We just got back from a single-parent road trip to Utah and we had a blast! The drive was a bit much but we survived and Utah’s cooler weather made it all worth it. Watch the vlog below of our big family road trip!
You may think I’m crazy, but I’m really learning to love long car rides with my kids. I used to dread road trips as a kid (SO BORING) and then again as a parent passenger (Luke likes to drive at night and I fall asleep when it’s dark). But then about 5 years ago I took an epic road trip to Washington state (24 hours of driving, each way) with my (then) 6 kids while Luke was out of town and it was a rocking good time. I learned a valuable lesson…
If YOU are the driver, then you don’t have to be fight-breaker-upper and snack-passer-outer!! Those are real terms, by the way, as any road-tripping mom knows. As the only adult on this road trip, I was solely responsible for getting us there safely which meant that my big kids had to step up and help out with the dropped water bottles and manning the DVD player or radio.
Luke travels a lot, especially in the summer, and being stuck at home with 9 crazies in 105°+ heat is enough to make any mom go bonkers! This time, when Luke took off to France for 8 days, we decided to drive up to Utah and visit some friends and family members. I figured that the drive time was half of what I’d done on my own before so, how bad could it be? Mind you, we had 3 fewer kids back then and I didn’t have a newborn baby, but hey – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
It was GLORIOUS! I pretty much just listened to scriptures and audiobooks the entire way to Utah (it took us 13 hours) and the whole way back. Sure there was screaming and fighting and general nuisance making but I was in a zen-like state of calm almost the whole way.
Side note: I listened to Shoe Dog by Philip Knight (the founder of Nike) and it was amazingly good. Highly recommend it to any entrepreneur or anyone even mildly interested in how businesses are built.
Anyway, I put together a short vlog about the trip including some epic packing and big family road trip tips so check it out below! It includes some of my car and suitcase packing tips as well as my plans for potty breaks, in-car entertainment and how to make sure we stopped often enough to feed the 6-week-old. We had a great time, despite all the craziness of traveling with so many kids. And now I’m pretty sure I could accurately count to 9 while unconscious.
I hope you enjoy it!
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