40 Essential Items for a Three Week Road Trip

The 40 Essential Items to 24 Days on the Road with Your Kids

ie:  The Packing List

9 days from right now, I'll be taking off with four kids (ages 19, 10, 7, and 3, and picking up an 18 year old along the way) on a grand adventure of a road trip.  We'll be visiting 15 states in 21 days and camping in our tent AND in our van!  See the pics below for our setup.  So, here's the conundrum: I have to be able to fit everything from the trunk in the front two seats for sleeping when we aren't tenting it.  Here, I'll show you....

This is the layout of the van.  See the trunk space?  See the front seat space?  Well, the whole list of stuff, minus the air mattress, sleeping bags and pillows need to go from the back.......................

to in between the front seat and the dash.  This includes Annika's car seat.  So I'm posting my list to make sure I didn't forget anything, or maybe even skinny it down!  We've done it for two years running.  Next year, we'll be flying to Alaska and Hawaii, so I'll have a whole NEW set of problems....HAHA!  #camperproblems Please comment and FOLLOW!

1.  Air Mattress
2. Sleeping Bags x4
3. Pillows
4. Cooler with Ice
5. Fresh Food
6. Dehydrated Food
7. WATER
8. 2 pair long pants each
9. 3 pair shorts each
10. 5 pair underwear each
11. 5 t-shirts each
12. 1 sweatshirt/jacket each
13. 1 pair tennis shoes each
14. 1 pair Sandals each
15. 5 pair socks each
16. 1 swim suit each
17. 1 towel each
18. 2 pair jammies each
19. deodorant
20. shampoo
21. conditioner
22. body wash
23. toothbrushes
24. toothpaste
25. face wash
26. moisturizer
27. Sunscreen
28. Bug spray
29. Benadryl/Motrin/tylenol/valium
30. money
31. MOVIES
32. BOOKS
33. Emergency Kit
34. Atlas
35. Computer/Charger
36. Cell phones/charger
37. Tent
38. Tarp
39. Stove
40. Baby Back Pack

Car Camping:

 

Tent Camping:

Where did I leave off?

I think this is probably the 08213972389th time I've started this specific post.  I've thought a hundred times why I procrastinate my blogging of trips for SOOOOOOooooooOOOOoooo long, and I've come to the conclusion that if I don't blog it, it doesn't have to be over.  I look so forward to a new adventure, I don't want to have space in between.

Well, I've now been on another adventure, and can safely finish off the road trip story. Where did I leave off?  We'd just left Niagara Falls, right?
Ok.

From Niagara Falls, we headed West.  We drove all the way through New York the top left corner of Pennsylvania, into Bowling Green, Ohio.  Our favorite sign? "Moose Crossing".  Every time I hear the word "Moose", I think of the comedian Brian Regan.  You have to listen to this guy.  Hillarious.  Boxen of Moosen.....HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, sorry, back to the story....Now, I have a lot of cousins.  A LOT of cousins.  Like, cousins out the wazoo.  My absolutely favorite cousin blessed our family by joining when I was about 9.  Debbie married my cousin on my moms side, Thad.  When she got married, she had a row of roses over her bustle.  She called it her "Rose-Butt Dress".  I know.  Amazing.  She's the most gracious Christian (but not one of the loony right winged Christians), loving mother, and kind friend.  She offered us her home on our way to my parents, and we were glad to have a home cooked meal, a shower inside a house, and air conditioning!  Debbie is the kind of person who holds her morals and standards, but in such a way that it is neither offensive or exclusive.  She is a fantastic listener, a speaker of kind words, and just the kind of person you want to be around.  Imagine Mary Poppins, American style.  We got to talk to daddy at home (the picture below), catch up with family, and slept REALLY.....Really.....really well...zzzzzzzzzz.

We woke up in the morning, said our goodbyes, and drove off for Detroit.  Detriot wasn't one of the places I was super excited about visiting.  I'd had a few things in mind like, the Henry Ford museum, not getting shot, etc....but we decided to improvise instead.  Not getting shot remained at the top of my list. 

Cannolis are NEVER a bad choice.  Ok, I take that back.  Cannolis CAN be a bad choice, but when they're good, they're GOoooooOOOooood.  Supino Pizziaria was a recommendation from my BFF, indirectly, through Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.  IF there is a DDD place, she wants to try it, and I can't think of a time her food choice has sucked.  We downed our supper amazing pizza, and went in for the sugar and cheese filled fried dough.  You know the kind of cannoli that's crunchy on the outside and still super gooey on the inside with big 'ole chunks of chocolate that make your insides smile?  They were THAT kind of cannoli.  My pants were already tight driving into Detroit, and driving out, I unbuttoned.  

You know what I love about living in Texas?  The wide open spaces and beautiful skies where you can see for miles and miles.  I think I love that because it reminds me of home.  Home is a tiny town in Illinois where politicians and poets have walked, but few have heard of.  Galesburg, Illinois.  

Grand Canyon Day

We drove from Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff in a day.  We were exhausted, thought the van was broken, took the day talking to mechanics and Gordon trying to figure out what was wrong, found out nothing was actually wrong, and spent the night in a hotel because we could.  

We woke up early and headed to the Grand Canyon.  There is so much I could say about this place, but I won't  There are infinite adjectives to describe the beauty, awe, depth, majesty and grand-ness of this the Grand Canyon.  I'll caption my photos and tell you to GO THERE.  Some time in your life, visit this place.  None of the pictures have filters.

The map of the Canyon in the visitors center where we got the kids Jr. Ranger packets

South Rim

Annika Says Hi!

Gannon and Siri get their Jr. Ranger Badges

I hiked the Grand Canyon today.  What did YOU do?

Sunset at Desert View

Alia and I.

Panoramic.

The Great Salt Lake

Leaving Goblin Valley was hard.  It was beautiful, and I hope we get to go back some time.  Alas, all good things must come to an end.  North we headed, to the Mormon City!  Up to the Temple Square we ventured.  I was NOT expecting Salt Lake City to be as beautiful as it was!  It was clean, the people were friendly, and very family oriented.  We were also lucky enough to have a tour guide!  Alicia was kind enough to show us: Talking Space Jesus

 The GIGANTIC organ in the building where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearses

 And the temple grounds.

What was really amazing though, was the conversation I got to have with my kids.  We looked at Goblin Valley State Park, where God spoke into existence some of the most imaginative and beautiful rock work I've ever seen, and then at the Tabernacle where man toiled for a hundred years to construct something that will decay with time.  I got to see their faces as they embrace the Glory of Gods Good work, and THAT was priceless.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Red Iguana, (from DDD, for those who watch the show)

and ate the most delicious sopaipillas I have ever eaten. Fluffy, sweet, hot....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.   

 From there, we headed to our campsite on Antelope Island State Park.  I'm not going to lie, the sign concerned me.  Bison MAY be dangerous?  It's an island.  Why don't we just remove the possibly dangerous bison to another location where campers with small children don't have to wonder about their camping safety?  And how dangerous "may" they be?  I'm at this point envisioning our car being trampled by stampeding bison while we're sleeping.

As it turns out, the bison were't a problem.  I didn't see even one.  There were, however, another enemy.  You can't easily see in these pictures, but they were EVERYWHERE.  Covering the brush, on the picnic benches, on the car when we woke up.....Spider webs with Giant spiders in them.  Huge, disgusting spiders.  The black dots that seem out of place in the below picture

Are these

Not a fan.  

Probably won't go back here, being completely honest.  

I was so so so so so very happy we were sleeping in the car, and not in a tent.  We battened down the hatches, and slept.  The next day would be a long drive, to CA.  

We woke up to a most amazing view of the Great Salt Lake and headed East.  End July, Enter August!

Long Time Gone....and the Valley of the Goblins!

It was pointed out to me this week that my crazy travel blog had philtzered out in Colorado.  I tried to believe that wasn't true....but then I looked and saw.  Yup.  Pikes Peak.  Lame-O!  Coming back from a trip like this, I guess life took over.  It does that, you know.  Work, school, church, kids, husband, dog, more work, my homework, teacher conferences....for whatever reason time just won't stand still for me to write my silly little story!  So here I am, waiting to start an online test, and I find myself with time.  40 minutes to relay my favorite part of our adventure:

GOBLIN VALLEY STATE PARK!

We arrived at midnight, road weary!  S got food poisoning and starting puking around Vale, CO.  It was a brisk 52* with rain as I was cleaning vomit off the cooler.  We ventured on.  For a LONG time.  I think the drive was 10 hours, and it was 10 LOOOOONG hours.  Did I mention it was long?
We crashed in the van without even setting up camp.  None of us slept well, but when we woke up, Wow.  Just Wow.

The sunrise over the Mesas turned the whole world red, and accentuated the layers of Castle Rock.  The sky was as big as it is in Texas, with green specs along the road ways.  The camp ground was almost empty as we ate our breakfast.  The majesty of God was So evident. 

We finished up our breakfast bars, showered and changed, and drove to the Valley of the Goblins.

I can say, that out of our ENTIRE trip, this was the most unique thing we saw.  Hundreds of goblins littered the valley with enormous mesas rising up, encapsulating the land.  They looked small as we approached, but quickly realized how massive they were.

  Hours were spent climbing, jumping, hiding, running, and laughing.  It was amazing.  We left tired, but so happy, and so in awe of Gods creation.

 Next stop: SALT LAKE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!