On the road in West Virginia
As you know this summer I literally traveled thousands of miles with my children on a road trip. I love taking my kids on road trips, but I have always been concerned about car safety before I leave home. I would never want to break down and be stuck on the side of the road with seven kids!
My husband always does a thorough check of the vehicle including oil change, brakes, and of course tires. Even though I know how to replace a tire I never want to!
If you have a holiday road trip planned this is a great time to replace those worn tires. Right now Midas has partnered with Bridgestone to offer customers $100 cash back on the purchase of four tires. This deal ends Saturday and you can visit the Midas website to find your nearest store and learn more about this special.
Midas is also partnering with The Happy Housewife to offer four readers a $50 Midas gift certificate as well as a tire inspection kit. In my opinion every car needs an inspection kit! This kit includes an air pressure gauge, chalk stick, tire tread depth gauge and screwdriver.
To enter this giveaway leave a comment sharing a road trip tip. For additional entries you can follow the Midas guy on Twitter or “like” the Midas fan page. Please leave an additional comment for each additional entry.
Giveaway ends October 1, 2010.
Safe travels!
Full Disclosure: I also received a Midas gift certificate and tire kit for participating in this campaign.
For road trips, I always keep wipes in the car. They are good for so many things!
I have each of my older children pack a small bag of toys, books, etc…they want to use during the trip. These usually keep them well entertained.
My road tip is to keep plenty of snacks and drinks for everyone in the car. We also stop anytime any one needs to stop – no complaining allowed. It makes the trip nicer for everyone.
We often road trip from Texas to Indiana and/or Chicago. My tip is to leave in the evening and drive overnight. I wouldn’t do this alone with kids, but if my husband is able to go with us, it works well. The kids sleep through a big part of the driving and my husband and I are able to switch off driving so neither of us is too tired.
Well, I can say from experience you should keep an emergency car repair kit made up of oil,a jug of water,flash light,blanket,a funnel and make sure you got a spare tire and tools!I have been stranded with my son and husband on the side of the road out in the country.
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I always take drinks and food with us .
I suggest buying a cell phone if you travel a lot. I don’t have a cell phone (to save money) and it prevents me from visiting my family in KY. I just worry about what I would do if the kids and I were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I think I am going to get a pre-paid cell phone this winter.
We make sure to have things for the kids to be kept occupied. it helps.
We alway get a few new toys from the dollar store or Targets dollar section and keep them in the car with a few new snacks, so when everyone is getting crabby, we can pull out a new toy or exciting new snack and everyone gets excited and happy again!
I always make sure to pack snacks for any road trip. It’s just no fun if there aren’t any snacks. I don’t have kids, so sometimes I like to pack really junk food type snacks. It makes the trip feel just a little bit more special when you’re eating things you normally wouldn’t eat or don’t have at home.
We always carry anti nausea medication in the car with us on even small road trips because it is a terrible trip when someone is ill the whole time
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I have traveled cross country several times whit my kids at all ages, when they wher toddlers and as they grew. One thing that I found imperative was to have plenty of drinks and healthy snacks so we did not end up stopping at convenience stores. We also tried to stop at rest stops and have everyone get up and stretch and use the restroom, that way we all had to go at the same time and the kids did not get antsy from sitting still too long. Some times we would play catch or Frisbee, or some times we would just run them back and forth across the grass. We also keep a first aid kit in the car, as little fingers always find places to get hurt.
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always pack a cooler!
Pack snacks.
Pack things to do in the car–for all members of the family. Some of these should be things to do together (books on CD) and individually (crayons, books, etc.).
Take a plan–maps, food stops, how far to travel each day, etc. It’s always good to know where you are going and where to stop in between!
Always bring snacks and card games!
I always pack snacks that I the driver need to keep me awake!
When our children were younger, we would pack a small cooler plus a special wicker basket filled with “vacation food” that the kids and I would have shopped together for. It held special items that we normally would not purchase on a weekly (or sometimes even monthly) basis.
I always pack wipes and tissues and make sure to take them into rest stops with me. Nothing worse than being the only one in a restroom without anything!
Bring a GPS -AND- printed directions or a map. When your GPS goes crazy and tries to take you on back roads for no reason (been there, done that) or you lose satellite reception because of city driving/tunnels/general tech failage, you’ll have a back-up to get you through.
I always bring food so I don’t have to stop, and it keeps me entertained and awake (but not skinny!).
My husband and I always bring a detailed map, a cooler with drinks and meals, a cd that is mixed full of great travel songs and a first aid kit. We start out in the early morning with plenty of coffee and just drive!
A baking sheet with magnets can keep little ones occupied for quite a while in the car!
in the winter always keep candles , snacks , warm blankets and water just in case something happens and you get stuck on the road ….
Definitely bring snacks and drinks (I love bringing our own homemade decaf iced tea–perfect antioxidants without needing to pee more like caffeine tea). Keep an atlas in the car to back up your mapquest or GPS directions. Check vehicle over well before leaving.
On road trips I always bring a small basket of snacks, bottle water, paper towels, diaper wipes, a small trash bag, and a change of clothes for the youngest two. With seven kiddos you have to be prepared!
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On long trips i like bringing lots of drinks (favorite soda’s, tea, etc) as well as lots of water. In case, we have to stop for a meal we won’t be tempted to spend even more money on drinks. Also, if you know way ahead of time that you will be going on a road trip save up your rewards points or swagbucks for giftcards to starbucks or other favorite places to eat.
Packing drinks and snacks for everyone is great. I also try to have my kids work extra to earn $.50 here or there, just for spluring at the convient store sometimes. Gives them a chance to try a local drink, my kids love BIG RED and BIG BLUE but they are not available locally.
After living in Florida all my life I have found that when traveling in snow country you should ALWAYS be prepared with food and water in your vehicle just incase you get stranded on the side of the road. My husband and I are probably the only Floridaians with snow chains for our vehicle as we travel to snow country as often as possible there have been many vehicles that have blocked our path and not much you can do then just be prepared with food and water, blankets probably wouldn’t hurt either.
We are going to go on a road trip in January in hope of seeing snow. We are from Orlando and I have never seen it and neither have the kids.
For road trips we always bring an ice chest full of yogurts, frozen water bottles, grapes and then also a bag full of munchies.
For road trips I head to Target and get Charmin toilet seat covers, Lysol wipes and antibac hand wipes. They come in handy for those less than clean restroom stops that happen with kids.
My top tips:
1. Snacks!
2. Pray before you leave. Seriously, this helps us tremendously to start a trip off on the right track!
Schedule in extra time. Extra time to stop at cool little road side attractions, for potty breaks, or whatever may come up. It makes things less stressful.
My tip is a super simple one: always keep a plastic bag in the car to put trash in. Then you can just replace it as needed.
We always travel with books on CD. We used to have a new Adventures in Odyessy for every trip, but we now have the entire series, so had to move on to other things. It makes the travel time enjoyable, and everyone enjoys the story.
I never thought I’d say this, but a portable DVD player is a huge help when on a long trip.
Bring a small toilet for the kids. I find it hard to put my kids on a porta potty
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We like to bring videos to break up the trip. We play them on our laptop.
Road trip: even if you have a GPS, take printed maps with you. Printed maps work even when batteries or screens die.