So we drove 500 miles down to Southport, NC (stopping a night in DC) and then 500 miles back (stopping for a few hours in Delaware for band practice) in one weekend.
I was sort of thinking of it as the warm-up trip for our big trip this summer.
So this isn't really in character with previous posts, but lessons learned:
- We did a 7 hour driving day and a 9 hour driving day. Both too much for a kid. On the big trip I had been planning on 4 to 5 hour days with a sprinkling of 7s, but I'm going to attack the schedule and see if I can keep as many days as possible in the 3 to 5 hour range, preferably on the low end of that range.
- Food. When I'm alone, I can eat ridiculous things. Things I don't like that much, or the same thing every day. Like the 10 packages of spicy salsa / guacamole I took on the last trip. That doesn't work in parent mode. I also got used to eating when I could, not when I wanted. Again... doesn't work with the kid. She is used to eating small amounts, more frequently. Funny how your body wants that, but then you train yourself out of it as you age.
I will need to load up on non-perishables and snacky things. But hopefully that aren't super junky.
This is also a subject that makes me want a smart phone, for availability of supermarkets or more palatable fast food restaurants (on the trip down to NC, we spent over $10 on french fries and 'onion rings' from a fast food place. Tasty, but unhealthy, monotonous, and not even a cheap meal for fast food. If we're going to spend that much on fast food, I'd prefer a Qdoba or Chipotle. If we're going for super junk, I'd prefer to spend less.
- Organization / in-car entertainment. My car was already messy. Now it's a disaster zone. She also had some trouble finding toys she wanted to play with (not enough entertainment, and not enough organization of her options). Plus we didn't have the cord to charge her ipod. I need to be prepared and on top of these things.
- Air conditioning (speaking of the car). We took The Green Machine, which does not have a working air conditioning. It was 70 something degrees and she was sweaty and uncomfortable. The thought of taking her in that car into a 90 degree desert is a bit terrifying. Yes, I know people did cross country trips in their wood-paneled station wagons in the 1970s... but still. Fortunately, my partner has agreed to swap cars for the summer, and we will be taking The Apple Car, which has working a/c.
- Still unsure if I should use this blog for the summer trip, or whether I should have a new one set up just for Travels with Kiddo. Ideally we'd have a set up where we can both post, and posts are clearly identifiable as hers or mine. Maybe I just need to add her account to this.
(she has a low-resolution digital camera we'll be bringing, and hopefully I can interest her in taking pictures of the stuff we see too)
I should post once more about this trip. Not sure if I will or not. Seems weird to do it a week later.
