Lessons Learned on the Road

We have officially (mostly) survived a round-trip 28 hour road trip between Minnesota and Texas. We've done long road trips with kids before, but never with a baby and never quite this long. We learned some things...

I might not be alright, even while the kids are fine

Y'all, I hate to drive. I went almost a decade without driving while we lived in California, and that was good for me.  I don't mind different states having different rules, but I can't emotionally handle the collective refusal to follow those rules. I learned in Oklahoma that older men in giant white pickups will sit in the left hand lane, going below the speed limit, next to a big rig in the right hand lane for 80 MILES!

The driving was the worst bit. But the kids didn't mind the drive much. Even though Felicity did not sleep AT ALL the first 7.5 hour driving day. She was happy, but extremely sleep deprived.

Heat is terrible

This is one of the hottest Texas summers on record, and I forgot how miserable it can be to have a baby in extreme heat. Especially a winter baby.
One day it was 107 and the next it was 95. Matt described it as the difference between feeling like you're to die and feeling like you might make it after all.

There is a time and place for screens

We try not to do much screen time at home, but I really believe screens have a time and a place. One of them, for sure, is in the backseat of a car on a 14 hour road trip.
Moana, Frozen, and the Jungle Book were our soundtrack.

Truck stops and rest areas are treats!

Every 2-4 hours we would stop at a rest area or truck stop (depending on if we needed gas). I brought some soccer balls in the truck that would get thrown out and kicked around if there was space. I got the app USA Rest Stops before we left, and that was sooooo helpful for locating the nearest rest stops, and it has icons for what amenities are available, and reviews from other travelers.

At a truck stop in Oklahoma I had taken the kids in to use the rest room, and stopped to look at a taxidermy bison inside. When I came out again Matt asked if I saw the bison.
"Yeah of course. It's right next to the rest room."
"No, the real ones."

Apparently across the parking lot from the truck stop was a bison farm! With baby bison! The kids were thrilled.

My baby is full of surprises

First there was the formerly mentioned lack of sleep despite 7.5 hours of driving (yet she sleeps in the 15 minutes it takes to get to church?!) She got over it after the first day though. Slightly.
Then baby girl broke through two top teeth after working on those for months.
She seems to have an insatiable appetite in the heat. She could easily put away 2 eggs worth of scrambled eggs, a cup of Cherrios, plus whatever other random fruit we had to give her, and that was just breakfast!
Felicity also appears to be part mermaid. I think she would have just lived in the water if I could let her.

After all the pool and lake time, this is apparently the only picture I manage to get of the water baby.

I have the most steady-headed husband on the face of the Earth

Matt talked me down when the road was stressing me out.
Handled the lack of functioning AC at an Air BnB in Kansas City.
Managed to track down foodie, kid friendly, dinner locations even when everyone else was burnt out and done.
He's basically the best road trip companion ever. I married well.

Books are still the greatest brain break

After a full day of traveling, the most relaxing thing was to read my physical in-my-hands book! I cannot handle anymore stimulation after that much car time, and even scrolling Facebook would make me tired. 

I've written before about why I think it's so important that adults find time to read real books, but I find such comfort and relief in the act of reading from a physical book.

I did have an audio-book for the car from the library (Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve) but I brought along my current history book (Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II) and I'm re-reading the last two Harry Potter books (re-reading Harry is a summer tradition for me.)

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Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes.

How have your summer travels/adventures been going? Any other road-trippers? What are you reading?