home, but none of them are addicted to either - even as college students. Like me, they get SUPER BORED in front of a screen for too long. ;)

 

I have NO regrets about not getting my guys into tons of screen time in the car or otherwise.

[hana]

I promise not to make them count rocks or cacti. :-) We can talk and they can take turns reading aloud, which they hate to do, but they can learn. :-) Today, though, my severe endometriosis is keeping me in bed. I hope it doesn't sideline me; as they only driver, I need to be feeling a lot better than I do now.

[weederberries]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for audio books and read alouds, and car games. And my kids are the best at deep theological discussions in the car. But, driving 14 hours in a day when it's probable that you might not pass another car for hours, makes us want to pull our hair out.

 

Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico:

 

100 miles later, Middle of Nowhere, Texas

[hana]

Your "middle of nowheres" made me smile. Our "middle of nowheres" would consist of highway views of pine trees, but would be similar in their lack of difference or anything exciting. We were just commenting on that in the car yesterday: "If you took a picture right here, on this road we drive on twice a week, I'd know it looked familiar, but I couldn't really tell you where it was compared to anywhere else around here." :-)

[Hypatia.]

Definitely a little of both, but go for it! DH and I did this a few years ago (when we only had 3 kids) and I'm glad we did. We spent 30 days on the road, about 1.5 weeks of that visiting my family. I would love to do it again! Of course, my kids were much younger so we called our trip "The Great Potty Tour". :glare: I think we stopped for potty breaks every 30 minutes as DS1 was only 4 and DD1 was 2, they never needed to go at the same time, of course.

[bugs]

Fun!- 90+% of the time.

 

My daughter is a dual enrollment student this year so we actually had to plan a "short" road trip over spring break. We flew into Las Vegas and made stops (you know, spend the night, hike, etc) at the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Bryce and Zion. We drove 6 - 8 hours (sometimes more if hubby or I wanted to look at something) about every other day (we lived in hotels - not my fave but was necessary). It was a wonderful trip. My kids are older and used to driving distances. We had no screen in our vehicle but we listened to books-on-tape and pod-casts. They did get screen-time at the hotels (which I found obnoxious but since we don't get TV channels at home it was a treat for them). We drove 1500 miles in one week. It was a wonderful trip!

 

Near the end a couple of family members (who shall go unnamed) did get crabby after a longer than usual day travelling. Since you have a month, I would suggest that every once in awhile you hang out for more than a day or two. Traveling is so much fun but it is exhausting.

 

BTW- Weedeberries, your pictures cracked me up. Yep, part of the road from Grand Canyon to Mesa Verda looked like either of the two pictures you posted. Let's just say, we were able to hurry it up a bit through those parts.

[creekland]

And we love those middle of nowhere types of places. I suppose the difference is that we notice the differences and comment on them (pure flat in the first, buttes in the second) - or we're talking about other things.

 

If we hurry through any parts, it's the wooded areas. Parts of Idaho were really long (all trees, nothing much else to look at). We still didn't allow screen time and we all still talk VERY favorably about that section of the trip - for what it didn't have vs other areas and what they have. Probably the one area we didn't like the most was in KY - all stones and trees for that part. That got old, but it's still something we reminisce about. In Idaho, we saw a moose when the woods opened up and showed a pond. In KY we occasionally saw houses. In WY there were antelope and other critters.

 

No two buttes are alike. No two flat areas are alike. We don't necessarily talk about each and every one, but we do compare overall and generally just love seeing it all. (In the game my kids made up, they sometimes were trading tumbleweeds. ;) )

 

We even got to see a Lyre snake in one of those types of areas in CA... Most people probably would have missed it I suppose. We feel privileged the boys were paying attention and we opted to stop for the pic. In NM I believe middle son saw a Kangaroo rat - jumping. He was thrilled. The others were disappointed as they missed the jump.

 

To each our own. We have great memories of our trips and I can detail out many of the areas we were in and what we saw along the way as well as what the terrain was like (as can my kids).

[weederberries]

It may be different for us too because we make that drive twice a year to see family. We still point out the buttes and critters. We anticipate the stinkiest town in Texas, note the speed traps, the grossest bathroom, etc. We know it all by heart, stop for pictures with the antelope, giggle at this and that and go back to our books, stories, conversations and yes, movies. :-)

[jar7709]

Re: screen time during car rides. We found a middle way. Handheld games/devices allowed on the interstates and divided highways. Such things not allowed within park boundaries or on the interesting smaller "blue highways". It works for us, anyway. :)

[Incognito]

I have mostly bad memories from our family road trips when I was a kid. However, I do think it could be mostly fun, and I want to do things like that with my kids.

FWIW, I think that eating properly would be very important to keeping it a fun trip. We ate out a lot as a kid, and while it was really fun, I ended up pretty grumpy and I am pretty sure that what I ate and when had a big part in that.

Have fun.

[J-rap]

As others have said: a little of both, but what great memories! And the fun will definitely outweigh the boredom. We've done half the country at a time, but never the whole country. Stop often. Think of the drive itself as part of the vacation, stopping at interesting places. Try and stay at some places more than one night.

 

Once you get into a groove, it goes better. For example, one trip we always started early in the morning, picked a fun place to picnic, and then drove til mid afternoon. We always stopped at a motel with a pool and swam before supper.

 

Another way we did it was to relax in the mornings all the way through lunch or later, and then drive til 9:00 or 10:00 pm.

[creekland]

It may be different for us too because we make that drive twice a year to see family. We still point out the buttes and critters. We anticipate the stinkiest town in Texas, note the speed traps, the grossest bathroom, etc. We know it all by heart, stop for pictures with the antelope, giggle at this and that and go back to our books, stories, conversations and yes, movies. :-)

 

 

The most boring trips are those which are the most familiar (by driving them often). We prefer 14 hours of new road to 4 hours of "same old, same old." Of course, one doesn't always have the time to take new routes, and after traveling between A and B so many times one just runs out of new routes (even back roads)... so sometimes, things can't be helped. But to those of us who aren't there often - and don't take the same road twice - the southwest is definitely NOT boring. ;) We have allowed movies and handheld games on well-trod paths to grandma's house (4 hours one way, 9 the other).

 

Re: screen time during car rides. We found a middle way. Handheld games/devices allowed on the interstates and divided highways. Such things not allowed within park boundaries or on the interesting smaller "blue highways". It works for us, anyway. :)

 

 

We avoid interstates whenever we can. We are firmly in Charles Kuralt's camp:

 

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything. Charles Kuralt"

 

If interstates can't be avoided, those are definitely "talk" times or Sirius comedy times.

[Χά�ων]

Fun!

 

If it wasn't for petrol prices, I wouldn't be home.

 

 

This.

[bakpak]

Fun! It's nice to visit someone during the middle of the trip to break up the dynamic, or invite a new party along for part of the drive. Of course, the new dynamic can be better/worse than status quo, depending on how they fit in! Definitely get your kids to figure out their priorities and what they want to accomplish. Could take turns planning the day/meals/where to stay, etc.

 

You'll love it and remember it fondly, and by the end will likely be VERY ready to be home. That's a good trip.

 

Also, I've found that hotels are good for multiple driving, driving, driving days. Camping is good for exploring days or half & half days. In general, it's best if you can camp at the same site 2 nights in a row, to reduce the hassle of setup.

 

Sounds awesome!

[EmilyGF]

We've done this a few times. We love long road trips.

 

We have a few goals:

1) have fun

2) *everyone* want to take another road trip at the end

 

To achieve the goals, we usually camp for 2-3 nights and then stay in a hotel where we clean up, do laundry, take it easy.

 

We try not to schedule more than 300 miles in a day, and that would even be a stretch.

 

We look out for fun things to do and people to see on the way.

 

We've so far done Boston-Chicago, Boston-San Fran, San Fran-Wyoming, and San-Fran to Chicago.

 

Emily