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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

a spring road trip

3000 miles in a rental car with a toddler - yeeee haw!


Hello there, friends!  Our little family is just getting back from a BIG adventure on the west coast.  First, we spent Easter weekend in California with family, and then we decided to take the looooong way back.... cruising up the coast through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and finally home to Montana.  We had so much fun exploring new places - Elise saw the ocean for the first time, ate kumquats, and stared up at the giant redwoods.  The whole trip was a huge success, but I won't lie - spending the week in a car with my toilet-learning toddler was exhausting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO enjoying being back home!







11 comments:

  1. Wow! Those giant redwood trees are amazing!

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    1. Hi Elizabeth! Yes - they were HUGE - truly awe-inspiring!

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  2. Fantastic! I would love to visit those places! We are also going on a road trip very soon, two weeks of camping in France, Belgium, Germany and Austria! It's very loosely planned so far, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing! I would be glad for any tips you may have on keeping a toddler happy during a road trip! We will only drive for about 3 hours each day so it's not too bad. How much did you drive each day?

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    1. That sounds like so much fun, Elsa! We tent-camped two of the nights - I can't wait to do more camping this summer. Our trip was loosely planned, too - it turned out to be a good thing! Elise's favorite things to do in the car were eat, sleep, sing, read, and cover herself with stickers! We took turns sitting in the backseat with her - but she also seemed to enjoy just looking out the window. I think she kind of just accepted that riding in the car was what we were all doing - she rarely complained - which was kind of miraculous because sometimes she'll complain a lot during a 15 minute car ride! We didn't really anticipate how long it would take us to drive from point A to point B each day - most days we were on the road for 6-8 hours - including stops. Also, it always took us awhile to get going in the morning and each "quick stop" we made ended up taking at least an hour!

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  3. wouah! Toilet training already! Tell us more, mine has just turned 2 and asks now to go to the toilet...

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    1. Hi Carine! It's definitely a work in progress around here - I'll be sure to share the details soon!

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  4. Thanks for your reply, Anne! 6-8 hours a day seems quite a lot to me, I've never done that and I don' know if I could, toddler or not! Thanks for the tips. I bought some story CDs to keep him entertained as well as an I spy book with no text but lots of details to look for. He is in a rear facing car seat and can't really see us sitting in the front, so we are used to sitting in the back with him. I think (hope!) he will get used to a long drive each day and will learn to be patient. Did Elise enjoy camping? Finn loves it!

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    1. Yes, 6-8 hours was kind of nuts - I don't know what we were thinking! Elise had a few I spy books to look at and really enjoyed them - story CDs are a great idea, too. I also bought Elise a book with buttons on the side that made sounds and a travel-sized magna-doodle - both ended up being life savers! Elise loves camping, too! She thinks our tent is the most fun fort ever! ;)

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  5. What a brave family! Looks like you had a wonderful time. Sooo close to us yet not close enough! : - (
    Next time you have to make it up to Canada for sure. xxx

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