Driving vacations, how far?

[binny]

so we finished our planning for our summer vacation. Looks like we might be able to wrap 2 reunions into one vacation!

BUT and this is a big but we will be driving... a lot.


So right now the plan is to go from Denver, overnight in Billings MT, go to Calgary for a couple of days to have a mini family reunion. Then to Spokane for my HS reunion.
THEN we would come home through Yellowstone, meet some friends there for a day or so then back home to Denver.

Mind you this will be with 3 children ages 14,10, and 9.

Total miles: 2650
Total days: 12
Total cost of an insane Asylum...


So far do you/would you drive on vacations?

 

[koolaidmoms]

We drive to WDW at least once a year, sometimes 2 or 3. Each way is 1252 miles so 2504 total miles. You are beating us by a little!

We have done this for the past 7 years. Last time we flew DD was 18 mo. old and it was a nightmare - of course it was also one month after 9-11 too.

We make the drive part of the trip and adventure. We stop at rest areas and throw out a soccer ball or have races around to get energy out. DD (8) and DS (5) don't seem to mind. We watch DVDs, listen to music, draw, read and eat all the special snacks we normally don't have in the house!

Have fun! They will remember these trips forever.

 

[Michelle67]

We've done Long Island NY and back several times...talk about possible commitment to an asylum. We always dip down to OKC to see my father, and one year we also dipped down to Williamsburg VA to meet my BIL and his family there. That trip was around 7,000 miles by the time we got home.

OH and btw, we always had to fit all that into two weeks that my husband had for vacation. Brutal... Your 2600 miles in 12 days seems pretty sane to me, but maybe that's by comparison to our absolute insanity.

 

[geffric]

We did 4215.31 miles in 2 weeks a few years ago..

just a normal trip to WDW from Chicago is 2300 round trip..so your trip sounds fine to me..


we do like koolaidmoms.. watch DVDs, sing, when my kids were little we would play at the rest stops or McDs playlands along the way.. I still pack a cooler with lots of snacks and drinks for the way .. plus meats and bagels and bread to stop for a bite..

 

[natenapril]

We are driving from Fairbanks Alaska to WDW. My Dh tried to tell me how many miles it was but I just plugged my ears Oh and we will have 3 kids age 12,7, and 4 at the time. Wanna share a room at the asylum?
We have made the trip to WDW from ohio. It was about 19 hours I think.

 

[MontanaZoo]

so we finished our planning for our summer vacation. Looks like we might be able to wrap 2 reunions into one vacation!

BUT and this is a big but we will be driving... a lot.


So right now the plan is to go from Denver, overnight in Billings MT, go to Calgary for a couple of days to have a mini family reunion. Then to Spokane for my HS reunion.
THEN we would come home through Yellowstone, meet some friends there for a day or so then back home to Denver.

Mind you this will be with 3 children ages 14,10, and 9.

Total miles: 2650
Total days: 12
Total cost of an insane Asylum...


So far do you/would you drive on vacations?

It actually sounds ok to me, but like you, I'm in the west (Billings actually) and my brother drives regularly to Denver since his girlfriend's parents are there. That said, I wouldn't do it by myself cause I'm a wussy driver but we definitely do the big driving vacations as a family. A couple of summers ago we drove up from Billings and stayed at the KOA at East Glacier before heading down to Flathead area. It was fun to drive through the non interstate part of the state if you're going that way. We went through Lavina, Harlowton, then up through Stanford to get from Billings to Great Falls...I think it was a lot faster than the Interstate.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm probably not the one to ask, being a little crazy in that regard myself. We drove Detroit to Virginia Beach with a 15 month old. We did one trip Detroit to Boston to Virginia Beach. One of these days, we're hoping to have the time to drive up to Alaska in the summer.

I actually prefer driving to flying. I find flying and the accompanying airport hassles ery stressful, while driving is relaxing and enjoyable. We do take our time and see the sights along the way, and we all love it. Disney, Hawaii, and foreign destinations are about the only time we'll fly.

 

[Parkers_girl]

We are driving from Fairbanks Alaska to WDW. My Dh tried to tell me how many miles it was but I just plugged my ears Oh and we will have 3 kids age 12,7, and 4 at the time. Wanna share a room at the asylum?
We have made the trip to WDW from ohio. It was about 19 hours I think.

Oh my goodness!! What a drive that must be! And here I was complaining about the drive to TN over the holidays!

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

Good luck! That's all I can say.

My parents drove us all over the place because it was cheaper than flying. I think the farthest we ever drove was from Ft. Worth to Orlando. I don't know how many miles total, but it took us three weeks because we detoured to Alabama and spent some time with a cousin of my mom's who lived out on a river.

The farthest DH and I have ever driven was from Dallas to Bay City Michigan, when we went to visit his grandparents. The first day, we drove for about 12 hrs..in a convertible..with the top down..and no sunscreen. We were as red as lobsters by the time we checked into our hotel that night.

 

[LindaM]

We love driving vacations (that is DH and I), last year we had a wedding to go to in San Jose, we took 2 weeks and saw everything we could. In the end we travelled 2 provinces, 7 States and 6669km. Our kids are older, so when they couldn't take 2 full weeks off we purchased them plane tickets from Calgary to San Francisco so they could at least go to the wedding and see all the family. We would do this again in a heartbeat.

 

[minniecarousel]

We did a Western US driving vacation one year and had a blast! I think our boys were around 12 & 9. We drove to Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Zion & Bryce Nat'l Parks and ended up in Reno for a few days of R & R.

I think you'll be fine. Just have plenty of batteries for those hand-held devices!

 

[binny]

We are driving from Fairbanks Alaska to WDW. My Dh tried to tell me how many miles it was but I just plugged my ears Oh and we will have 3 kids age 12,7, and 4 at the time. Wanna share a room at the asylum?
We have made the trip to WDW from ohio. It was about 19 hours I think.

Sure, Ill book us both now! Once youre off the AK Highway the rest is gravy! I spent 2 summers going back and forth from Skagway to Dawson. My bones are still shaking 20 years later!


I think it sounds doable to me. DH spends all of his time on the road right now so he doesnt have a problem with it. He and I have done the Boise to Calgary and back in 4 days before and while not the most fun Ive ever had it was ok.

Its amazing to think about it now but my parents took my youngest brother and me when we were 14 and 8 across the country I think we were gone for a month or so. I remember it being a blast but my poor parents must have sufferred. We towed an old 70's pop up trailer. I remember my mum and I always had to go to the bathroom as soon as we got to the KOAs. We stayed gone for a loooooong time until that stupid trailer was popped up!

 

[lillygator]

disney is an hour and a half from us and Gainesville is about 2 1/2 hrs...those are both a stretch for me....I hate driving.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Road trip!

www.geocaching.com

We did a whopping 125 mile trip to DC this week.

 

[chisnpeke]

We drove all the way to Los Angeles and back in September with stops along the way. It took us a week to get there with stops at national parks and Las Vegas. It probably would have taken 4 days otherwise.

I like car travel.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

We are driving from Fairbanks Alaska to WDW. My Dh tried to tell me how many miles it was but I just plugged my ears Oh and we will have 3 kids age 12,7, and 4 at the time. Wanna share a room at the asylum?
We have made the trip to WDW from ohio. It was about 19 hours I think.

We drive a lot on vacations but I couldn't even fathom this. At least if you did Disneyland you would be on the right coast.

We went to Alaska this fall for a funeral and it didn't look that far on the map to drive but Alaska is HUGE!

Good luck! Maybe you should call for your reservation now just to make sure they have a padded room to your liking.

 

[Kirby]

As long as your time out of the car is equal to or more than your time in the car, I think that that sounds like a great trip. We drove to Chicago over Christmas and round trip our mileage was 2178 miles. We made sure that we were there as many days as we were on the road. We drove to DC two years ago and spent five days out of nine in the car. Never again!

 

[crz4mm2]

We did over 4000 miles in 12 days a few years ago.... Course I didn't have any LITTLE kids, just a 15 yo...

We had a great time. Drove til we got "somewhere" we wanted to stay and then stopped.
Did several National Monuments had a lot of good food and fun. Saw a lot of this beautiful country.

 

[binny]

DH has been really nonchalant about the whole thing so I asked him tonight what he thought. He said " Its great, I guess I just take it for granted that you ALWAYS plan these trips. I mean you ARE a travel agent" yeah whatever. Its a little different when its your own family you know?

 

[natenapril]

We drive a lot on vacations but I couldn't even fathom this. At least if you did Disneyland you would be on the right coast.

We went to Alaska this fall for a funeral and it didn't look that far on the map to drive but Alaska is HUGE!

Good luck! Maybe you should call for your reservation now just to make sure they have a padded room to your liking.

We moved from AK to CA last year for 9 months and went to Disneyland twice. Then we moved back to AK (of course we drove the ALCAN) and are now headed out to visit family and go to WDW.
The Alcan is beautiful. Bears, Bison, and Caribou everywhere.

Only this time we will be driving it in December

But maybe your right and reservations to the asylum ahead of time would be a good idea