Family road trips are huge part of our family culture. Some of my best childhood memories are of the road trips we would take – to Sacramento on business, to Washington state to visit my aunt, to the San Juan Islands to dive, or even just a trek to a campground a few hours away.

Greg loading the van, 2009

There’s something of an adventure in that process of loading up the car, driving for hours, and arriving in a new an unexplored area. Stopping along the way at rest areas, or road side attractions, there is always something new to see.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that Greg and I have carried that through to our married and family life.

For our honeymoon, we packed up my little Geo Metro and headed out on a 9 day road trip from Minnesota to Glacier National Park, to Yosemite, and back to Minnesota again, camping all but one night.

My brother and sister-in-law were married during our financial crisis ten years ago. But there was no way I was going to miss my baby brother’s wedding. We pawned our wedding rings, drove our mini-van through the night from Sacramento to Colorado to be there for their wedding, stayed overnight in a hotel (using Priceline to get it cheap!), and then drove home again.  J was less than a year old, and K was only three.

The last day of the 2004 road trip

Back in 2004, we trekked out again and drove through 13 states in 14 days, driving from California to Oregon (to visit my mom), and then to Minnesota for Greg’s parent’s wedding anniversary party, and then back through Denver (to see my brother & sister-in-law), and back home again. K was 7 and Little E was only 10 months old.  It was actually for that trip that I started my very first  blog in 2004,  Travels with Kids, to share the trip with friends and family.

In 2006, we made our move from California to Texas, driving the entire distance, down California, across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to Houston in five days. That one was harder for Greg and I because we couldn’t talk and tag team the driving. He was driving the moving van and I was driving mini-van. But the kids loved it! I’m not so sure about the 2 cats and rabbit that we had with us.

Jazzy's first road trip, 2009

Then in 2009, knowing it had been five years since we had seen Greg’s parents, we made a road trip from Houston to Minnesota, in the Fall. If you are ever going to go to Minnesota, go in the Fall. It’s beautiful. 

Because we pay cash for everything,  we did our tag team driving, with no hotel stays, staying in his parents basement and visiting family and showing the kids where K was born and where we used to live, and where Daddy grew up.

Now, it’s been four years since we moved to Texas. Four years since we’ve seen my mom in person (we have video phones, so we have seen her via the phone, but that’s not the same). And since we were last there, she’s added emus, alpaca, and llama to her herd at the ranch, whom we’ve never met!

So it’s time for another road trip!

I hope that you’ll join us on this family road trip as we prepare for our trek and head off to enjoy this beautiful country and creating wonderful memories that we will cherish for years to come.

It’ll be an adventure!

…Shannon