Planning the Ultimate Road Trip

This is my first summer as a true civilian.  I don't have to report to anyone!  Therefore, I am packing up the kids and leaving the state.  Since I'm not burning leave and I don't have to be back by a certain time, we are going to drive across the country to see Granny at the farm!

I'm starting to think of it as an obstacle course.  Here's a list of my obstacles:  (Note:  this list is not all-inclusive and is in no particular order.)

1.  No Daddy - He's still Active Duty, so we're leaving him at home.  I don't want to worry about getting everything done within a certain time frame.  I'm planning for 2-3 weeks away, but we can always extend that or come home early.  And if the drive takes longer than expected, no biggie.

2.  Dog - she's MY dog, so I can't fairly leave her home with Daddy.  This means that I need to think about grassy areas when I'm planning pit stops and pet-friendly hotels.


3.  2 kids - ages 7 and 2.  Big Sister has always been excellent for PCS road trips... I'm thinking Little Brother is going to be the exact opposite.

4.  Picking up Aunt Sarah halfway - I haven't seen Sarah in years and the kids haven't met her yet.  So, she's basically a hitchhiker?  That sounds weird.  But at least I'll have an extra driver.

5.  Paleo Diet - I'm still not eating grains or processed foods, so snacks and meals on the road are going to be a challenge.  I'm planning on packing a TON of homemade food and having picnics instead of eating in restaurants.  I've chosen hotels that offer a breakfast buffet including eggs and meats, instead of just coffee and pastries.

6.  Potty Training - Little Brother is wearing big boy underoos now.  I wonder if wearing diapers for 3 days is going to bother him.  He still wears diapers to sleep, so it shouldn't be too bad.

7.  *3* days!! - We're going from Minot, ND (practically Canada) to Troy, AL.  1,700 miles and 26 hours according to Google Maps.  If the kids are amazing, we can make it in 2 days, but I'm not going to push my luck.

8.  Possible trip to Washington DC before we head back to ND.  This one is up in the air for now.

9.  Packing for the Unknown - I don't know exactly how many days we will be gone.  I don't know how long the driving part of the trip will actually take.  How many pairs of pants do you pack for a trip like this?  Will everything fit in my car and still leave enough room for us to be comfortable?

Mother Goose Time Wrap-Up

I quit.  Sorry, folks.  The snow finally melted and we no longer spend any time inside.  It's hard to wrangle a kid who wants to run in fresh air.

I still have everything and we pull it out occasionally, but not daily.  I have the entire month of May set aside for rainy days and days like today when it's too windy to go to the playground or play baseball in the backyard.  I will not buy any more months until it starts snowing again.  I guess you can say that we're taking summer break.

HowTo MERGE

Attention Sports Fans!  Followers!  Occasional Peepers!

HowToMom is too busy to keep up with 14 different blogs, kids, dogs, playgroups, FB pages, etc. etc.
HowToMom has a hard time keeping track of what to post on which page and how to keep Mom things separated from Eat things and it's wayyy too much work and not enough coffee.

SO.. I will begin merging everything to HowToMOM and will post only on 

http://www.howtomom.info

and

http://www.facebook.com/howtomomblog

Please take a moment to re-adjust your favorites, bookmarks, likes, etc.  I don't want to lose anyone!

Someday I will get around to figuring out which Twitter and Tumblr accounts I want to stick with.  Until then, the blog and the FB will be my base of operations.