When we discussed driving to Colorado from Minnesota, we were both a little nervous about how such a long drive would go. Heck, vacation in general can just throw off small children, and ours are very used to routines and in some ways, rely on that routine. We both knew that there was a high risk of no one getting enough sleep and potentially grumpy kiddos, but when all is said and done? The trip went so much better than we could have hoped.
We left on a Wednesday night after dinner and after giving the kids baths and dressing them in comfy clothes, so around 7:00pm or so. As expected, both kids were excited about the change in routine and we let Enzo watch a movie. The one downside to having the sun set so late, however, is that while Phoebe had no trouble falling asleep at a reasonable hour, Enzo was up until the sun went down. After that, though… they were pretty much out until the next morning. Phoebe woke up briefly at around 4:30, and Enzo not too long after, but both took mid-morning naps. We stopped once it was light out so we could grab some breakfast and let the kids stretch, but Enzo wanted to keep on going and didn’t want to stop at a restaurant, so on we went! We made one or two more brief stops (the kids are unsurprisingly big fans of gas station junk food and Phoebe stole my Fritos when I foolishly forgot to keep an iron grip on them), but ultimately arrived in Colorado Springs at a decent time and despite some shyness, both munchkins warmed up fairly quickly to their cousins, especially after a nice long nap.
Thursday morning we did make the decision to flip Phoebe’s car seat around so she could watch a movie with Enzo. It was easier and she was much less fussy. I realize that it isn’t as safe to ride forward facing, but she is on the larger side, and there were fewer distractions coming from the back seat. Fewer distractions for the driver means we’re a lot less likely to get into an accident.
On that note, here area few cell phone pictures from the drive until I have time to finish going through all of the other photos from our trip.
You guys are so impressive!! 15 hours in the car is no easy feat, even for adults!!
Glad to see this post – my husband and I LOVE roadtrips, and although my son is really good in the car, I worry how he’ll be later. When I was 8 weeks pregnant, we took a 27 hour trip to Austin and I have such great memories from it. We didn’t stop to sleep (my husband is a beast and drove the whole way AFTER work. He isn’t human) and we would love to do a long trip (obviously not 27 hours..) one day with the boy.
Your husband did all the driving after a full day at work? I can’t even imagine! I think it’ll be a while before we manage anything longer than what we did, but with enough distractions and stops, kids do pretty good!