Dave and I have always enjoyed a good road trip. We have two cross country travels together under our belt as well as too numerous day trips to list here. The well known saying "It is the journey not the destination" could not be more fitting for us! The best man's speech at our wedding was themed around our various journeys and travels and our multiple moves of course. We are professionals when it comes to organizing, planning and coordinating long and short distance traverses. Seeing the sites as you head to and from a destination is all part of the experience, hence we continue to put miles on our cars with Tucker (most times) and Cole in tow.
However the other well known quote "having a baby changes everything" certainly applies to our journeys now. While not so long ago, a duffel bag a piece and our camera would suffice, we now find ourselves attempting to pare down what "stuff" one REALLY needs to bring on a trip with a 10 month old. It depends on the length of the drive, whether it requires a hotel stay, where our final destination is and what our activities are once there. That said, a duffel bag for Cole is just the start and that holds only his clothes and the inventory backups for the diaper bag. We then have a bag for toys of varying kinds; for diaper change distractions, for tub time, toys that require active motion (to diffuse his manic moments following hours in his car seat), plush toys to sleep with, and on and on...we have learned to grab just one or two of each but they still seem to take over the rear of the car. Then there is the Bijorn, stroller, portable high chair, pack n play, monitor, sippy cups, plenty of hand wipes, tissues, and the arsenal of diaper bag essentials.
After packing the car like a jig saw puzzle in order to be able to reach any one bag at any given time depending on our needs (blowout diaper, snack, distraction from ensuing meltdown etc) we are on a our way. Of course, our departures are timed around Cole's ONE and only nap of the day with hopes that he drifts on and off again as he commonly does on these trips (oh, thank you, oh thank you!!) Our friends with kids said it was a MUST to have a portable DVD player and we MUST agree they were right. So I rent Brainy Baby and Baby Einsteins from our library and corrupt Cole's brain formation by planting him in front of those while we cruise down the highway. Their repetitive nature puts him sleep anyway!
Cole has been a trooper on our recent LONG 2 1/2 day road trip (each way) for our annual getaway to the Outer Banks. It was worth it but next year we'll be taking two weeks at the beach to balance out the 5 day drive! Our weekend trip to Kansas (7 hours each way not including stops) was a cinch compared to the previous one so we have determined that Cole has both of his parents road tripping genes! We have had the occasional "get me out of this car seat" episodes. I manage to crawl back and entertain him for an hour or so until he is bored of me and decides to snooze.
Overall and for the amount of miles we have accounted for this year alone with our drive out to Minneapolis for our move, our OBX vacation and the weekend in Kansas we certainly have exposed Cole in his first year to quite a few states thus far! We look forward to many MORE memories yet to made on the road as a family!
1 comment:
Oh the good ole days of 'up and moving' from one coast to another are long gone... But they'll be back someday, for now it's fun to pack a million and a half bags for a weeklong trip isn't it? I can't wait to pack for our 3 week vacation in Mexico at the end of the year, yeeehaw!
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