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RE: Long distance traveling

Started by AustinBoston, Jul 31, 2003, 06:11 PM

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Hopegirl

 I m full of questions today huh??? We live in SE Pa and I would love to visit Pirateland and even FW at Disney but I just wondered when you have such a long trip 10 hrs or more do you break it up travel at night?? I worry about the kids getting boards and don t want to hear...." are we there yet" ?????

AustinBoston

 Hopegirl
QuoteORIGINAL:  Hopegirl
 We live in SE Pa and I would love to visit Pirateland and even FW at Disney but I just wondered when you have such a long trip 10 hrs or more do you break it up travel at night?? I worry about the kids getting boards and don t want to hear...." are we there yet" ?????
 

 We travelled across the country & back in 2001, putting 13,000 miles on the van and 10,000 miles on the camper.  (Think about 3,000 miles in side trips!)  We had numerous days of towing up to 10 hours, and occasionaly back-to-back.
 
 Here s what we did:
 1) Lots of music, especially singable songs.  Get everybody s lungs going for a change of pace.  Just make sure it s not so childish that your brain rots because of what your 6 YO wants to listen to.
 2) Books on tape.  We listened to The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, Shackelton s Great Adventure, and James Herriot s All Creatures Great and Small.  That s a bit much for a drive to Florida, but you get the idea.
 3) Gameboys...with adaptors so that you don t have battery issues coming out your ears.  Even our oldest had her own.
 4) Games.  Ask if you want some that anyone could participate in.
 5) Refuse to answer " are we there yet?"   If someone in our car asks " Are we there yet,"  " How much longer,"  or anything like that, we answer " Two more hours."   It doesn t matter if it s 6 hours or 5 minutes, the answer is " Two more hours."
 6) Some do videos with a 12V player & TV, but we drew the $$$ line there.  It might be a great idea for you.
 7) Don t do anything for more than one hour.  If you ve been through the CD, then it s time to talk.  Then play a game.  Then maybe a chapter from a book on tape, or a nap (but no napping for the driver!)
 8) It does help to break up the days so that they are not back-to-back.  An amusement park, historic site, or day of hiking between two long days of driving can help.  But as I said, we didn t always do that.  There were times we put two days of heavy driving together.
 
 Towing a trailer is a more stressful type of driving.  I would advise against doing it for more than ten hours until you ve done a few 10-hour days and know if you re up to more.  We have done up to 14, and find it brutal.  Others do fine at 14 or 15 hours.  Our target max is 10 hours.
 
 The absolute limit on continuous drive time is the size of the smallest bladder.  For us, that usually comes out to 2-1/2 hours at a time.  Then it s time to stop and stretch the legs, and for us that s a good time to switch drivers, too.  Don t drive for more than 3 hours without stopping, even if nobody " has to go" .
 
 Good luck, and remember, it s supposed to be fun.  If you get there and you re a wreck, who s having fun?
 
 Austin

hbfc6

 HopegirlIt s a long trip from SE Pa. but go anyway. I have in-laws in Bethlehem and left from there and did get there in one day. When I go from Indiana we like to leave at 400 am and stay one night in a motel a couple of hours away. Get a 13 inch TV and buy an inverter take their x-box,gamecube or ps2 .X box and PS2 have DVD player built in, take some movies.
  John

Gatsmommy

 HopegirlI would think your kids would be old enough to handle it. Especially if it s just a one day thing. We have a 14 hour drive to see family and plan for a 1 1/2 days with our 2 yr old.  I m hopeing that in a few years we ll be able to make a push and get there in one.  However to see the other side of the family it s a 24 hour drive, and we plan 3 full days for that. It seems the more day s we ve been driving the shorter the distance we get.
 
 

luvourjayco

 HopegirlWe recently did an 11 hour drive and dh and I both agree it will not happen again except in extreme emergencies. It  took too much out of us and the kiddos. We used the tv/vcr and the music walkmans in our case because of all the different music styles and the sleep but when we got home we were just wiped right out. Our goal from now on will be 6 hours and no more. We are comfortable around that level. I do have to learn to drive pulling the PU and maybe that would ease the load but dh tends to do all the driving when we are away. He seems more comfortable with things that way.

madrone

 HopegirlI did a 2000-mile trip to Arizona with my four kids (ages 13, 9, 6, and 3) last year. My mom drove the first leg of it with me, and my husband joined us for the last leg, but the kids and I were on our own for the middle third.
 
 Our longest driving day was 500 miles.  We also did a 450 mile day and a 400 mile day.  The kids did amazingly well.
 
 Things that helped:
 
 [ul]
 
  • I packed the kids  individual lunch boxes every night. During the trip, they got snack food that we don t buy at home. Whenever they got hungry or thirsty, they could help themselves. I put in lots of little things that take a long time to eat: raisins, M&Ms, small crackers, tiny cookies, etc.
  • We brought a lot of books on tape and music that the children enjoy.
  • I packed Mama s Goodie Bag before we left home. Whenever the kids seemed to be getting too antsy, my oldest daughter gave the children a gift from Mama s Goodie Bag.  Some of the things I included were stickers, wikki sticks, small toys, and silly games.
  • Each child had a backpack with toys and books to help while away the hours.
  • Every two hours, we stopped at a gas station with a mini mart. The children all got out to use the bathroom. Sometimes, I got them a small treat or a drink.
  • [/ul]
     

tlhdoc

 HopegirlI allow the kids to watch movies in the TV when we have a trip over 300 miles.  They take gameboys and we play games as we drive.  I used to drive overnight when I worked night shift, but now I would not do that.  Driving when you are normally asleep can be dangerous.