Planing another East Coast Excursion

Call us crazy, but our family has done the East Coast long-distance-travel-thing twice in less then six months.  Each time we tweaked it and became more efficient travelers.  I could suggest what others should do when tackling this trip, but every family has different needs.  For example:

- We needed restaurants with take-out or outdoor seating options because we had our dog
- Traveling with a potty-training toddler meant we needed to keep bathroom breaks a priority
- When I was pregnant with our second child, we needed to stretch our legs more often

You catch my drift, every family has different needs and priorities when traveling. So instead of writing about my suggestions, I'm thinking I should just do the drive again and share our experiences while on vacation.  Then what works and what doesn't will just become apparent.

Now that baby #2 has arrived and our family is never going to settle into a routine, I figure why not shake of the cobwebs and take another trip?!  I have a cousin getting married near Atlanta, Georgia so we at least have a final destination and can back-schedule our trip with that end-goal in mind.  I also have a really good friend who just moved inland from Charleston, South Carolina so it would be great to add her as a destination stop as well.  Off to dust off the maps and plan the trip!

Move to North Carolina

If you have been following along on our adventures over this past seven months, you've probably caught on to a little trend that I need to overcome: abandoning the blog during moving week.  It truly is when most of the magic happens for shifting our family adventures and has the most action-packed activities going on which is exactly why I should be sharing during that time.  But alas, it's also the busiest for us and I barely have enough time to move into our new location and get some groceries before shockingly a week or more has gone by, oops!  And then I'm overloaded with all the exciting things I've been dying to share with you all and don't even know where to begin...

How about I start with how we've moved again - yippie!!  For the month of February, we have now relocated to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  And it seems we left just in time... how is everyone from the northeast doing with all the snow?  I bet kids are all having fun sledding and making snow angels on their no-school days!  It's very cold weather for this far down south, but still much warmer then our last place in Connecticut.

So how did we get here?  We drove of course!  Last time we visited down here in May 2015, we came like typical vacationers flying from Boston, MA to Myrtle Beach, SC and rented a car and a condo in a high-rise building.  It was just us and our daughter for a week and we treated it like a vacation, complete with enjoying the water parks and outdoor restaurants and shopping centers.  But since we are here for almost 4 weeks, we used HomeAway* to book a house three blocks from the beach in a quiet residential area.  And added bonus, it is a really dog- and kid-friendly house too!  I"ll do another post on the house we are staying at another time, but for now let's catch up on how we even got down here.

Packing up the car in the pouring rain

Five days ago (last Thursday) we were supposed to check out of our Clinton, CT rental but because snow was coming and we wanted to shave some driving time off our relocation, we decided to leave the night prior and drive to my parent's house in New Jersey.  Here we stayed over night, dropping off my husband's car and a few things we obviously did not need to bring all the way down South with us like ski jackets, snow boots, my pre-maternity clothes, and half of Keiki's toys.  The back of my SUV was packed with overnight bags and a pack-n-play crib, and the other luggage and necessary items were stored in the car carrier on top of the car.  This gave room in both the front and back seat for the three of us and the dog to have some space.  Space is really important not only for wiggle room but for diaper changes or eating in the car.  Taking a pit stop at a restaurant isn't the easiest with a dog when traveling in cold temperatures.  Warmer areas usually at least offer patio dining, but for a trip like this in cold February, it's a safe bet to just get a salad or sandwich at a place like Subway** and eat in the warmth of the car.  Plus, it's an added bonus that it's quick and easy to get back to driving on the road.  Most tiny tots take naps in car rides, but our little Keiki must be too excited to see whatever we are driving past because nap time in the car is incredibly hard.  So we just opt for quiet time with soothing lullabies for as long as she'll tolerate before asking for another book or snack.

Eating in the car: our trick to cutting down on rest-stop time
when it's cold and you're traveling with a dog 

For this longer car ride, we decided it was a good idea to bring along some book-on-CD help because there is only so many books you can read until you are ready for a little break.  A variety of snacks are key, I felt like boredom stirs the need for snacks in most of us, but especially for growing toddlers strapped down in a car seat.We decided to break up the drive into a small 3hr drive from CT to NJ after dinnertime for a good nights sleep at my parents house, then break up the 625miles into two days.  In past car trips, we have found that seven hours day-driving is pretty much our maximum and overnight driving doesn't seem to do anyone much good, so we figured for this 10hour east coast road trip, averaging about 5 hours maximum per day seemed very reasonable.  Leaving after morning commuter traffic was best so as not to get caught in Philadelphia, and by lunch we already in Washington, DC.  Luckily for us we had at least 3 people in the car to use the 28mile HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane and zipped past all the afternoon traffic too!

We were south of Richmond, VA by the time we all started to get antsy so instead of pushing it, we found a LaQuinta Inn** to stay overnight.  The hotel was under construction but priced to fit our needs (i.e.: dog-friendly for no extra fee.) Hot breakfast was included, but nothing special.  We decided to stay safe and only eat the pre-packaged yogurt and cereal before hopping back on the road.  The key to getting a family in and out of a hotel quickly is to pre-think of what comfortable clothes you will want to wear in the car for all people in your family.  We decided to pack one bag for all three of us and a separate bag for the dog (can't forget her food!).  This way we really only technically needed to bring two bags and a pack-n-play crib inside and pack up in the morning for check-out.  This completely simplifies life!


We thought we'd hit morning commuter traffic when we checked out of the hotel on the road by 8:30/9am, but we are continually reminded that traffic is pretty much nonexistent around here when compared to the upper northeast!  Clear-sail driving, aided by entertaining rest areas, great lunch, and a toddler that only complained (ok, more like one melt-down) and we pulled into the driveway of out North Myrtle Beach rental home by 4pm check-in.  Overall a pain-free, successful road trip!











*I'm not sponsored by HomeAway.com at this time, it just seems to be the best tool for our family when renting places as a home-away-from-home. I almost wish someone from the website would reach out  because I could write an entire book on all the great adventures our family has been able to take because of the service that HomeAway.com and VRBO.com provides!  If any readers have utilized their services, let me know, I'd love to hear how it has worked for you!

**Again, not sponsored by Subway or LaQuinta Inn

East Coast Drive (Part 2): What to Pack for Bringing a Toddler

So what has worked for us and what has not? The car-top carrier has been so helpful to create space in the car! I would highly recommend using it to families going on road trips. We were smart packers believe it or not and even though this is a month&ha half vacation, we tried really hard to ONLY pack a duffel bag for each one of us and a back pack for the dog because we are renting a house with laundry ability. This freed us up to only need to pack 7days (or less!) of clothes in one bag and call it a day. But we found we had a lot of extra things we needed once we arrived in Florida so I dedicated one medium sized suitcase for all of our extra things (think diapers and bathing suits!) that was stored in the car-top carrier since it wouldn't be needed until our second week.

The car-top also gave space for us to bring our favorite adventure tool with a toddler: her carrier pack! Keiki hates strollers and we typically go hiking in places where it's unsafe for her to climb or be a slow walker, or as we call it, using her "slow toes!" The Osprey Pack has been our best purchase to allow us all to go on bigger adventures together as a family and not leave anyone behind.

Ok, let's talk toys! Most parents worry about toys or entertainment for tiny tots. I am grateful that I did not overpack a boat load of books and small toys because we have not needed them so far. My advice at this point is to leave most of them at home. All we have used have been books that prompt sing-along tunes (like Old McDonald had a Farm & Wheels on the Bus), some healthy snacks from the cooler, and the WaterWow magic color with water books (my favorite are made by Melissa&Doug because it can be colored and the dry to color again).

What does your family use for car entertainment? What works for you and what doesn't? Suggestions welcome!

Drive the East Coast: part 1

Our family has been on the road officially for three day now and we have only traveled about 400miles. I feel like we started off our exciting "trip" by hosting my cousins family from Maryland on Sunday Aug 23, and then after squeezing packing& errands on Monday, we saw friends an hour further up north in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Aug25, a day prior to our epic family travel event! Even though Sunday wasn't the official start date for our trip, it definitely felt like we squeezed in our last hugs with friends for a while!

Wednesday morning, my husband and I finished packing our long-term storage in out car-top carrier, and put our short-term duffle bags in the back of the car. I only choose a very select few toys for our little Keiki like books and coloring books and placed them in a basket in front of her feet. Also made sure we had extra water, travel dog bowl, leash, &spotty bags for the dog too. Our goal was to get on the road by 9am so we aimed for a half hour prior to get out the door... Only to finally leave at 9:45! It finally got to a point where we said that if we didn't pack it then we either didn't need it or could buy it, ha!

With us packed into our car along with our daughter and dog, we were finally off!!  We started our trip from Massachusetts and after two stops in Connecticut to see family on Thursday, we are now waking up at my parents home in New Jersey. Lucky for us all the driving has been broken down into such small sections and having great visits (that are a bonus entertainment for a toddler and a dog to run around!) I don't actually think we feel like we are on an east coast driving trip yet. In fact it's been so easy that I think we are getting spoiled and fear having a big wake-up call for when we have longer spurts of driving, but we will conquer that hurdle when we get there.