Spring Break snuck up on the town like higher gas prices and egg shaped pastel candies. Once again my wife and I prepared for the overly lengthy trip back to Iowa. Our near thousand mile trek was certain to be different than our previous trips. It was also, certainly, going to be more difficult now that our son is more mobile than he has been previously. Strangely, the trip went extremely well and I can’t quite reason out why.
One of the smartest decisions we made was to split the trip over two days and bite the proverbial bullet of a hotel bill for some much needed sleep during the 15-ish hour trip. While I’m not entirely excited about spending money halfway through travel it is a wise thing to do. You aren’t rushed, you are able to rest, you can stretch your back and relax your mind, and the family can wake up refreshed and actually prepared for the remainder of the journey. This inevitably contributed to the success of our trip.
The other thing that likely contributed to the success of our trip was a stop for dinner (at a sit down restaurant) prior to stopping for the night. This stop happened six hours into our trip, and three hours prior to our hotel stop. This is related to the freedom gained from not being in a rush but, more importantly, it provided us with an excuse to relax for a little while near mid-trip and have an uncharacteristic dinner “out” without feeling guilty (as lunch was consumed on the go).
Somehow, too, our son decided he’d sleep for the first five hours of the trip. Whether he’s getting better at the long trip or we are… I’m just glad we’re able to get in the car and make it back to our families without a great deal of trouble.