Not that you noticed, but I was on a road trip with my wife and kids from June 21st through July 21st.
Not only did we survive, but it was a blast! Woo! Visited lots of family. Saw neat stuff. Did fun things.
Learned a few things:
* We really could have spent a whole week at Yellowstone if we had the time
* Mount Rushmore is, well... monumental. Crazy horse moreso, but is unfinished, and is likely to be unfinished for a very, very long time.
* It's horribly, terribly, and awesomely convenient that we have family (mine and her's) scattered to the four winds such that we were gone for 29 nights, and only had to pay for a hotel once and camping twice, ate out very rarely, and otherwise had to purchase very little food ourselves.
* The 16 month old toddler can go for about eight 16+ hour drives scattered over a month before deciding that getting back into the car seat is a good time to be angry.
* The older kids really are much more mature and not only able, but willing to take the initiative and keep the baby happy. Mostly.
* We don't have to use the movies and gameboys all the time to keep everyone happy.
* Driving for 14 hours in a single day is actually easier than going for 7 hours two days in a row.
* Long, slow moving books (Like the time travelor's wife, or beach music) are really horribly poor choices for audiobooks to keep one awake and alerts. Mysteries and action books work much better.
* Visiting relatives was generally a lot more fun for the kids than visiting places.
* Visiting places with relatives is a lot more fun than visiting places with just our family.
* Camping with no bugs, no rain, and a temperate climate is pure awesome. Doing so in spectacular lands with beautiful views doubly so. Such places actually exist. (mind == blown)
* AT&T has absolutely, positively the worst service of any phone company for travelers. Please, Apple, won't you think of the children that want to check their email on the iPad whilst traveling at 85mph through the highways between yellowstone and rushmore?
* Aside from poor internet service during nearly 1/2 of our trip, the iPad was truly the best tool for doing last minute planning on the run.
* Plants vs zombies: Best $10 spent on and iPad app evar. Kept sulky kids at bay.
* You can very nearly touch the stars on cold, cloudless nights on the desert peaks of the Rockies. They are right there waiting to be grasped.
* Yes, the desert really is 110F during the day and 31F at night.
It feels strange being home and tied to one place with so much stuff. I got to thinking that a nomadic lifestyle would actually be very do-able.
It was fun. Now I need to figure out how I'm going to make money without actually taking a full time job again.
-Adam
Not only did we survive, but it was a blast! Woo! Visited lots of family. Saw neat stuff. Did fun things.
Learned a few things:
* We really could have spent a whole week at Yellowstone if we had the time
* Mount Rushmore is, well... monumental. Crazy horse moreso, but is unfinished, and is likely to be unfinished for a very, very long time.
* It's horribly, terribly, and awesomely convenient that we have family (mine and her's) scattered to the four winds such that we were gone for 29 nights, and only had to pay for a hotel once and camping twice, ate out very rarely, and otherwise had to purchase very little food ourselves.
* The 16 month old toddler can go for about eight 16+ hour drives scattered over a month before deciding that getting back into the car seat is a good time to be angry.
* The older kids really are much more mature and not only able, but willing to take the initiative and keep the baby happy. Mostly.
* We don't have to use the movies and gameboys all the time to keep everyone happy.
* Driving for 14 hours in a single day is actually easier than going for 7 hours two days in a row.
* Long, slow moving books (Like the time travelor's wife, or beach music) are really horribly poor choices for audiobooks to keep one awake and alerts. Mysteries and action books work much better.
* Visiting relatives was generally a lot more fun for the kids than visiting places.
* Visiting places with relatives is a lot more fun than visiting places with just our family.
* Camping with no bugs, no rain, and a temperate climate is pure awesome. Doing so in spectacular lands with beautiful views doubly so. Such places actually exist. (mind == blown)
* AT&T has absolutely, positively the worst service of any phone company for travelers. Please, Apple, won't you think of the children that want to check their email on the iPad whilst traveling at 85mph through the highways between yellowstone and rushmore?
* Aside from poor internet service during nearly 1/2 of our trip, the iPad was truly the best tool for doing last minute planning on the run.
* Plants vs zombies: Best $10 spent on and iPad app evar. Kept sulky kids at bay.
* You can very nearly touch the stars on cold, cloudless nights on the desert peaks of the Rockies. They are right there waiting to be grasped.
* Yes, the desert really is 110F during the day and 31F at night.
It feels strange being home and tied to one place with so much stuff. I got to thinking that a nomadic lifestyle would actually be very do-able.
It was fun. Now I need to figure out how I'm going to make money without actually taking a full time job again.
-Adam
