My kids have grown into perfect little travelers.
Over the last couple months, we have taken several road trips, including central Pennsylvania for a soccer tournament and a visit to the Strausburg Railroad; two excursions to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg; multiple doctor’s appointments in Wilmington, Del.; and, most recently, a New Year’s jaunt to Sullivan’s Island, S.C. near Charleston last weekend.
While they may not be enthralled with being cooped up for long periods of time in the car, both Beckett, 9, and Carson, 8, have become excellent road trip buddies.
Rarely do they complain at all about the distance in contrast to how I recall being in the vehicle when I was their age.
They don’t even ask how much longer. They just do their own thing and only jokingly does Beckett occasionally ask, “Are we there yet?”
They simply look at their watches or the time on the dash and let us know how much longer (as if we weren’t well aware of how much time was left on these trips).
On Tuesday, we drove back from South Carolina. It was a nine-hour drive. I didn’t sleep well the night before knowing it was coming and wanting to get back at a decent hour so the kids were ready for school and Pam and I for work. Consequently, I was up at 5 in the morning and ready to roll. I had to slow my pace down some but not by too much.
We were able to get the kids up and out of the house by 8 in the morning with not a complaint. In fact, they got in the backseat and covered up with their blankets and went about their business.
Beckett immediately got on his iPad and played some games and watched videos, while Carson simply looked out the window for about 100 miles pointing out big buildings, trucks and boats to his mom every few minutes.
When it came to stop for lunch and gas, Beckett marveled in the backyard how it felt like it was a half hour despite the fact we had been driving for five hours at that point. That’s how comfortable these kids are in the vehicle.
I must confess car rides are not enjoyable for me. I am accustomed to multi-tasking all the time and that can’t happen when behind the wheel. It’s a major change to my normal life but in some ways it’s a good thing to let my mind wander as the miles tick off. I, like my kids, have learned how to adjust to long rides.
Prior to hitting the road last weekend, one of our priorities for our time at my friend’s house in Sullivan’s Island was how to keep Carson entertained. We knew Beckett would be hanging with my buddy’s son who is his age. We assumed they would be playing around the neighborhood with each other.
Unfortunately, we can’t let Carson off on his own like we can his big brother. The trick is not letting him know that, of course. We have to plan ahead. That largely involved taking a lot of toys, including about 100 train track pieces and dozens of trains as well as a few board games.
On the morning of our road trip, Carson and I went to the store and bought a couple large storage bins, one of which I told him would be for his toys to pack for our trip. He thought that was the coolest thing ever. When we got home, I told him he could fill one up with whatever he wanted to take along and that the other one was for Pam for Christmas decorations. I then went to packing myself.
When I came back downstairs, Carson had both bins full of all his favorites. One had all his board games and train items but the other was full of his favorite pillow, stuffed animals, books and Beckett’s Xbox game controllers (oddly enough). It took some convincing and bargaining to get him down to one bin, which was the original deal I reminded him. He reluctantly agreed and jammed everything into one large storage bin, which was nearly as long as me. We compromised on letting him take a big bag of books, stuffed animals and toys to keep in the backseat with him.
While both kids are excellent car riders, they have different strategies. Beckett is largely on electronics, which we allow on long rides. Carson listens to music and hums along, reads his books and takes in the sights and sounds. He plays with his iPad some as well, but he prefers other options for the most part.
At one point, after we got home, Beckett asked me how many long road trips we have taken. I told him about a dozen, which was a guess. I know we have driven to Deep Creek Lake twice (five hours each way) as well as Disney World (14 hours each way) and Port Canaveral, Fla. for two Disney cruises (about 13 hours each way). He wanders why we don’t fly and I tell him to be patient. That’s in his future.
When I answered that question in the past, I must have mentioned something about it being a lot cheaper to drive when we have expensive vacations planned. He reminded me I saved a lot of money driving to South Carolina and that I could use that money to buy him some things. I reminded him about some of the gifts he received from us for Christmas. He reluctantly agreed but reminded me about a birthday coming up (four months from now).