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chrisv664
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| Posted: May 28 2008 at 11:46pm | IP Logged
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We did a big road trip last summer form Long Island to the Grand Canyon and back with eight of us in our van. I used one bag for toiletries for the whole family...we seem to have trouble keeping track of toothbrushes in our own home, so this was to avoid that frustratin on the road! Each child had a small back pack which they coud bring in to the hotel... a pair of pj's and fresh clothes for the next day. All their other needs were in the family toiletries bag. This worked great. I also packed a whole box of hefty kitchen garbage bags for laundry. I would keep dirty wash in the bags and it was really easy to toss a load in to wash as soon as we checked into the hotels. This avoided arriving home after the trip with mounds of laundry needing washing. I purchased a small rubbermaid totebox to store activities for the car..crayons, paper, coloring books, stories, and such... I even threw in a nose and glasses disguise for fun.. that gave everyone a laugh and kept us entertained for a few exits!
As much work as that trip was I have to say I am just a bit jealous! We made some awesome memories that the family will treasure for a long time.
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Loving Wife of Dan and Mom to Kate, Jessica, Ben,
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MaryM
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| Posted: June 02 2008 at 4:30am | IP Logged
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SarahA wrote:
I'm not sure of the specific route--it may depend on what suggestions we receive!  If there are a lot of great things to do on one road and nothing really on another, we'd probably go with the good stuff. Time is also going to be a factor, especially if the van isn't there on time and we get a later start. I think my husband was looking at 160 through CO only because he wanted to hit Dodge City in Kansas, but it looks like 70 would be faster, even if a bit further north, and has some great stuff. |
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What does dh want to see in Dodge City? - maybe we can find him another touristy old west town if that's what he is looking for.
The south route (highway 160) has lots of cool stops too though I don't have time to link (may fix that later):
Mesa Verde National Park
Stations of the Cross shrine at San Luis (a little south from 160 but so worth it)
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Highway 160 is really slow though. It's windy and mountainous (I-70 takes you through high mountain elevations as well but it doesn't wind so much and as an interstate just travels faster).
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| Also, what route do you all take from CA to the Grand Canyon then up through Utah? Even our new atlas doesn't have a clearly marked "best way" to do that. Which NP in Utah would be the best to see on the way to CO? |
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It probably doesn't give you a best route because there isn't one direct one - it will involve a bit of back tracking. If you go to the south rim of the Grand Canyon (the most popular and most visited side) then sticking with the south route through Colorado makes more sense but makes it really out of your way to go to any of the Utah NPs. I personally like the north rim better. It's less crowded and it is more wooded on that side. They are both spectacualr though. To access the north rim though is a little slower as it's off the beaten path, but since you are already more north and closer to the Utah NPs would be quicker to access them afterward.
Zion is the most accessable Utah NP in that area right off I-15. My favorites though are Bryce Canyon NP and Arches NP. Arches you would only want to visit if you did decide to take the I-70 route though Colorad because it's further north and close to the CO border. The whole area of Utah where Canyonlands NP, Capital Reef NP and Escalante/Grand Staricase National Monument are is pretty remote - you'll see that there are few routes in that area (I've not been to Escalante or Capital Reef). None of those NPs gives you a good direct route to get to Colorado highway 160 without really driving out of your way first.
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SarahA
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| Posted: June 04 2008 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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Ladies--thank you for being such a huge help! After I encouraged my husband to read the suggestions here  he finally came up with a route and has really planned out the trip.
We're taking the I-70 route, I think partly because it will be quicker, partly because of more things to do/places to stop, and also because Mary M mentioned that 160 is very mountainous and windy (one of the only times he gets motion sickness). 
We've made tentative reservations (knowing we may have to change them, but better that than none at all) as opposed with the original "play it by ear" that I wasn't at all in favor of.
We appreciate all of the great suggestions about the routes, eating, packing (we LOVE the ziploc idea-especially with kids who like to change WAY too much), rest stops...and we are definitely getting a NP pass--he's decided we need to stop at 2 Utah parks now! 
So, thanks again! You've all made this so much easier for us, and it's nice to be able to tell people here (who assume we've no clue what we're in for--which before you all was mostly true) "we've got it covered." Only one more week here so we're trying to enjoy as much as possible before heading off on our new adventure. Less than one week of internet, though, and we'll have spotty access till we're settled, so I'll miss reading posts from you all for a while. 
For all your wisdom and prayers--Thank you, thank you, thank you! 
Blessings, Sarah
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Sarah
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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 04 2008 at 11:49pm | IP Logged
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PDyer wrote:
Becky Parker wrote:
| #5 - Mass times - There is a web site, I believe, that you can use to find out about Masses in various cities. I'll see if I can find it. |
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I found it!
www.masstimes.org |
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Hi Sarah,
I'm not sure if this is too late for you to see, but I wanted to add that it is worth it to call the parish to find out of the Mass times on masstimes.org are up to date. We found that out the hard way on a camping trip a few years back.
Have a great trip!
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SarahA
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| Posted: July 10 2008 at 11:25pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all soooo much! We just got internet up yesterday, but we arrived in NC on June 30th after a glourious 19 day journey from Hawaii. God kept us safe while we happily took the advice (and prayers) so generously given and had the best family vacation we could have hoped for.
The children turned out to be wonderful travelers, despite a little bit of motion sickness for my 5 yo. We didn't even bring out the DVD player until over a week into the trip, and that was for the drive through eastern CO and all across Kansas (no offense...they were fascinated by the fantastic lightning storm we drove through at night, though )
We were able to see 8 National Parks in total: Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Grand Canyon (North Rim, and boy, were we glad!), Arches, Rocky Mtn, Gateway Arch, and Smokey Mtn. We ended up only having a day in San Francisco since our van arrived on time, but we were blessed with gorgeous weather and we walked around town and then took a bus back to the BART station since the kids were pooped. We got to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, but the highlight was probably the Nat'l Shrine of St. Francis. The kids were hot and tired and hungry, and then it appeared and we all said "Let's go in!" We had just missed daily mass, but the priest was still there and came over to talk with us. Then a lovely elderly woman had our oldest son light a candle after doing the St. Anthony Novena. We spent lots of time in the gift shop talking with the deacon. We followed that with lunch at a (fittingly) little Italian restaurant.
After San Fran, we drove down and stayed with some friends who were in their last weeks in Monterey. It was great getting to see them. They took us to Fisherman's Wharf, where we had fantastic clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, and then we let the kids discover stuff in the tide pools. We went to the aquarium and Cannery Row, and drove a little down Big Sur. We ended that visit with mass at the mission at Carmel before driving up to Salinas and seeing the Steinbeck Center.
Okay, realizing I need not to go into so many details...after that we went up to Yosemite, which my husband dubbed "a Cathedral of Nature." That was followed by driving through the Sierra Nevadas and then Death Valley, where the kids were disappointed not to see any deadly wildlife. They were hoping for at least a rattler... After that we drove through Las Vegas with a short stop for lunch, then up to Zion NP. We stayed near there, then drove down to the Grand Canyon's North Rim, which was amazing and had more the feel (only touristy-wise, not in grandeur) of a state park. We stayed again near Zion, then went to Arches NP. From there we drove up to Colorado. We went to the Dinosaur Journey museum in the morning before heading into Rocky Mtn NP. Unfortunately, my oldest, who loves dinosaurs the most of the kids, had taken in too much pool water from swimming in the hotel pool the night before and wasn't feeling well, so he didn't enjoy the museum as much as he could've. He was still kind of out of it during the trip to Rocky Mtn NP, so he also slept through the elk right outside the van window and then being nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. That was pretty cool, though I'm glad I wasn't doing the driving along the pass that's closed for much of the year and still had LOTS of snow around it and no guard rails!
The rest of the trip was not as scenic as the first part, but we did stop at St. Fidelis, or the Cathedral of the Plains. That was preceded by lunch at the Golden Corral, and since my kids had never been to an all-you-can-eat buffet type of restaurant, they were amazed. Happily, they were full and in good spirits to enjoy the church, even if the 2 oldest were trying to beat each other in naming what the stained glass windows were.
Most of the rest of the trip was spent visiting--so nice to be back on the mainland for that reason. We stayed with my FIL in St. Joseph, MO and went to mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral. When we left there we drove across to Hannibal and did most of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home stuff, plus got my daughter an adorable bonnet. Then we drove down and met up with some college friends for dinner in St. Louis before driving to southern Indiana to stay with my parents for a few days. We got to see my grandparents several times and drove into a nearby city to see some of our other friends.
When we did leave, we met up for breakfast in one town with one of my BIL's, lunch near Nashville with a college friend and his family, then dinner and overnight stay in Knoxville with another college friend and his wife and mass the next am at Sacred Heart Cathedral. From there we went to Smokey Mtn NP and then into NC.
Whew! It seemed to go by so quickly, and we couldn't believe it was over when we finally arrived here. My husband can't wait to go back to the west and take the kids camping and hiking in the parks once they're older. We did as many of the little hikes as we could.
Some of the ideas that we utilzed daily and that saved our skin: the ziploc bags for outfits and one for necessary toiletry items for the whole family--No muss no fuss!; staying in hotels with free breakfasts, picnic lunch or dinner, with the other meal being at a restaurant; of course all the picture-taking; and the route info. The GPS was great for last-minute hotel reservations and upcoming restaurants. All of it was invaluable. Sorry I wrote so much--I only described what all we did so you could see how much we appreciated (and took!) your input. The time I did get on the forum during the trip (though I didn't get on this topic) at a hotel with free wi/fi was really to look up more things to do that we'd forgotten to write down before we left.
We were incredibly blessed with safety and good weather, and were so thrilled to get to see so many people and places. We picked up so many great homeschooling resources along the way as well...I definitely recommend the big road trip!
Blessings,
Sarah
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Sarah
Army wife, Mama to (so far...) 2 boys, 1 girl, then 2 more boys
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Lavenderfields
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| Posted: July 11 2008 at 11:58am | IP Logged
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Wow! Sarah you really got around. I hope our trip turns out as great as yours.
I like the idea of the ziploc bags for clothes as well. What kind of a GPS did you get. I am thinking I need one one of those.
God Bless
Robynn
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SarahA
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| Posted: July 11 2008 at 6:58pm | IP Logged
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Our GPS is a TomTom XL (or some letters after it like that). It was extremely helpful for finding things near where we knew we'd be going--hotels, restaurants, gas stations, points of interest, even churches. Just to warn you though, in case you're military, it doesn't do so well on military posts (too many gate closures, one-way streets, etc.) Other than that, it was pretty accurate. New addresses may not be in it, but then again I'm not sure we downloaded the newest maps we could.
I remember taking a family vacation the summer before my big sister went away to college. It was great, and that was only a week. Your daughter is so blessed to get so much family time before going to school far away.
Have a great trip!
Blessings,
Sarah
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Sarah
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MaryM
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| Posted: July 12 2008 at 3:10pm | IP Logged
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Sarah! Your update was great. Funny thing - I was just thinking of you on Thursday. We were driving through Utah and Colorado on I-70 on the way back from our vacation and I wonderd to myself what you had decided to do and how the trip had gone. So happy to hear that is was so enjoyable and that our suggestions were helpful.
And you certianly did get your money's worth from the National Parks pass! 
SarahA wrote:
| He was still kind of out of it during the trip to Rocky Mtn NP, so he also slept through the elk right outside the van window and then being nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. That was pretty cool, though I'm glad I wasn't doing the driving along the pass that's closed for much of the year and still had LOTS of snow around it and no guard rails! |
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That is one amazing road to tackle considering what you had said about car sickness. For those curious, it's the highest paved continuous highway in the United States.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mary G
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| Posted: July 12 2008 at 5:55pm | IP Logged
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Yeah Sarah -- you're definitely "road warrior queen"!
And welcome to the east coast ... we thought we did well coming out here and then heading down south for 10 days (including a 10 hr round-trip to see Rick's daughter at college and than a 10-hr from SC to Dumfries!)
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Cross-country road trip--help!
