Heading on a long car ride with your kids this summer? My husband and I recently took our 3 and 1 year old on a 9-hour car ride to Philadelphia. It was the farthest we have travelled by car to date with our little ones and I was definitely apprehensive at first. We are now back safe and sound and it went so well I am ready to do it again!
2013 Chevrolet Equinox LTZ shown in Silver Ice Metallic with available equipment.
I credit the planning that went into the trip and being very selective with what we would need to take with us. Thanks to Chevrolet Canada we got to ride in style in a 2013 Chevy Equinox. The Chevrolet MyLink™ system never led us astray and was always there to hold our hand as we searched for the closest family friendly restaurant, allowed us to track number of miles left until arriving at our destination and allowed me to feel confident travelling around with the children on my own in unknown places.
2013 Chevrolet Equinox LTZ with available Chevrolet MyLink™ Colour Touch Radio with Navigation.
I wanted to be prepared for the trip and make it as comfortable as possible for the kids. Here are some of the things we brought with us for the ride…..
• An art supply box with crayons, paper, markers, glue, activity book (homemade with age appropriate worksheets, colouring pages, etc.)
• Small bag of favourite toys for each child that they had within arms reach at all times.
• Several books that have not been read lately in our large rotation from home that were placed in a canvas storage box on the floor and I could reach from the passengers seat.
• Grocery bag full of snacks- apples, bananas, grapes, crackers, goldfish, water, apple juice.
• Lots and lots and lots of wipes! Extra change of clothes for each child and diapers for the baby.
• Plates, bowls, water bottles, bibs and kid friendly cutlery so we could comfortably eat on the go or stop along the way.
• Dvd player with favourite dvds and iPad loaded with new kid friendly games and activities.
Before we left my husband and I planned out different spots to stop should the children (or myself!) need a break or if we wanted to split the trip up and stop half way for the night. We decided to leave early and were on the road by 6a.m. It was smooth sailing to the United States border where we stopped for a run to stretch our legs. Going through the border the border patrol was amazed with the Chevy Equinox that we had received for our trip and asked many questions out of interest for himself and curiosity! The rest of the drive went well, stopping for lunch along the way, and finally deciding to stop in Easton, Pennsylvania so we could visit Crayola Experience. We decided to call it a day at 6:30p.m., stayed over for a restful night and knew we only had an hour to reach Philly. Confident in our days drive with kids still in good spirits we were off to a great start on our family vacation. After driving to Philadelphia and back with two kids age 3 and under I am happy to say we are all still speaking to each other and are eager to go on another rode trip!
How far have you drove with your children? Any tips, tricks or recommendations for keeping everybody happy and content? Please share for our next big ride!
~Amanda
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