Thanksgiving Road Trip 2018 | Los Angeles Wedding Photographer

Road trip with kids from Los Angeles to Spokane, Washington

Driving from Los Angeles to Spokane, Washington with kids.

Now that we’re in LA, we’re able to take road trips on the West Coast! (We have the Midwest down, lol.) Confession time: I HATE road trips, but…this one was the first big one with all four of us. Isaac took the kids from Kansas City to Spokane with his brother, and drove back alone with the kids a few years ago.I’m just going to share what we have found that works (and what doesn’t!) and if it helps someone, that’s GREAT! If it’s not useful at all… well then, uhhh… I don’t know what to tell ya. Sorry you wasted 10 minutes scrolling through this post! I’ll be sure to include a few cute pics to make it worth your time! ha!

So, Abigail is 8 is and Oliver is 6 years old…. and so far their travels have included:

riding to Topeka, KS
Riding to Dallas
Flying to Seattle, WA
Riding to Dallas, TX, to Kyle, TX back to Dallas, than back to KC
Riding from KC to Spokane. I didn’t go on that trip, but they went up to North Dakota through Montana to Washington and back to Kansas City. (Somehow they ended up in Salt Lake City, UT on their way back.)
Riding to Omaha, Nebraska
Flying to LA from KC with Isaac to move out to California, and they flew with me on our first trip flight just the three of us for Christmas, that post is here.
Riding to Spokane, WA from LA. We took HW1 through Oregon with awesome stops on the way. Then back again.

Basically….. they were both made to travel! PRAISE THE LORD!

Someone gave us this advice when we first got pregnant and it was this…..

Travel from the VERY beginning… even though it’s scary!

So, Abigail was premature, and I went into the hospital for four months when she was 6 weeks old. We didn’t travel with her until everyone was better, but as soon as we got clearance, we started with short trips to Topeka, KS from Kansas City, about an hour drive. My whole family lives there, so it was nice to be able to see them and let her experience a car ride before flying.

So lets fast forward to ROAD TRIPS! Here are a few things we learned:

TAKE THE TABLET: For a split second we debated “letting” the kids go electronic free for the whole trip, but I am glad that we decided against it. They did bring games, books, Isaac got Abigail a road trip journal, and math flash cards (every kids dream). We decided to bring the tablets, because we were stopping every 3 hours for sightseeing.
BRING ALL THE BLANKETS: I brought a blanket and pillow for the hotels, but since my kids are older, they were in charge of their own blankets. But as mothers, we all know, what is ours quickly becomes theirs.
RESEARCH STOPS!: This is Isaac’s strength. My only request was to go see Crater Lake. He made it really fun for the kids and bearable for me. It made the trip not feel so long. With all the stops and hikes, the kids and I didn’t get bored in the car.