He then also dragged me along on backpacking trips. I whined A LOT. Yet, what I remember from those death marches are the views from the top and the quiet evenings when we'd go lay back under the stars and talk about the day, about our hopes, our fears, and our philosophies.
For Christmas, we're venturing across the state to check out Big Bend National Park. If you've never heard of it, you're not alone! I never heard of it before moving to Texas. Since we're bringing the dog, we can't stay inside the park.
Instead we've rented a solar powered cabin 'just' outside (it'll take 45-minutes to drive from our door to the entrance to the park...plus however long to get to a trailhead). It's on 80-acres of it's own land, so we can do a little bit of hiking close to 'home': two rooms, furnished, heated and with a bathroom with a flushing toilet and shower.
Here's the thing (what I blame on Jrex), compared to a 'real' vacation in a hotel with restaurant food, this is 'roughing it'. Yet compared to digging a hole in the ground when I need to use the bathroom, this is luxury! He lowered my need for comfort and raised my adventure capacity. The proof of this is that when I read the cabin information and they mentioned needing to shake out shoes in the morning (to remove any non-poisonous scorpions), I didn't think, "I can't bring my precious child into such conditions!!". Rather I thought, "This will be interesting! Cool."
Sigh. I used to be a nice, corrupted city girl.
In related issues, we're driving 11 hours (not including stops) with a toddler and a dog in the car. Any tips? Must haves? Warnings?
4 comments:
If room service isn't involved, it's not a vacation - it's torture!!
But I hope you have fun.
my tip is an ipad or other type device for Brex, even if your kid isn't a movie/tv watcher, having that loaded with something, music, art play, or small bursts of his favorite sesame/elmo/backyardigans can seriously break things up - it helped me tons as opposed to handing back a snack that i usually wouldn't give and they're really not hungry - sippy cups with ice cubes to melt so you have a handy cool drink was always helpful back in the day for me too - it sounds cool and a little scary to me, but fun all the same good luck!
I agree with Lil'Sis that a little TV can go a long way when you're in the car with a toddler. We limited TV at home but allowed it on long trips. The nice thing about car trips is that you have enough space to pack everything you might need (wipes, snacks, toys, etc.) The other thing I've learned is that if you make sure your child's physical needs are met, everything will go much more smoothly. Anyway, I'm kind of jealous. I love to hike, but I don't get to go so often because my family is not as into it as I am.
Plan for your trip to take longer. When traveling with our kiddo on long trips, every time we stopped for a bathroom break, we also turned it into a play break. That kept the sanity and let our active little guy not feel like he was an eternal prisoner in his carseat. A portable dvd player, snacks that aren't too messy or choking hazards, and special toys only for traveling provide us with sanity and the kiddo with contentment.
Have fun! And may the scorpions stay far, far away.
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