A serious question about my upcoming Sabbatical

[sftiggee]

So my second sabbatical is coming up and the family is preparing to hit the road this summer for part of it. Here is our fear: Our kids are 2 and 4. The littlest one isn't good in the car for long. We are stressing about this so much that we are debating renting or purchasing a 22-24 ft RV SPECIFICALLY for this trip (4 weeks on the road visiting National parks, state parks, family, and places around the West and Midwest). We really want to take the tear, and Luke and I took the tear last sabbatical (before kids) on an awesome NP road trip for 4 weeks. During that trip, we spent many nights at Walmart parking lots and long days in the car going between sites. We could deal with it, but kids don't deal with that well. However, knowing our kids, we think maybe an RV would be easier to keep them occupied, rest, fed, and allow us to see more sites. The tear however, would allow us to unhitch and go around without it if need be. The downside is: what do i do with the kids after a long day in the car, at a Walmart parking lot??

Any insight? Would it be a horrible thing or a good thing to use an RV for this particular huge trip? The kids do well in the tear for a weekend at a campground, but they don't do well in the car all day. Have any of you done this with kids? How did it go? Any advice?

I'm really torn here!!!! On one hand I love my tear and want to take it because it's just so easy. On the other hand, i envision being able to sit at the dinette with the kids pointing out things out the window or working on art projects or napping or goofing off without them being stuck in car seats all day, my son can go potty whenever he needed to, and maybe my daughter would be potty training by then. Sad to say, i can see both sides and why people have each kind of camper. Maybe I'm stressing too much? i really want us to all have fun, not us being upset at our kids for most of the trip and missing out on things we wanted to see because someone melts down from being cooped up in their seat for too long:(

[parnold]

With the money you would save using a tear instead of a big RV, you could stay in campgrounds that would offer swing sets and play areas for the kids.

When I traveled with my sons when they were very young, I just planned on more stops, not as many miles covered, and gave them a little play time as we went. Having happy children was well worth the lack of miles covered in a day.

[Alfred]

Hey All,

I have found with the kids that a DVD player for the car makes it a much easier trip. Before we obtained one for that purpose, I rigged a regular DVD player up in the minivan with a 12v converter and a small TV.

We have one now that velcro's to the back of the front seats, so the kids can see it in the back seat. It is removable, so we only use it on long trips. If you found one similar, it could probably be used in both the car and the teardrop, as needed.

A new Dora or Diego or similar DVD, and it is a quieter trip for 3 hours at a time, anyway. Otherwise, I would think the kids would dig sleeping in a TD, it is kind of like a clubhouse!

AL:thumbsup:

[madjack]

I think Paul and Al may have the solution...don't drive as far in a day...plan harder and try and find stops along the way the kids might enjoy BUT, making the days driving shorter, finding interesting stops for the kids may be the key if you really wanna take the tear...money may not be a problem...or is BUT the rental on the RV, low gas mileage coupled with high gas prices could make it even more painful than dealing with the kids problems...like you said, this is a tough call, the kids comfort and yours in dealing with them Vs the freedom and lower expenses of the tear.....................
madjack

[sftiggee]

You have a point on planning harder and less miles a day. We are pretty freewheeling when it comes to these trips and hate rigid schedules. Perhaps a KOA membership would make it a bit easier without a ton of extra planning?

Our thought was to head out from Oakland up to Crater Lake, then meander over to I-90 and go up to Glacier, hit Yellowstone, SD, wander through MN to Duluth, then down to see my parents. We'd leave the kids with them and sneak over to Chicago for a couple days, and then do several jaunts around with the kids in the MN/WI area, then take 80 back home. All this in one month.

We do have a portable DVD player and an iPad, but I really would rather my oldest was practicing his letters and writing, and they both play more, glued to tv less. We use the iPad on the short jaunts and while camping when we are cooking, but I don't want it going all the time.

It is quite the conundrum!

[madjack]

...in context...the nice thing about KOA is most of 'em have swimming pools and playgrounds and they all look pretty much alike...a little continuity for the kids and something for them to look forward to............
madjack

[Redgloves]

Heck, you have a Raindrop. No need for a different RV.
The tear is much easier to "pack up" then a larger RV. Many kids spend sumers traveling in large RV's. How many get to travel in a teardrop, experience back road boondocking and Wallmarts.

Maybe every so oftern check into a motel, which will be much cheaper then a rental.

Heck, as a kid, I and my sublings survived long trips in the car, and so did my kiddos before DVD's.

Stop fretting so much. Take the raindrop, plan frequent breaks, car games etc. During our trip to Canadian Rockies, the kids enjoyed the trampoline at a campground more then anything.

Your kids success in traveling will be based upon your success as the parent and tour guide.

[48Rob]

Quite a decision!

In my opinion, you need to understand/accept that while this fantastic trip you have planned may be a big dream for you and your spouse, the children, at age two and four couldn't care less about the National Parks, the natural wonders, and all the things that made you want to do this trip...

In other words, they are too young to care and or remember.

Having a large RV will make it easier to deal with them, but in the end, you will be constantly battling their insistence that they are tired, have to go to the bathroom, and just want to go home.

It will be very difficult to experience the trip as you have planned in your mind, if the idea is that the kids will "enjoy it" the same way you will.

I don't mean to sound mean, or as if I don't like kids, because I do (I have 4) but we learned quickly that if "we" wanted to do something special, the kids were far better off with a relative until they were older.
If there are no other options for alternative care, then you may all be much happier planning a trip that is based on a regular (normal home) schedule of kids play/get tired activities, with sleep/rest during travel time between playgrounds.

Rob

[bc toys]

this should be fun for all you can get learning DVD's and movies allso remmeber this is a vacation not school but plan your stops do your resurch on the places you are going to stop at so you can tell the kids about what they are looking at and let them blow off a little steam while you are getting gas What happened to trying to find all the state plates while driving down the road (your kids might be a little young for this yet) but it was fun at about 5 yrs of age see how many tears they can see while on this trip. Make it fun for all

[parnold]

I remember playing the alphabet game for hours while traveling as a youngster. You can call out a letter, and make a game of how many you each see in an certain amount of times. So even if the little one doesn't know their alphabet in oder they may be able to play. That is if they can see out the window.

[rbeemer]

Oakland to Crater lake should be a 2 day trip. The first day you could either stop a Shasta or Lassen, plenty of campgrounds and thing to do. Part of the fun of these trips is to see things. You may want to not try to cover so ground and concentrate on looking at the details of an area. I remember driving through the redwoods and stopping at a place/store called Hobbiton, sparked my interest in Tolkien. Do not know if the store is still around but they had the coolest walk in the back.....like you were walking through the shire. Of course this was in the early 70"s late sixties.

[sftiggee]

Based on what I'm reading, I think we'll need to go back to the drawing board on our plan and route and mellow it out a bit. This trip rarely comes along and we're trying to pack in a lot of stuff, but yeah...not gonna happen. I wish we could have the kids be with someone else so they can continue to go to school, but we don't live near any relatives. The oldest LOVES camping and doing all sorts of stuff, but the little one, well....we have yet to figure out what interests her. She is a stubborn little egg to crack.

I guess we will stop worrying about it and just have a couple main goals for the month, like make it to MN to see my family and hit the State Fair, get a kid-free trip to Chicago in there, and maybe get the Tear to Camp-Inn for some upgrades or something.

Thanks for the suggestions, I love hearing them

[Redgloves]

Check the Camp Inn forum. There are members there with young kids who can provide insight.

Jean

[sftiggee]

Check the Camp Inn forum. There are members there with young kids who can provide insight.

Jean

Jean, thanks for letting me know about the Camp-Inn forum, somehow I missed that:) And I'm from over by Austin, we should compare trailers when we are over there in August:)

[Shadow Catcher]

My feelings, kids do not need to be endlessly entertained. Our kids learned to seriously read in the back seat of a succession of Subaru's. Having sounded like a curmudgeon plan stops and have them learn to appreciate entertaining themselves.
Also factor in $4 to $5 gas this summer!