Road Trip Family

Misting Fans!

One year, we decided to visit Disney World in August. In Florida. The hot days of summer in a hot locale. Did I mention that it was hot during this trip?

We knew it would be hot, but we weren’t quite prepared for just how hot it was really going to be. I believe that the temperature never ducked below 100 degrees the whole time we were there!

Despite the heat, we did have fun. How could you not at the Happiest Place on Earth?

It was during this trip that we learned a few tricks to stay cool that didn’t just include jumping into a pool every time we passed one! Yes, we did take advantage of the pools and the water parks and the splash/ sprinkler areas around the parks.

But, we had a few extra tricks up our sleeves as well to help feel cool throughout the day.

Misting fans were a big hit for our family. These are water bottles with little battery operated fans attached to the top. A little squirt of water while the fan is blowing and it’s a great way for a quick cool down. or a water fight! Disney World does sell them throughout the parks, but we found them cheaper at a local grocery store.

Another little trick that I attribute to My Chandler were the water bottles that we had every day. He would fill the water bottles half full every night and freeze them. Then the next day, he’d fill the rest up with water. The ice from those would melt over the day, creating continuous cold water. How refreshing it was to have cold water always at our fingertips!

Of course, the best way to cool off at Disney World is to enter an air-conditioned attraction at the park!

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Cooking at the Beach

We had access to a beautiful semi-private beach where we stayed. It was on the northern side of the island in Darnley. The beach stretched for miles and miles in both directions and only the homes in the immediate vicinity had access to this beach.

Because you had to walk down the steep red dirt dunes, too, when you were on the beach you saw very few homes and very few people.

In fact, it wasn’t unusual to have only a handful of families in our immediate area of the beach. And sometimes it was even less.There were times where we’d be the only family on our stretch of the beach. It was like our own little slice of heaven.

We’d often come down and spend a couple of hours on the beach, whether it was swimming or walking along the beach or searching for the biggest sea shell or flying kites or playing bocce ball. It was a truly relaxing time for all of us and we heard very little bickering!

One night, we decided to pack the cooler and some beach blankets and have ourselves a beach cookout. We carted everything down to the beach and set up a little fire ring in the sand (which actually wasn’t that hard as there was the remains of one that we found).

Our little fire ring was in a nice shady spot near the dunes, which helped protect the fire from being blown out by any winds. My Chandler also enjoyed the fact that he could use some flatter spots on the cliff side of the dunes as work space.

We did discover a disadvantage to this little set up, though, as the sun started to go down. It grew a lot colder!

For My Chandler, the cook of the family, cooking over an open fire on the beach was an activity he was more than happy to take on. All of his camping and boy scout experiences and knowledge was put to good use. There were a few challenges along the way -  like the hamburgers that he cooked in the camp broiler that were awkward to handle until he found a way to prop it up. But, the end result was that we were treated to a wonderful beachside meal of hotdogs and hamburgers and cooked potatoes and carrots.

My Chandler was particularly pleased with the way the potatoes came out. He ended up using two sandstone rocks from the fire ring and placing them on either side of a section of coals. He then laid the grate from the gas grill on those and placed a foil-wrapped package of potatoes and carrots on that. The result – perfectly cooked side dish! Although, part of that may be the fact that we were having more yummy PEI potatoes, a delicacy that I’ll talk more about tomorrow!

We wrapped up our beach meal with the must-have dessert for all campfires – s’mores! And as we enjoyed those, we also enjoyed the wonderful sunset. A perfect way to end another perfect day at PEI!

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My New Favorite Drink

One of the most memorable scenes in the Anne books is when Anne Shirley is allowed to play hostess to her best friend Diana Barry while her guardian, Marilla, is at a meeting. Anne is thrilled to play hostess and be trusted to do this by herself. And best of all, Marilla has given Anne permission to serve raspberry cordial during this tea. Unfortunately, as often happens to Anne, the best of intentions goes wrong, and Anne accidentally serves her best friend red currant wine, causing Diana to become extremely drunk and Diana’s mother to announce that the two girls must not be friends anymore.

No worries, though. Things do have a way of working out in the story.

To my pure delight, we discovered that this famous cordial is now available for purchase at a smattering of stores around PEI. Sure, it’s a great marketing ploy and another way to make some money off the many tourists who visit the island purely because of the Anne stories.

But, hey, I’m proof that their marketing works!

We discovered this delectable drink one night early on in our vacation and purchased a couple of bottles for our family to try.

We were thirsty, really!

For me, I was hooked from that first sip.It was yummy deliciousness wrapped up in a cute little soda bottle with a drawing of Anne Shirley on the label.

It is a bit fizzy like a seltzer or a soda, but with a raspberry juice flavor. I described the taste to friends as being like a raspberry spritzer. I’ve tried other raspberry spritzers since then, though, and it just wasn’t the same.

Maybe you have to add a bit of PEI sunshine?

The fresh sea air floating in off the water?

A little bit of red dirt?

Whatever it was, it was so yummy that I was purchasing a bottle whenever we passed a cooler in a store. And before we left, both My Chandler and I purchased a case each to take home!

Take a Picture

Has this ever happened to you?

You park your car in a parking garage and take note of where you have parked. Hours later (or days if it’s an airport overnight parking garage), you return to the garage and realize that it has completely slipped your mind where you parked.

Or you think you remember correctly, but have the wrong level.

Or the wrong section.

Or even the wrong vehicle.

Here’s a great idea that I’ve heard to make those embarrassing parking garage situations non-existent. Grab the camera on your cell phone and take a photo of the location of your car. Note the section, the floor and - for some absent-minded people - even which car they drove.

Then, when you are done with your shopping or returning from a trip, you can just pull up the picture on your camera phone and walk directly to your vehicle.

This should work beautifully – unless you can’t remember where you’ve placed your cell phone!

Mix Tapes

If you were a teenager during the 80s (and early 90s), you probably made or received a mix tape. You know, the collection of songs that mean something important to you or convey a certain message to the recipient.

I was the maker and the recipient of such tapes throughout my teen years. During my college years, it became CDs. Maybe that’s why I like playlists on my iPod. I can create lists to match different moods, different music genres, or just “My Faves.”

My Chandler and I were discussing the other night our cross country that we hope to take before our children leave home. I began to talk about how it would be fun to create a playlist with appropriate songs for each state or even cities. Thus began a quick brainstorming session where we tried to “one up” each other on appropriate songs.

There were some obvious ones like “Oklahoma” from the musical by the same name, “Sweet Home Alabama”, “California Dreaming,” “Georgia” by Ray Charles, Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman,” “Moonlight in Vermont,” “Yellow Rose of Texas,” and “Country Roads” by John Denver that mentions West Virginia.

Can you come up with a song for each state?

Entertaining the Troops

Keeping really young kids entertained in a car during a long car trip can be, well, entertaining in itself. If someone were to look in our car at some points during a trip, they would find it very interesting!

There have been the times that we’ve made funny faces to keep someone happy.

There have been times where we act goofy and sound like Grover as we sing along to a song on the radio.

And – don’t tell the police – but there have been times where we’ve resorted to the unbuckling and half climbing in the back to reach a dropped toy or hand over a juice box. Of course, the responsible part of me tells the children to never mimic what I’m doing at the same time I'm telling My Chandler, “Don’t get into an accident.”

It’s one thing when the kids are young. It’s another thing when they are so young that their car seats are facing the rear.

I’m amazed at my gymnastics moves and ability to entertain a child who can’t really see me!

A couple of years ago, when Pumpkin was a tiny gourd and in a rear-facing seat, we were preparing for a very long trip. I was dreading the inevitable gymnastics and monkeying that was facing me.

Then, My Chandler came to the rescue. Using some play links, he devised a contraption that hung over the car seat. From this contraption, we hung some of Pumpkin’s favorite toys like Mr. Whoozit and rattle-type toys. She was able to reach them and play with them and we didn't have to worry about them falling on the floor of the car.

Of course, it wasn’t going to entertain her for hours, but it would help ease some of the torture that I would have to endure reaching into the back seat. And, throughout the trip, we rotated toys to provide some variety.

 It definitely made the trip more enjoyable – especially for my back and arms!

A Little TLC

Before you go on any trip that requires you to bring a camera (which is pretty much any road trip for us!), make sure your camera is in working order and that you have plenty of batteries and memory card space.

This has become high on my list before trips because of all the issues I’ve encountered over the years. And there have been many.

It started when I was in elementary school and I had my first camera. For some reason, I could never take more than 5 or 6 pictures before the roll would “mysteriously” end. I couldn’t figure out why I was only able to get 5 or 6 pictures out of a 24 exposure roll of film. That is, until I discovered my little brother in my room one day taking pictures with my camera. With the lens cap still on!

Then, in high school I had the wonderful opportunity to go with members of my class to Spain during a school break. We spent a couple of days in Madrid, touring the capital and some surrounding cities before heading to the Canary Islands for a few more days. It was a trip full of lovely memories.

But, I didn’t have a way to share those memories with my family, because my camera decided to stop working on the first day of the trip. Oh, I was able to buy postcards and get copies of my friends’ photos, but it just wasn’t quite the same.

 

And then there was our honeymoon. I had been having some trouble with my camera focusing on what I wanted it to focus on. Or even focusing at all. My Chandler and I should have known that and just brought disposable cameras for the trip. But, we were young and in love.

 

We got some beautiful blurry photos of our honeymoon. At the Hawaiian luau that we attended, our photos were very sharp – of the family in front of us. The luau – not so much.

We bought a new camera shortly after that trip.

And over the years, we’ve had to stop at stores on our trips to pick up batteries, more film (before the age of digital), more memory cards because we forgot to empty out the one we had, and one time a whole new lens.

 

So, when you are making your to do list for your trip, give your camera a little TLC!

Catching some ZZZZZZ.....

I have learned the hard way that getting a good night’s sleep the night before you travel is very important. You are more alert on the road and the cranky level is lower in the beginning of the trip for both the kids and the adults. The trip can at least start off on the right foot.

 

Until recently, I used to wait until the last minute to start packing. If it was a long trip that involved a lot of packing, I might gather some things together a couple of days before the last night. But, for the most part, I would procrastinate and then scramble at the last minute pulling together clothing, etc.

Oh, sure. I’d use the excuse that I needed to get laundry done in order to pack. But, the last time I checked, toiletries and food didn’t need to go through the wash cycle.

Having my lists did help. It’s very refreshing to be able to check things off that list and be reassured that you probably haven’t forgotten anything.

Which could happen if you are up at 2 am still packing.

So, in recent years, I have been making a more conscious effort to get at least some stuff packed or laid out near the suitcase farther in advance.

And I’ve been making sure that I am in bed at a reasonable time the night before a trip so that I can get more than a couple of hours of sleep.

And I’ve noticed the difference. Yeah, coffee is still required early in the mornings, but it’s not as much of a necessity. I’m more awake, more alert and a little less cranky!

Road Map

Here’s a fun thing to do on those long car trips, especially with older kids. Give them their own map for the trip and let them help navigate or mark the trip on the map. You can highlight the starting point and the ending point for the trip ahead of time. Then, give them markers and let them trace the path.

This gives the kids the chance to look for landmarks and signs for cities or states. They can keep track of miles, figure out how far you’ve driven and how much longer until you stop. Older kids may even be able to help with the navigation. And think about the geography lessons and math lessons and reading lessons….

 

If you are feeling adventurous, you can draw a map of your trip with simple landmarks along the way for younger kids. Or for older kids, visit a site like www.travmatix.com where you can get a detailed list of the restaurants and gas stations along your route (and the average price of gas, too).

Another Car Game

Car games can sure help a long trip go by, but what to do if you are tired of the same old games? Here's an idea called “Celebrity Names”. This will work for older kids and adults. One person starts off by saying the name of a celebrity. The second person must then think of a celebrities name that starts with the first letter of the previous celebrity’s last name.

Here’s a sample: Jennifer Aniston – Adam Sandler – Sandra Bullock – Bryan Adams…Get the idea? Try it out on the next long car trip and see how many names you can do in a row.