Tales of your travels

[mommyoffive]

I thought all the story time threads about pets and celebrities were so fun.  Hearing people's stories were really fascinating.  

So tell me a story about your travels.

Best trip(s)

Favorite places you stayed

Things you did that you loved

Worst trip

Random things that happened to you on a trip

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else? 

Most memorable trip or places? 

Edited May 28, 2023 by mommyoffive

[DawnM]

6 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I thought all the story time threads about pets and celebrities were so fun.  Hearing people's stories were really fascinating.  

So tell me a story about your travels.

Best trip(s)

Favorite places you stayed

Things you did that you loved

Worst trip

Random things that happened to you on a trip

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else? 

Do you want this to be specific to the USA?   Could you add a "most memorable?"

[mommyoffive]

Just now, DawnM said:

Do you want this to be specific to the USA?   Could you add a "most memorable?"

No worldwide please!

[DawnM]

14 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I thought all the story time threads about pets and celebrities were so fun.  Hearing people's stories were really fascinating.  

So tell me a story about your travels.

Best trip(s)

Favorite places you stayed

Things you did that you loved

Worst trip

Random things that happened to you on a trip

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else? 

Actually, I will do a US version and an international version, but will have to finish up later.

USA version:

Best trip(s).  

Favorite places you stayed:   We stayed in a place in California where we stayed in a train car.   My boys loved it and it was so much fun.

Things you did that you loved:   That trip we were traveling from LA to Seattle and saw a bunch of things on the way.   I love stopping at off the beaten path paces and we went to one gas station/restaurant that was like a cabin/all wood and when we went into the bathroom there was a Mannequin in the bathtub with the curtain half pulled so you just saw an arm and a leg sticking out and had to peek around.   We also went hiking in the redwoods.

Worst trip: Hmmmm......I try to make the most of all of our trips, but I will be honest, I really don't love going up to Michigan to see relatives.   I don't love the mid-west even though I spent part of my childhood in Indiana.

Random things that happened to you on a trip- The battery died in the car, that took several hours to get back up and running and it was about 114 outside.

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else? 

I have been to almost every state.   I have not been to Alaska and I think I haven't hit all the little New England states like Maine, Delaware, and Rhode Island.   But I have driven through most of the other states at least as we have gone several different routes.

Edited May 28, 2023 by DawnM

[Anne]

One of my best trips just happened recently.  My sister and I visited the San Juan Islands.  We went kayaking, whale watching, and hiking.  We ate fabulous food.  We sat on the deck of our rental and drank wine, and we lounged in the living room and read books.  And we talked…. It was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable vacations I’ve ever had.

Anne

[HomeAgain]

Most memorable trip:

We lived on a small island in the middle of the Pacific. It is mostly a gas station for planes. Every other week, the mail plane would come, drop off the post, fill up with passengers, and head back to the states.  Dh and I decided that we were going to go back to the U.S. for ds's 10th birthday and take him to WDW for a week.  It was a HUGE surprise for him, and we were only able to do it because of the discount Disney gave us. 

Unfortunately.......

This was the one time the mail plane did not stop.  It decided it had enough fuel and went right over head, bound for the east coast.

We saw on the screen that a transport plane was coming in and had room for 4 passengers.  I don't know what dh did, but we managed to get on that transport with a crew full of marines, who got us all the way to..........

 

New Brunswick.  🤦‍♀️

 

Did you know there's a Tim Horton's at the airport?  The crew did, and they had been promised a trip there by the pilot.  We were kindly locked onto the plane while everyone else vanished into a sketchy looking hangar for their coffee and donuts.  We were not invited.

A while later, we flew into BWI, Maryland, and drove down to VA.  Less than 8 hours later, in the middle of fog, we were at the airport again.  First with a delayed take off, and then when we finally left, we made it all the way to...............

Tennessee.

And waited out the bad weather in the smallest airport. Alrighty.  There were no amenities open and we were living off snacks found in the bottom of my backpack.

Now, I told you ds was 9 here.  He had been up since 3 am, hadn't complained a whit for the entire journey, and was pretty darn good for a kid who was only told we were doing this all to meet some of our old friends.  He was so tired when we finally got back on the plane to make it to our last leg of the journey, that when the attendant announced we could see the castle off to the left, right next to DS, it didn't even register.  He didn't even realize until I told him happy birthday.

And this is where I give credit to Disney.  At the time, service was outstanding.  We got on the Magical Express, made it to the Wilderness Lodge, and this kid had the best dang birthday ever.  Every day he woke up with a towel animal, and by day 4, his actual b-day, mousekeeping had set up his animals all around a new book we had given him and gave him a birthday card signed by the characters.  The front office at Animal Kingdom gave him a gift card to use in the parks and he had an absolute blast that trip getting to do all sorts of things, like waking up Tinkerbell at the Emporium.  Like, they don't know how stressed we were trying to get there but it was well worth it.

Going home was a lot less eventful, but man, there was a lot of "okay, let's just roll with this" to get there in the first place!

[mommyoffive]

30 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Most memorable trip:

We lived on a small island in the middle of the Pacific. It is mostly a gas station for planes. Every other week, the mail plane would come, drop off the post, fill up with passengers, and head back to the states.  Dh and I decided that we were going to go back to the U.S. for ds's 10th birthday and take him to WDW for a week.  It was a HUGE surprise for him, and we were only able to do it because of the discount Disney gave us. 

Unfortunately.......

This was the one time the mail plane did not stop.  It decided it had enough fuel and went right over head, bound for the east coast.

We saw on the screen that a transport plane was coming in and had room for 4 passengers.  I don't know what dh did, but we managed to get on that transport with a crew full of marines, who got us all the way to..........

 

New Brunswick.  🤦‍♀️

 

Did you know there's a Tim Horton's at the airport?  The crew did, and they had been promised a trip there by the pilot.  We were kindly locked onto the plane while everyone else vanished into a sketchy looking hangar for their coffee and donuts.  We were not invited.

A while later, we flew into BWI, Maryland, and drove down to VA.  Less than 8 hours later, in the middle of fog, we were at the airport again.  First with a delayed take off, and then when we finally left, we made it all the way to...............

Tennessee.

And waited out the bad weather in the smallest airport. Alrighty.  There were no amenities open and we were living off snacks found in the bottom of my backpack.

Now, I told you ds was 9 here.  He had been up since 3 am, hadn't complained a whit for the entire journey, and was pretty darn good for a kid who was only told we were doing this all to meet some of our old friends.  He was so tired when we finally got back on the plane to make it to our last leg of the journey, that when the attendant announced we could see the castle off to the left, right next to DS, it didn't even register.  He didn't even realize until I told him happy birthday.

And this is where I give credit to Disney.  At the time, service was outstanding.  We got on the Magical Express, made it to the Wilderness Lodge, and this kid had the best dang birthday ever.  Every day he woke up with a towel animal, and by day 4, his actual b-day, mousekeeping had set up his animals all around a new book we had given him and gave him a birthday card signed by the characters.  The front office at Animal Kingdom gave him a gift card to use in the parks and he had an absolute blast that trip getting to do all sorts of things, like waking up Tinkerbell at the Emporium.  Like, they don't know how stressed we were trying to get there but it was well worth it.

Going home was a lot less eventful, but man, there was a lot of "okay, let's just roll with this" to get there in the first place!

Oh wow, what a story to remember.  

How cool you lived on a tiny island.  How long did you live there?

[HomeAgain]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh wow, what a story to remember.  

How cool you lived on a tiny island.  How long did you live there?

Two years.  DS would like to go back, but it was an island that was literally trying to kill him so I'm afraid that's out of the question for him to even visit.  By the time we left, he was carrying an epipen because of environmental allergies.

A lot of good times besides that, though. 😄

[Pawz4me]

Avatar Dog has been to 31 states.

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Avatar Dog has been to 31 states.

Wow.  Any other dog been to more???  I don't know how many our younger dog has been to, as she came from the south so I am sure she hit a few on the way up

[Kareni]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Worst trip

When my daughter was under a year old, we decided to rent an  RV and drive from our California Bay Area home to Arizona and Nevada on a two week vacation. We neglected to consider the fact that our daughter never slept in a moving vehicle, that she wanted to be walking, and that she was breastfeeding. With our many stops, it took us one week to get as far as Barstow in Southern California. I just checked and the distance is about 400 miles.

I convinced my husband to take us home and to take the RV on a mini-vacation by himself. When we arrived home one VERY long day later, I opened the front door and walked inside - squish, squish, squish. Our hot water heater (located on the second floor) had leaked while we were away.  Our second week of vacation was spent in a hotel while repairs were made. We called it the vacation from hell.

Regards,

Kareni

[lmrich]

Best in the US - we rented an RV in Alaska for 10 days. The kids were 4, 6, 8. Loved the RV because we made all our own meeals, etc.. We hiked, we kayaked, we saw bears and moose.... we had wonderful weather and a perfect day to see Denali. Such great memories. 

[Guest]

Worst conundrum on a trip:

I was in France and came into Paris on a midnight train. My plan was to check into the hotel I (supposedly) had reservations at; sleep a handful of hours, then shower, dress and leave on another train for Normandy. But when I tried to check into the hotel, the door sign said (in French) “No Vacancy”. I was concerned but said, “J’ai une réservation”. However, when the manager sought my reservation, I did not have one in fact.
 

So I’m standing at a hotel in a foreign city past midnight and am being told there’s no room for me. Luckily, this manager spoke English because my French is not sufficient to say all the things I would have needed to say to come up with another plan. 
 

In the end, the manager gave over a room that was meant for someone else but which he felt certain was not going to be claimed now at such a late hour. It worked out well enough and I got a bit of sleep and a shower before leaving literally a few hours later! 

[historically accurate]

Best trip: I don't know if I can narrow it down.

Favorite places you stayed: hands down, the King Kamehameha Suite at the Polynesian at Disney. We got upgraded (I can't afford $1500+ nightly); it's over 1800 square feet of space with a perfectly framed view of the castle. Yeah, boy! https://www.glassslipperconcierge.com/blog/disneys-king-kamehameha-presidential-suite

Worst place we stayed: when I was a kid, my dad refused to pay more than $25 (my mom later insisted on$30) for a hotel room , and we stayed in some doozies. Worst 2 I can think of are the one with a dead mayfly on my pillow when I pulled back the comforter and the sleazy one with mirrors everywhere that was advertised as XXX (yes, we sat in the van out front while my dad paid with a bumper sticker that said, "Jesus is the answer."). Both were well within dad's budget.

Worst trip: probably a toss up between the hurricane that hit Florida while we were driving down (we decided to take a left turn and go to New Orleans, but they wouldn't refund our hotel so we ended up paying 2x), the "black tongue plague" in South Dakota (some sort of stomach bug that turned everyone's tongue black (from dehydration maybe?)) or the screaming, crying, puking 2 year old in the back seat from Alabama to Illinois. 

Random things that happened to you on a trip: Apparently we're accident prone because I remember a lot of accidents growing up: Stung by a bee, allergic reaction that led to an ER visit (where my brother and I held wheelchair races down the hallway (the eighties were definitely a different time)), broke my finger by putting my hand in my pocket and bent the finger back somehow, Non medical memory: biting my tongue while the boys on a trip to Madrid in college were navigating around the city as they were getting feisty with another girl and I always telling them which way we should go. They got hopelessly lost before other girl and I stepped in and brought us right back to our hotel in 10 minutes flat.

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? I've been to the 48 continental states, I'd like to hit Hawaii and Alaska sometime. Every national park? We love them, but I don't think I'll hit them all. We'll continue to visit the ones wherever we go though. Every continent? Every country?  Or something else? While I'd love to travel internationally, it'll probably not be in the budget and DH has yet to see much of the US, so we'll probably stick around North America. 

Most memorable trip or places? the 6 week trip down the west coast where my tent leaked (leaked like there was no roof at all) for 3 days straight. The third night I crawled into my brother's tent, which collapsed later in the storm, and we spent the rest of the night on the floor of the girls' bath house. My parents slept away in their tent; they felt bad that we didn't wake them, but since they worked nights, we'd been well trained never to wake them unless there was blood. After 3 days of starting the day in the laundromat, I got a swanky new tent for the trip.

Edited May 29, 2023 by historically accurate

[SKL]

Best trip(s):  My first trip to India - 3 weeks, most of it by car, my first international trip (not counting Niagara Falls).  So magical.  I was in my 20s IIRC.

Favorite places you stayed:  I like quaint historic guest house type places best.

Things you did that you loved:  Touring historic places such as the Taj Majal, Tikal, Macchu Picchu, the Acropolis, the Colosseum, the Great Wall, Xian, etc.

Worst trip:  Can't really think of any that I didn't like ... maybe Melbourne at Christmas because it was kind of blah.  But that was part of a much bigger trip that was overall very nice.

Random things that happened to you on a trip:  You name it, it probably happened to us.  😛  The crowd crush in Lisbon on New Year's Eve was pretty scary.  Or the time we had to land / stay in a Chinese city that wasn't on our itinerary, due to fog.  We couldn't find anyone who spoke more than 20 words of English, and I didn't speak more than 20 words of Chinese.  Also, we had to go shopping for clothes since my bags were separated from me for the entire 10 day trip.  Even in my slender days, I was too fat for Chinese clothes (at least the ones sold in the store we went to).  And I got suspicious glares because I didn't have a passcode for my credit card and it was rejected.  Fun times!

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else?:  Would be nice to go to every state, and as many countries as are safe to travel to.  So far I believe I've been to about 2/3 of the US states.  We've been on 6 continents.  Would be fun to go to Antarctica, if we find a reasonably priced trip.  But I don't think I really have specific goals - I just want to cover as much ground as possible before I'm too old.  And I'd like to eventually document it all so I can enjoy the memories when I'm too old to travel.  🙂

Most memorable trip or places? :  I think it goes back to my first trip to India.  But I have so many good memories in various places.  Memories of climbing up mountainsides to the point where I'm alone looking over the landscape (because my trip-mates are less spry or less interested).  Feels like I'm the first person discovering a place.  That's always been a feeling I liked.

Edited May 28, 2023 by SKL

[madteaparty]

Nm

Edited May 29, 2023 by madteaparty

[Guest]

5 hours ago, lmrich said:

Best in the US - we rented an RV in Alaska for 10 days. The kids were 4, 6, 8. Loved the RV because we made all our own meeals, etc.. We hiked, we kayaked, we saw bears and moose.... we had wonderful weather and a perfect day to see Denali. Such great memories. 

Can I ask what time of year you did this and what weather you were prepared to encounter? This sounds like a great trip idea for me.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, madteaparty said:

I have an entire blog about this

What is your blog??

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Can I ask what time of year you did this and what weather you were prepared to encounter? This sounds like a great trip idea for me.

I am interested too.  Dh keeps bringing up Alaska as it is his last state. 

[madteaparty]

8 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by madteaparty

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I was in Seoul about 6 months ago, with my youngest daughter. We had an incredible time there together (so incredible, in fact, that we're soon to go again).

One of the coolest (and entirely unexpected) things to happen was when my daughter was in a dance class at a super-famous studio.

I was waiting in the foyer area, on my own, other than one staff member at the reception desk. A very popular K-pop boy band walked in and sat in the foyer with me. 

 

[Farrar]

Best trip(s): With the kids, probably Tulum. Just magical from start to finish. Easy, fun, not a single thing went wrong. Without the kids, probably the trip to Prague. Within the US, probably the trip we took to Las Vegas to go to a wedding that involved going out to Bryce and Zion. Or possibly when we went to western NC to see the eclipse with friends - perfect little VRBO that was right on the creek coming out of the National Park so we got to tube all the way down the rapids in the park and float back to where we were staying. Brilliant.

Favorite places you stayed: There was this place we stayed in Namibia with the kids that was so perfect. We weren't supposed to even be there! But where we were going to camp was flooded. We had to get into one of those crazy drive through the river vehicles to get there because the roads were all washed out. They had their own watering hole, so we had great wildlife viewing at dinner. The whole place was super chill because we were stranded there and couldn't get back to our truck. Beautiful little house with a little sleeping loft up in the thatched roof for the kids, amazing meals (since it's southern Africa, read: tons of grilled meats).

Things you did that you loved: Experience things I'd totally do again include swimming in the hot springs in Iceland, cenotes in Mexico, and all the hikes where I really felt like I conquered a thing, like Bryce Canyon or Huangshan.

Worst trip: Despite having visited three times, I've never had a good trip to Guangzhou. I'm convinced it's cursed.

Random things that happened to you on a trip: When I was in Thailand solo, I had this crazy experience where I was at these out of the way ruins and it was starting to rain and I was debating just hanging there until the rain passed. But then the guy in the little bodega stand was like, you're taking the bus? It's leaving soon and then no more bus. So I ended up running nearly a mile in the torrential rain to try to catch it. As I headed down the long, straight dirt (mud, with the rain) road, I spotted it, way way off on the highway and was like crap. I started waving my arms, like stop stop, and sprinted for it. The bus driver was so nice. He probably had to wait a solid five minutes or more for me. When I got to the bus, drenched and covered in mud, the locals all gave me this long applause and had a good (but also clearly good natured) laugh at my expense. They'd clearly watched my whole sprint. But I was not stranded in a monsoon in the middle of nowhere!

Goals for your travel.  Have you hit every state? Every national park? Every continent? Every country?  Or something else?: I want to see more of Europe as I've only been to a few sort of highlight places like Paris and Barcelona. I've never done the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone and would really like to do those, as well as Arcadia, which I've got on my to do list as an early fall/late summer trip for at least one of the years my kid is in college in Massachusetts (so I've got three years to get that done - drop him off and then go up there). I'd really, really like to do more Mayan-centered trips. That trip to Tulum was next level and we especially loved Ek Balam. I'd love to see Tikal.

Most memorable trip or places? Probably my first trip to China.

[Farrar]

Lots of people with Disney trips... you know, that actually makes my top ten for the US easily as well. Especially the second time we went and stayed off property for like nothing and carried in a picnic lunch every day and did both WDW and Universal during the off season. It was just plain brilliant and absurdly relaxed and inexpensive for what we got. We didn't have as many magic Disney moments as we'd had staying on property when the kids were little, but we did have one when we decided to go get dessert and watch the light show as Magic Kingdom closed down. The funnel cake place was closing and they just gave us all the leftover funnel cakes and we had an excellent, not overcrowded view of the lights from the little funnel cake pavilion eating free dessert and enjoying the light show and fireworks on the castle.

[lmrich]

14 hours ago, Quill said:

Can I ask what time of year you did this and what weather you were prepared to encounter? This sounds like a great trip idea for me.

We went end of July and a few days in August. We had sunny days with temps in the 70's and two chilly  days. One day it sleeted. We made hot chocolate in the RV and thought it was great to be cold in August.  We got some  quick drying hiking pants and good rain/wind breakers, hiking boots and good socks. Lots of layers. 

We flew into Anchorage,  went to some state parks, up to Denali, up to Fairbanks, looped around, and  stayed a few nights in Seward before going back to Anchorage.  

cute story - our four-year old was (and still is) very girly and we did not pack her a dress on this trip. She  had to wear pants everyday. When we got home, she went upstairs put on a princess dress, a crown, and sparkly shoes and fell asleep. 

[Faith-manor]

Our worst was easily our honeymoon. We had planned our wedding day a year in advance, then one of Mark's groomsmen announced with two months notice, that he was engaged and they decided to get married fairly quickly, the week after us in Maryland and would Mark be best man. Sigh. Mark had no spine back then for saying NO to such a good friend, so we ended up changing our plans from driving to Massachusetts for whale watching and a couple of other things to Fredericksburg, Maryland. We did not have much time to figure out what to do while there since this was prior to the internet so you actually had to do book, pamphlet, phone call research. Blech. The first day was okay. We went to the Aquarium in Baltimore, and it was nice. But then the air conditioning conked out in the car. Being in the Chesapeake Bay Swamp for your honeymoon with no air conditioning in the car and 90 + degrees every day was NOT fun. We drove to D.C., the next day not knowing about the train system and the superiority of NOT having to find parking for your car, so we could spend the day at the Smithsonians rarely in each other's presence while we took turns hiking more than a mile away back to the car to feed the meter. We took a picnic lunch down by the Washington Monument only to have to fight off a purse snatcher. By the time we were done with the Smithsonians and the miles of walking to feed the meter, we were really tired and not all that amused. But, we had family expecting us to bring back photos of the Lincoln Memorial. Neither one us was in the mood to find somewhere to park, so Mark dropped me off, I hiked up to the thing to take photos all the while muttering under my breath about how much I hated DC and threatening all manner of wedding sabotage for his friend (but it was all venting, I had no intention of ruining their day), while Mark was supposed to be "driving around the block" several times to pick me up at the curb. It took forever. And of course Mark didn't know where he was going, got lost, siphoned off by traffic onto the Beltway, and all he could think to do was keep driving back towards the Washington Monument. He eventually made it back to his very annoyed bride.

The next day we decided to drive out to the coast and eat crab on the beach. We had heard we really needed to eat Chesapeake Blue crab. Could not find a single place on  the beach selling it even though a friend from college raved that there would be all these crab shacks around selling it. We ended up eating at a Burger King. Since we like ferries, we thought, "Let's take the ferry to Delaware", and ha ha ha ha, that turned out to be way more expensive than we thought it would be so we didn't do it. Having been entirely let down by the day, we drove around, found a county ferry that was $2, hardly more than a log raft traversing a bit of swamp/river, and took it twice over and immediately back which great perplexed the operator, and commenting, " We are on our honeymoon", did not make him any less confused. We spent the next two days just hanging out at the hotel swimming and soaking in the jacuzzi. That was the best part of the trip.

The day of friend's wedding, another couple from college showed up and said, "Let's get crab." They found a hole in the wall shop that they assumed was an actual cafe, ordered a dozen medium Chesapeake Blue Crab (what on earth they were thinking), and when handed a paper sack of cooked crabs, asked "Where on earth are the tables?" LOL, after he explained the confusion, the owner produced a table and chairs normally reserved for employees, and some utensils. Neither Mark or Steve had ever had anything more than crab legs so when it looked like they might sample some of the green stuff, an employ informed them to not do that. Steve's wife, not a seafood lover, got queasy from the smell of the place and all the crab body parts and innards accumulating on the table as our boys determined since they paid for all that crab, by golly it was going to get eaten! Then, to our horror, after leaving the establishment and walking around the strip mall area, we discovered that the stench of blue crab really doesn't come off easily. The guys reeked, and both were in the wedding later that evening. They tried all manner of soaps at the hotel, in public bathrooms, you name it. Nope. Still smelled. It died down some by the ceremony, but was still very evident. They tried to cover it by slathering themselves with scented hand and body lotion after showering twice. But still, the wedding couple have to this day on their wedding video, the groom sniffing, sniffing, sniffing, and while she was walking down the aisle his disgusted look and comment, "What's that blasted stench?" picked up for all eternity by the pastor's lapel microphone.

We left after the reception to drive home, went half way, got a motel and the only thing we could afford at that point was a flea bag kind of place.

That was the honeymoon in all its glory. The best part of it was our first night. We didn't go far, stayed at a very nice hotel, and had French dips delivered to the room. It was all downhill from there!

I will regale you with the best vacation in a different post because this one is so long.

 

[Guest]

I’m sorry to laugh at your lousy honeymoon, Faith, but since I 100% know what you’re talking about with every bit of the trip, it does read rather funny! It probably put you off the Bay and DC forever, but really it’s much better now. 
 

I have a shorter DC story that also involves the Lincoln Memorial. We went on the Metro to some of the museums, walked around them and then I wanted to go to the LM (on foot). My youngest was only like 4 or 5 at the time. It’s one of those things where you can see it from so far away it seems like it’s “just over the hill”, but it’s not. It was a couple miles of walking, after we had already walked miles. After we visited the LM, we started walking back to the metro stop we had started with (it was too confusing to look for a closer line and change trains). My little one was so exhausted he lay down on the sidewalk and wouldn’t go any further. Dh had to put him on his shoulder. Poor thing. 

[wintermom]

Best trip with my 4 young (at the time 4 - 10 yo) dc without dh: houseboating on Shushwap Lake, British Columbia, with my sister, her dh and their 2 ds. My 4 yo ds was in a cast from a broken arm, so he wasn't allowed to swim, which added a little stress as we were on the water. However, we had a gorgesou hot tub on the top floor of the houseboat we could all enjoy. There was a slide at the back of the boat to slip into the water. We boated around this huge lake, and moored on various camping beaches each night. Every beach was a little different - sometimes we made sand castles, sometimes rock sculptures. The scenery was breath-taking. The weather was perfect at 40 C but no humidity. The water was warm and crystal clear. There were little stores and gas stations at a couple locations around the lake to gas up and stock up on food and drinks. It was such an amazing trip! Very highly recommended!

 

 

[Corraleno]

Best trip(s)
The kids and I did three archaeological tours with Lukeion, to Greece, Italy, and Turkey. All of those were amazing, although I think Greece was probably the most special, because DS was studying Greek and was really into Greek history and literature, so being able to actually visit Knossos, Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi, Corinth, etc., and all the amazing museums, was a dream come true for him (as well as seeing Troy when we went to Turkey). We also had a really nice, although brief, trip to Iceland that was really relaxed and fun and the landscape is so beautiful it's surreal.

Favorite places you stayed
A small fishing village on the north coast of Crete. This was in the 1970s and the area was still very traditional and unspoiled — the houses had no electricity or plumbing, there was an outhouse and we washed up by swimming in the ocean and rinsing off with a hose. Meals were mostly fish, vegetables, bread, and wine, served at a big table under a canopy right next to the water. Our last night there, my then-boyfriend and I went for a long walk in the hills above the village, and this old couple came running out to greet us and insisted we come drink raki with them, and then an Orthodox priest on a motorcycle came by and they insisted he drink with us, too, and it was just a perfect last evening there.

Things you did that you loved
All the archaeological sites, plus climbing a waterfall in Iceland.

Worst trip
In the early 80s, my boyfriend and I took a trip to Fiji, Tonga, and NZ, and at one point we traveled to a really remote Fijian village, and we were invited to spend the night in the chief's house. It was the only house in the village with a metal roof, and it was just a big open space with about a dozen people, including us, sleeping on the floor. There was torrential rain all night, so it was like trying to sleep in a metal trash can with someone beating on the lid, and at one point I had to go to the outhouse in the dark, slipped down an embankment, and got covered in mud. I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos, so I took the scratchy wool army blanket that I was lying on top of and put it over me instead, and spent the entire night wide awake, with a headache, itchy and sweating profusely. The next day we left and drove a couple of hours to the nearest place that rented rooms, desperate for a hot shower and a clean bed. There was no hot water, and when I pulled back the bedspread, the sheets were full of dirt and leaves.

2nd worst trip was probably Cuba. The bathroom in the hotel had black mold and there was water dripping through the ceiling from the bathroom above. At one point we got stranded late at night in a part of town that was far from the tourist area, so there were no taxis. We managed to flag down a guy in an ancient 1950s car that was literally held together with wire and duct tape, and offered to pay him to drive us to the hotel. The car kept stalling out and didn't seem to have any shocks, but we eventually made it back to the hotel. Oh, and then DS got really really sick the next morning and spent an hour throwing up in a filthy public restroom at the Havana airport.

Random things that happened to you on a trip
DS and I were flying to Nashville, with a layover in Chicago, but the first flight was super delayed and then just as we were getting to Chicago they closed the airport and diverted us to Kansas City. There were no flights out, so I ended up renting a car at 7 PM and driving 9 hours overnight while DS slept, because he had to be at a competition by 7 AM. Another time, when we were flying home, there was a snowstorm and the airport shut down just as we were getting ready to land, so we were diverted to another city and got stuck there for 3 days before we finally managed to get home by train.

Goals for your travel
The one item still on my bucket list is to see the Northern Lights  

Most memorable trip or places? 
I happened to be in Bali during a special festival that only happens like once every 100 years or so, and for several days there was a nonstop procession of people carrying trays with beautifully arranged offerings of fruit and flowers to the main temple in Ubud. One night I was having dinner on the patio of a restaurant that overlooked the temple, and there was a ceremony with singing and dancing and a steady stream of people with offerings and it was absolutely beautiful and literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Corraleno

[Faith-manor]

24 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

Best trip(s)
The kids and I did three archaeological tours with Lukeion, to Greece, Italy, and Turkey. All of those were amazing, although I think Greece was probably the most special, because DS was studying Greek and was really into Greek history and literature, so being able to actually visit Knossos, Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi, Corinth, etc., and all the amazing museums, was a dream come true for him (as well as seeing Troy when we went to Turkey). We also had a really nice, although brief, trip to Iceland that was really relaxed and fun and the landscape is so beautiful it's surreal.

Favorite places you stayed
A small fishing village on the north coast of Crete. This was in the 1970s and the area was still very traditional and unspoiled — the houses had no electricity or plumbing, there was an outhouse and we washed up by swimming in the ocean and rinsing off with a hose. Meals were mostly fish, vegetables, bread, and wine, served at a big table under a canopy right next to the water. Our last night there, my then-boyfriend and I went for a long walk in the hills above the village, and this old couple came running out to greet us and insisted we come drink raki with them, and then an Orthodox priest on a motorcycle came by and they insisted he drink with us, too, and it was just a perfect last evening there.

Things you did that you loved
All the archaeological sites, plus climbing a waterfall in Iceland.

Worst trip
In the early 80s, my boyfriend and I took a trip to Fiji, Tonga, and NZ, and at one point we traveled to a really remote Fijian village, and we were invited to spend the night in the chief's house. It was the only house in the village with a metal roof, and it was just a big open space with about a dozen people, including us, sleeping on the floor. There was torrential rain all night, so it was like trying to sleep in a metal trash can with someone beating on the lid, and at one point I had to go to the outhouse in the dark, slipped down an embankment, and got covered in mud. I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos, so I took the scratchy wool army blanket that I was lying on top of and put it over me instead, and spent the entire night wide awake, with a headache, itchy and sweating profusely. The next day we left and drove a couple of hours to the nearest place that rented rooms, desperate for a hot shower and a clean bed. There was no hot water, and when I pulled back the bedspread, the sheets were full of dirt and leaves.

2nd worst trip was probably Cuba. The bathroom in the hotel had black mold and there was water dripping through the ceiling from the bathroom above. At one point we got stranded late at night in a part of town that was far from the tourist area, so there were no taxis. We managed to flag down a guy in an ancient 1950s car that was literally held together with wire and duct tape, and offered to pay him to drive us to the hotel. The car kept stalling out and didn't seem to have any shocks, but we eventually made it back to the hotel. Oh, and then DS got really really sick the next morning and spent an hour throwing up in a filthy public restroom at the Havana airport.

Random things that happened to you on a trip
DS and I were flying to Nashville, with a layover in Chicago, but the first flight was super delayed and then just as we were getting to Chicago they closed the airport and diverted us to Kansas City. There were no flights out, so I ended up renting a car at 7 PM and driving 9 hours overnight while DS slept, because he had to be at a competition by 7 AM. Another time, when we were flying home, there was a snowstorm and the airport shut down just as we were getting ready to land, so we were diverted to another city and got stuck there for 3 days before we finally managed to get home by train.

Goals for your travel
The one item still on my bucket list is to see the Northern Lights  

Most memorable trip or places? 
I happened to be in Bali during a special festival that only happens like once every 100 years or so, and for several days there was a nonstop procession of people carrying trays with beautifully arranged offerings of fruit and flowers to the main temple in Ubud. One night I was having dinner on the patio of a restaurant that overlooked the temple, and there was a ceremony with singing and dancing and a steady stream of people with offerings and it was absolutely beautiful and literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

You Fiji, Rings trip could be a romantic failure kind of movie! 😁

[Rosla]

I like reading about traveling, and finding out about other people's experiences can help when planning a new trip. So, thanks for sharing.

Unfortunately, I didn't travel a lot (hope to change this in the nearest future). But this February we went to Vegas. Having looked through these Hilton Grand Vacations reviews, I signed up for a free three nights in Vegas in exchange for a 90 min sales pitch. Fine. The suite was decent, though far on the north end of the strip. However, rooms in Vegas are really cheap. We ended up staying a couple of extra nights using Hotwire and we got rooms in the Aria and the Cromwell for $130 and $70 respectively. So why even bother with the sales pitch? Just go to Vegas in the off-season on your own dime. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Rosla

[DawnM]

I never did my overseas version did I?

The most memorable trip I have ever taken was by myself.   It wasn't meant to be by myself but I got stuck.

It was between my Jr and Sr year of college.  I was 21 years old.  I went with a group from college from Seattle to Indonesia.   We had a fabulous summer there and I wasn't flying back with them, I was going to go on to Africa and see my folks for the remainder of the summer.

Well, we had to fly from Sulawesi, Indonesia, back to Jakarta and then on to Singapore where I was going to catch  a flight to Nairobi.    Turns out the flights were overbooks from Sulawesi, but they had room for ONE of us.....so, since I was not flying with them and needed to get back, they sent me by myself.

So, the trip started with a 2 day island puddle jumping trip back to Jakarta.   The planes were tiny prop planes that held about 25 people.   All of them smoked clove cigarettes.   It was miserable to take those flights and I don't even remember how many there were!   At least 2, but I think closer to 3 or 4.   I stayed in a weird hotel they reserved for me that was bug ridden.   I was taking bugs out of my bed most of the night.....think large cockroach type bugs, harmless, but annoying.

I got to Singapore after 3 days and then got to the airport only to find that my flight was delayed.   I was flying Air Mauritius and had two stops before Nairobi, one in Mauritius and one in Madagascar.   Well, guess what happened?   The flight was delayed so long that I missed my connecting flight.   Only there was only ONE flight per WEEK from Mauritius to Nairobi so the airline put me up in a hotel on the beach.   

Everyone spoke French.   I do not speak French.  I also had no credit cards back then, no cell phones, and only a limited amount of traveler's checks.

Thankfully the hotel served 2 meals per day, so I didn't starve.   And the hotel room was lovely, right on the white sands.   

I was 21 but I looked about 16.   The manager of the hotel came over to talk to me and did speak English.   He asked why I was alone and told me he thought I was a teenager.   I told him what had happened and he asked about Singapore, he said he had never been there and had wanted to visit so I told him all about it.   He was South African but living in Mauritius.

Day 2 a lovely couple came over to ask if they could eat dinner with me.   He was English and she was Zimbabwean and spoke English.   They said they saw that I was alone and figured I didn't speak French based on my interaction with the staff.   They became my new BFFs for the week!   I ate every meal with them and they helped me figure out how to go into town on the bus and how to do a snorkeling tour.

I found out later that my parents were worried sick.   Meanwhile, I was having the time of my life!   🤣   

The end of the week arrived and knowing only one flight went per week, I was ready by the 5am slated time to leave.   Turns out the manager from South Africa was going to take me to the airport.   We got in the van and got half way to the airport before he blew a tire!   It took almost an hour to change the tire and I was sure I was going to be at his hotel a 2nd week......but thankfully he flagged down a taxi and I got in and got to the airport just in time.....seriously ran and yelled, "Wait!"

I made it to my folks and stayed for a few weeks.   When I was leaving, I few Air Mauritius back to Singapore.   As I was changing planes in Mauritius I looked over and who did I see boarding my flight from Mauritius to Singapore?    Yup, you guess it, the manager of the hotel!   He said, "OH, you made it sound so fun, I had to make it my next trip!"

 

[Indigo Blue]

Worst trip:

Going to visit Dh bio dad for the first time since he was 3. His whole side went. We all traveled in a van together and drove all night. I should have stayed home. Ds was 3. I had a large boil under my arm the size of a quarter and was in lots of pain. MIL talked very loudly all night on the van, so I could not sleep and escape the discomfort of the boil. Ds could not sleep. Sis in law has a sharp tongue and says the most awful things. So there was that. Then the torture of lingering too long at every relative we visited. I was trying to be accommodating for Dh so he could see his dad. But it does still qualify as my worst trip, and I promised myself never again. If we want to visit them again, we drive separate from the others and stay in a hotel. Those are my parameters. 
 

Best trip: Sitting by a waterfall and stream in the NC mountains with my dog. 
 

ETA: All the trips we’ve taken with the boys have been great. But my most favorite thing is mountain streams/dog. 🙂

Edited June 20, 2023 by Indigo Blue

[Faith-manor]

I said I would come back and do an "our favorite" so I need to do that.

We have a LOT of wonderful trip experiences so this is very hard to choose. I guess I will go with our first Badlands trip.

In 2014, just after Mark and I and our middle son returned from Iceland, eldest son and I were in a horrific car accident when a woman on a cell phone ran a stop sign at high speed (estimated to be doing 70 miles per hour on an unpaved side road - don't ask me my feelings about her because to this day, they are NOT good), and t-boned our mini-van. Thanking safety engineers everywhere for airbags, side curtain air bags, all the air bags, and all the safety belts! We survived, but were badly injured, son way worse than me and to say that my recovery was easy would be a really jacked up understatement.

When physical therapists and orthopedic surgeons were certain that ds would not only walk again, but be walking with a cane or walker by the June 2015, Mark and I decided we needed to take an epic, family vacation, a road trip, something super special. That whole time had been really hard on our other two sons. The boys were homeschooled, high school senior, junior, and freshman. I was trying to supervise D.E., and as well as teach from a recliner, keep wheelchair bound, head injury suffering senior on track with college admissions and finishing coursework since he did not want to take a gap year, and legally, we don't really have a "take a year off from school because you are injured" option by Michigan law, we didn't really have a choice in that, and the younger two were doing hosuework, cooking, helping their brother with bathroom assistance, you name it. So much stress. We just wanted to treat us all to something amazing, and make some new, good memories.

We let eldest ds choose. He had always wanted to go to the Badlands. Every since he was a young child and he heard of that region it was on his bucket list. He also knew his brothers would like it, so I did a bunch of research and figured out how to make a happy, handicap accessible trip. We spent a night in Sioux Falls at a Ramada Inn with a water park. I cried with pure joy when my two teens practically carried their brother up the steps so he could ride the water slides. Those three had SO MUCH FUN, and the added benefit was that dd's physical therapists wanted him to swim and hot tub soak. I made sure every hotel we stayed at had an indoor pool and spa tub. Ds didn't even ant to take his muscle relaxant in order to do all the riding. But if he had not been able to soak, stretch in the water, and swim every single evening, he would not have been able to handle the road trip.

We went to Wall Drug and did all the funny touristy things. It was hilarious. We went to the Minuteman Missile Museum/nuclear silo. My father was a missile engineer for the Air Force who had worked on those things at one point, and even been stationed there. They loved seeing what their grandpa had been doing long before they were born. The only thing ds and I could not do was climb down into the launch silo itself which is not handicap accessible. We spent two days exploring the Badlands. Mark and the younger sons would go hiking. Ds and I would stay on the boardwalks, picnic and stretch out on blankets on the grass at the visitor's center, drive the loop and photograph wildlife, and having dogged a research team at the lab with all of his questions, they decided to let him into the lab and assist with cataloging a couple specimens which was so cool. We went to the South Dakota School of Mines Museum, saw Mt. Rushmore, took and train through the Black Hills, and went to Devil's Tower. On the way home, we stumbled upon the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, IA, and this happy impromptu stop has lead to a big relationship with the museum since Mark is 2nd generation Danish American. Our eldest son has now published historical articles with MoDA. He has assisted in the genealogy center.

It was a marvelous trip. Since by strange circumstances due to taking time off for health or for being unable to schedule classes in a timely manner, all three of our musketeers graduated college the same weekend. Only one of them wanted to attend commencement. So we all went to his, and then as a graduation gift for the three of them, a last hurrah before they scatter to the winds and there are no more family road trips, we took them back to the Badlands at their request. This time we did not go to Devil's Tower, and no need to repeat Mt. Rushmore. Instead we spent a bunch of time at Custer State Park, more time at MoDA, and came home through Nebraska so we could swing by Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, and the train yard at Platte, NE.

[Tree Frog]

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

 I also had no credit cards back then, no cell phones, and only a limited amount of traveler's checks

It's amazing how different travel is now. I was an exchange student in Berlin in the 80's. When I went, i used traveler's checks. When those were gone, I was out of cash. No credit card because who would give a credit card to a 16 year old? I didn't have a way to notify my exchange family that I hadn't made it to my connecting flight and I think I talked to my parents maybe twice that year. It was too expensive. Letters took a long time before they were received. I sent all my film back home to be developed and didn't actually see any of them until I returned home the following summer. My mom told me she was so tired of seeing animals and scenery. She wanted pictures of the people I knew, but there were very few of those. 

By contrast, when my dd went to Germany in college, we talked all the time and sent messages back and forth. She shared pictures with me almost immediately after they were taken. She could access money easily with her credit and debit cards and find her way around the cities with Google maps. 

[Tree Frog]

My favorite trip was on a Windjammer cruise for our 15th anniversary. It was a small sailing ship. They pulled into a cay and let us jump off the side of the ship, then let the current carry us back to do it all again. I could've done that all day! That cruise spoiled me on cruises. Dh keeps trying to get me to go on another cruise, but we only see the huge ships and I don't want a floating city. I loved my floating population 200 town. 

[City Mouse]

My worst trip: driving my mother from Texas to Maryland when my grandmother was dying. It was my mom, myself and my 14yr old did. The dying part was not the worst part of the trip. My mom was so controlling. What should have been a two day drive took us 3 1/2 day. My mom wanted wanted us to all stay in the same hotel room, but she had to have a handicapped accessible room which at the places we stayed only had one bed. I refused to share a bed with her, and paid for my own room each night. Lucky for me, grandma lingered on for several weeks. Mom stayed up there and I got to drive back to Texas with just DD.

Best trips: the road trips that I took with my DS when he was a young teen. It was just the two of us. We did car camping and stayed in KOA cabins. They were great bonding experiences. I really miss those trips. He was a great travel companion.

[mom31257]

My best trip is in the summer of 2021. We sold our home in June and couldn't close on the new house until August. My best friend offered to let our son live with them for the summer. After putting everything in storage, we hit the road and covered 8 states and 3600 miles. We celebrated our 30th anniversary that summer, too. It was amazing! We hiked to waterfalls throughout the trip and did some sightseeing near family and friends. Some favorite places were Bloomington and Nashville in southern Indiana as well as Brown County. 

Our worst trip was to Jekyll Island in Georgia. We got a good price for a resort only to find a lot of it had burned in a fire, so it was a mess. The water had some reason we couldn't get in it. There wasn't much to do there that we enjoyed. 

We have been to Disney numerous times, and it never disappoints! My dd took me there for a week last year, and I loved spending time with her. 

Another favorite place is Chicago. We have been four times in the last 8 years. After we vacationed there for the first time, a friend moved to Wheaton and invited us to come stay. 

Dh had surgery and was in a wheelchair and/or on crutches for one big trip, so I had to do all the driving. We went to DC, Hershey, and Gettysburg. I drove across PA and OH to visit dh's family in southwest OH. Dh left his crutches on the side of the van at a rest stop in PA. 

We hope to take a road trip up the East Coast and into New England, and I've thought quite a while about a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern WI/MN. 

A favorite trip before being married was with my parents when I was 21. We drove to MI and across Canada to Niagara Falls. It was so nice spending that one-on-one time with them as an adult. 

The vacations I took with my family when I was a kid were my favorite times growing up. My parents had a fairly volatile relationship then (mellowed with age and wisdom), but they rarely fought when we were traveling. I think being away from home and the stresses of life really helped them be relaxed and at ease. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by mom31257

[SKL]

You guys are reminding me about a trip I took with grad school friends.  It was me, a several grad school classmates, and one classmate's sister.  Sister was a real pill.  And another friend had a tendency to be pretty controlling, or at least sound controlling, as in telling everyone what we're gonna do next (but she when called on it, she says it's a "suggestion").

One scene will probably remain in my memory until I die.  We were driving between B&Bs somewhere in western Canada.  We stopped for a snack and potty break.  My "controlling" friend "suggested":  "everyone, use the bathroom now so we won't have to stop again for some hours."  Sister:  "EXCUUUUUSE ME, even my MOTHER doesn't tell me when to go to the toilet!"  This conversation went on for quite a while, and there were others like it.  😛

Most of the trip was very nice, but those "discussions" certainly kept things interesting.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

My youngest daughter and I are currently in Seoul.

We are here during the BTS 10 year anniversary Festa. So fun 🙂

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Another photo 🙂

[Drama Llama]

1 hour ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

My youngest daughter and I are currently in Seoul.

We are here during the BTS 10 year anniversary Festa. So fun 🙂

Are you just there for fun?  Or is she studying again?

[000000000]

.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Petrova Fossil

[chocolate-chip chooky]

6 hours ago, BandH said:

Are you just there for fun?  Or is she studying again?

The original plan was to go again in December, and she'd study at Yonsei again. We booked the flights and accommodation. Then about a week later, my eldest announced her first pregnancy, due in December! 🤰

So, we hastily rescheduled everything. The only time that fit in with all the other things we're committed to was June-July. Unfortunately, this timing didn't quite line up with the Yonsei semester. So, no study this time.

We never intended to be back so soon, but we're very happy to be here. Youngest is immersing herself in the dance community and in the language and culture in general. 

And we're all thrilled that eldest and her husband are expecting a baby 🥰

[Drama Llama]

What a wonderful reason to reschedule!

[Kareni]

What fun news, @chocolate-chip chooky! All good wishes to the prospective parents and you.

How long will you and your daughter be in Seoul?

Regards,

Kareni

[Bootsie]

I have been lucky to have some amazing travel experiences as an adult (we did not travel when I was going up).  I have had so many great experiences, and such diverse experiences, it is hard to name the best.  One of the worst happened last year as we were traveling to Paris.  My ONE requirement for the entire trip was that I would not drive in Paris (which had happened to me accidentally on a previous trip with my sister).  DH arranged for a AirBNB outside of the city where we would park and take public transportation into town.  As we were gettig closer and closer, I kept asking him to check to make sure he had the directions correct because I thought something was wrong--as I drove through a tunnel I was more concerned something was wrong, as I crossed a river... it was 5:00 in the afternoon and people, cyclists, motorbikes, busses, taxis, cars--were coming from all directions. I said "WE ARE IN DOWNTOWN PARIS!"  DH said that we weren't and the hotel would be just ahead.  Then I look up and said "WE ARE IN DOWNTOWN PARIS--THAT'S NOTRE DAME"  DH replied "No, it isn't" (thinking it would keep me calmer). It was the most stressful driving I have done anywhere in the world.  If the rental car had not been in my name I would have jumped out and left the car in the middle of the road for DH to decide what to do.   By the time DH realized he had put in the street name incorrectly (one of those minor differences in a foreign langugage that cause a big problem), we we had a terrible time getting out of downtown Paris to where we were supposed to be.  I was still shaking and crying when we arrived at our destination.  

Saturday DD and I leave to spend a week with six people we do not know on a Catamaran in the Greek Isles--for some reason I think this will end up being either one of those best experiences or worst experiences!

[Kareni]

@Bootsie, sending good wishes that you and your daughter will have a wonderful time in the Greek Isles!

Regards,

Kareni

[chocolate-chip chooky]

11 hours ago, Kareni said:

What fun news, @chocolate-chip chooky! All good wishes to the prospective parents and you.

How long will you and your daughter be in Seoul?

Regards,

Kareni

We're here until July 11 🙂

[ScoutTN]

I have only minimal ability to travel at this time in my life, but I did get to do more when I was younger.

Best trip: Israel, spring of 1996. (I am old!) Such a fascinating place of contrasts. 

Best place I stayed: King David hotel in Jerusalem. Elegant without being flashy. Amazing to sit in the common room with tea and a newspaper and observe people from so many places.
 

Second place trip - utterly different circumstances and stage in life - solo retreat, camping, in western NC, summer 2021. Most truly restful trip I have ever taken. 

We took a lot of nice summer trips when I was growing up: a two weeks to a month at the south Jersey shore near Cape May with extended family most years. Also memorable, Hilton Head, Nags Head,  Williamsburg, D.C.,  Maine, and NYC. Summer camp in Ontario and one on Martha’s Vineyard were also great. 

Edited June 23, 2023 by ScoutTN

[wintermom]

I've had a lot of memorable travel experiences before marriage and kids, and some really fun times with the dh and the kids. We've done two cross-country trecks in a tent trailer with all four dc when they were 1 - 7 years old, and again at 4 - 10 years old. Both times we drove from eastern Ontario to British Columbia, Canada, then down to the States and east across the country, heading back north to Canada at either Indiana or Michigan. Yup, dh and I are insane for doing this trip twice, but it was the best way to visit grandparents and my side of the family. Along the way, we had flat tires, ran out of gas, youngest ds broke his arm, bikes fell off the trailer, and we lost the awning to the trailer. Nothing bad enough to stop the trips, though.