djgarcia wrote:
bclan6 wrote:
3500 miles is about the distance of the furthest leg of our trip, if we end up going to that stop (Glacier Park). The other stops are Badlands, Rushmore and family in Jackson and Idaho. Glacier park may have to wait until next year.
Flying isn't possible due to there being 6 of us plus dog and cat. The youngest is 1 yr old and is pretty needy, but the others have traveled plenty and enjoy it (7.5 yrs-17years old). When I used to live out there and I came back to FL to visit family, I used to drive straight through (with help). 48 hours with only stopping to eat and stretch legs. The kids did great, but I was able to do 80-90mph.
Once we get to the Badlands, it'll be slower paced. It all depends on how well the baby does, but I wanted some sort of idea of when to expect RV drivers are done for the day.
I want them to love the journey, but to focus on driving until we get to really explore. They'll either love it or hate it right? LOL
Thanks to all for responding!
Some observations and considerations:
1. "1 ys. old and needy" could have an effect on all members of the family when traveling
2. Driving 48 hrs. at 80 to 90 mph is a disaster waiting to happen at worst and at best a "marathon butt buster":)
3. "I want them to love the journey but focus on driving" is confusing and has questionable expectations.
4. IMHO, I would either shorten the distances of your RV adventures or increase the number of days of your RV trips. :):)
You beat me to it~
I agree with every point made. Especially about violating the speed limit with your children in the MH. Yikes! How could anyone think that's a good idea? And speaking of children, OP...you have a very young child whom you describe as "needy"--what 1 year old ISN'T needy? You must know that your plans may often be dictated by the youngest member of the group. Babies get sick and cranky. Heck, big people get sick and cranky!
The trip you describe is VERY ambitious, IMO. The thought of driving flat-out for 7 days, only to have to do it again 14 days later, just leaves me exhausted thinking about it. Hopefully, your kids will be okay with being confined in a small space for days on end. Mine would not.
I'll give you a little example from our trip out west in 2007:
We took two kids, 12 & 14. The 12yo is severely mentally handicapped, at the level of a 1yr (diapers, full care, etc.) We do not boondock at the Walmart or Flying J when the kids are with us. We made sure to pull off every night at a CG with a pool or lake, so the kids could unwind and get some exercise.
DH has severe heart/lung disease, so that offered its own set of limitations. We found that everyone could hang in there for about 350 miles a day, as long as we didn't drive more than 3 days straight. At the 3 day mark, everyone was just about in meltdown mode, so we usually pulled off early on that day and stayed for 2 nights. Obviously, we didn't set any land speed records but we have some wonderful memories of the journey AND the destination.
A word about scheduling--plan for things to go wrong. With 6 people and 2 pets, someone is bound to get sick or hurt. We've had a lot of experience with that. In fact, our kids say it's not a real vacation until someone goes to the ER (we have pictures of ERs we've been to all over the US!) DH suffered pneumonia in Las Vegas. We ran out of seizure meds in San Antonio. I suffered a ruptured ear drum in Seattle. DD tripped on a fire grate and laid her shin open in Florida. DS fell off a 15ft cliff in Georgia. You just never know about these things.
Above all, have fun. Be sure your schedule isn't packed so tight that having a 1-2 day layover deep-sixes everything. Better to see less stuff and have higher quality adventures, IMO.
