Two Week Trip

[VWCampers]

I'm planning our first ever two week trip and I'm look for advice and encouragement!  I think we can make it to our final destination with only one one-night stop.  What are some problems we might encounter that I might not have thought of yet?  How do we keep two kids (9 and 11) semi-happy for two weeks? And one big idea--I should learn to tow the camper so DH doesn't have to do 100% of the driving.  Any thoughts?  Thanks!

R

[dcj070454]

A few practice trips, get a feel for the towing and the kids and what trips there trigger in a positive or negative manner.  Cooped up travel can be enough to push anyone over the edge.

 

[Tukee44]

How do we keep two kids (9 and 11) semi-happy for two weeks?

A new video game in their Ipod touch or DS will keep them quiet in the back seat.

Once you get to camp, take hiking trip in the day, and had a camp fire at night.

[nana2]

DH and I bought our bayside last year. I had pulled a pup before and he has never pulled anything so there for i drive all the time. We made our first long trip to WV last labor day and i drove the distance. Didn't bother me at all.

[Grouchyolman]

Video games, at the camp site make up a treasure hunt, stick that looks like a turkey track, different color rocks, etc make up your own things. get them cheap cameras if you have a lap top down load and keep. camp fire, smores, story time. The DGKs (twins 11 yrs old,make their own games. I give the a trash bag and make a contest on how get the most trash, keeps them busy and helps the CG. Winner gets to pick supper.

[whitewa327]

For the kids, I'd make it interesting by making stops at some good old cheesy attractions like the world's largest aluminum foil ball, snakeatoriums, etc.

Good fun.

I wish I could take a two week trip. One of these days.

Have fun!

Beck

[EVEL Bug]

The DW will take shifts driving the TT when we go on trips, but she makes sure either I have the last shift of we switch before any backing up on tight maneuvering is required

[VWCampers]

Thanks!  Good tips!  I don't let my kids have any of that electronic stuff but I may have to break down and consider some of that...stuff for a long trip.  I did break down a few years back and let them have a DVD player for the car!   

[Geodude]

Ours would always get involved to some degree in the planning, and when younger they'd each get their own maps of the planned trip so they could follow along. 

Other than that, books, games, movies, etc., did the trick too.

[Camping Queen]

If you happen to have a GPS unit, look up some geocaches to download for your destination areas, and spend some time hunting them down.  Won't keep them busy during the drive, but gives you something else to do while you're there.  Consider audio books that everyone can enjoy, let them pick out some of "their" music, and there are many travel versions of favorite games (Yahtzee, etc) at Target or WalMart.  Also, do a google search for "travel games" and/or make up some of your own (who can find the most license plates from different states, most number of different colored vehicles or of a particular color, etc.)  Reminds me of when we were traveling as a family when I was young.  My parents said "We'll pay a dollar to the first person who spots a deer!"  Kept us quiet for a long time.  Only found out many years later, we were traveling through the desert!   

[ngatel]

I guess I am too old to understand the problem. 

We went camping every summer for two weeks in the days before DVDs and electronic games. I have a daughter and a son, two years apart. We started camping when they were infants. Didn't have a PU until they were 5 & 7. The PU had no ammenities, so we always dry camped. Before the PU we tent camped. We usually drove at least 8 hours to get to our campsite.

On the road we talked or the kids read books once they learned to read. At the campsite the only thing they had for entertainment were books and an occassional jigsaw puzzle. We just hung out as a family every day when camping.

Now the kids are in their 20's. My daughter graduated with honors from college two years ago, and the boy is graduating this spring.

Dump the electronics and encourage them to read. It is the basic skill necessary to get through life.

[Geodude]

Our kids now do a lot of reading while on car trips, now that they're older.  We found DVDs are great for the younger kids, especially if you want to pound out a couple or three 12-hour driving days.

Here is what our girls read over this summer's 25 day/10,000km trip.  I won't say what their DVD watching project was however. 

[stumps]

we try and take a 2-week camping trip each summer.  Here's some things that we do that make the trip much more enjoyable:

1) modify our set-up for one-nighters.  We have it down where we can set up the camper in 15 minutes, breakdown in 15 minutes, which makes those 1-night stops very easy.

2) hit the road early -I'm usually on the road no later than 6 on travel days.  This allows me to just stick the kids in the truck, they go back to sleep, and they sleep for 3 or 4 hours.  We plan on being off the road by early to mid afternoon, so it's a shortened drive for them.

3) KOAs - no it's not real camping, but the kids love having a pool every afternoon, and I like having clean facilities.

4) don't try and stick to your itinerary.  YOu will ruin a good time if you try and stick to a strict schedule - you'll enjoy it more if you can go with the flow, enjoy things along the way and don't worry about losing days of travel or having to miss some things in order to enjoy other things.


have fun!

[parrothead]

Here's how we've always done it.  Get the kids involved in the planning.  Books on tape/CD for the long drives (we'd get them at the library, make copies to take on the trips and return the originals).  Toy box (plastic horseshoe set, paddle ball set, squirt guns, frisbees, balls, etc.) and art box (paper, crayons, markers, scissors, etc.) in the RV.  Develop a schedule of stuff to see and do (get info on anything close to where you will be staying) but stay flexible and make sure you leave plenty time for relaxing.

[brgmgb]

On our 17 day, 4000 mile trip last summer, the kids kept themselves quiet and out of trouble by watching movies on their DVD players (each has their own), listen to music on the iPods, and playing games on the DS.  We did stop every few hours to let them run off steam, and we did try to camp where there were pools or activities.  The girls also were able to choose places to stop for lunch.

At the campsite, we had campfires, hiked, played Uno, and watched movies and tv.

The first two days and the last two days were the worst of the whole trip.