As many of you know, my wife and I homeschool our children. We are considering doing something "crazy" this fall. We're tossing around the idea of taking a month-long family road trip, driving from Oklahoma City to Maine, and back again. We would be stopping at tons of historical sites and make it a "teaching" trip. We'd spend extended periods of time in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston, trying to soak up as much of these cities as possible.
What do you think? Are we crazy? Would this be the road trip to end all road trips? Did I mention that we'd be taking Socrates along for the ride?
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
July 14, 2003 01:57 PM
Thank God you have the money to do this. I can barely afford my server. I say JUST DO IT. AND GOD BLESS.
July 14, 2003 02:25 PM
My wife and I did what you purpose to do with our two children and we also made it both historial as well as fun time.
We started from Downey, California and went thought AZ.,(viewed Old Tombstone, Creator and Apache Res.) NM., (viewed Carslsbad Caves) TX.,(vastness of TX.) Okla.,(visit Grandparents in Sweetwater on th farm)took southern route towards PA. were we visit wifes family and visit sights around PA. dropped south to VI., (visit Thomas Jefferson place) drove back up through Gettesburg andwalked the fighting fields) ad eturn home doing the northern route stoppin at different historial places, like Jackson, WY and stayed at a horse ranch, then Saltlake, UT nd toured the Mormon grounds. It took us a month for the roundtrip!
We have the scrapbook where we gluedwhat we gathered plus pictures frm the trip.
Shalom,
Rev. RAMIREZ
cramireza@aol.com
Lots of luck an enjoy it!
July 14, 2003 02:50 PM
Hey Comm Family this is a fellow HHBC family member! We all met at the Major's last fall. I say go for it! Check out Lisa Whelchel's website and their family dream trip they took last year. They homeschool too and took a RV trip for a year with their three children. http://www.lisawhelchel.com
I would love the opportunity to do this with our four children one day but I am afraid the cost would be too great. God's richest blessings as you pray and prepare for this trip.
Vickie Garlitz
Isaiah 43: 18-19
July 14, 2003 03:42 PM
Do the dayum thang Man! Philly will welcome you.
July 14, 2003 04:05 PM
Fanatastic. What a wonderful way to see the USA.
together as a family. and even better with no schedule. a true bonding experience. Make some wonnderful memories. Peace.
July 14, 2003 04:40 PM
Can I give you a little package to take with you and deliver to 'Vinny' when you get to Philly? It's nothing illegal, so don't ask what it is.
Just don't drive through any drug checkpoints. I hear those are bad.
July 14, 2003 06:13 PM
We home educate our two kids as well. We took a month off ourselves and went through UT, AZ, CA, NV and stopped at all the places like Old Tucson(A must see), Old Tombstone(disappointed)The sidewalks were paved and cars were on the streets. The OK corral was a wall, Boot hill Knottsberry Farm,Sea World, Whale Watching, The Grand Canyon is breath taking. You must see the middle of it not either end. Hoover Dam! The Pacific Ocean was warm enough in February the kids swam in it. We tried something new and different everywhere we went. The kids and ourselves learned a great deal. Your trip doesn't have to be expensive. We stayed in nice motel/hotels. The kids ate free most of the time. We got great rates on our rooms for going off season. Circus Circus in Las Vegas was great. Cheap rooms, nice and plenty for the kids to do. A theme park, circus and more all right in the same building. You can start by looking places up on the internet first and ordering their free stuff. In each town visit the visitors centers. You receive a lot of free goodies,and discounts. Chamber of commerce is another one. We got canvas bags and a lot of good things. We all had to try something everywhere that we had not tried before. We also have done this same thing on the East Coast. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Valley Forge, Liberty Bell,Ben Franklin Museum, etc... Anytime a child can put the place with the subject they are being taught it is so much more fun to learn for everyone. So Don't think you need a fortune to travel and see things. There are ways you can do it! You won't go bankrupt. Make sure and try to get into the Capitols wherever you go. Maybe the one where you live. Have fun and enjoy your family together while you can. We bought the kids each a road atlas and they helped plan out the trip as we went. We left for two weeks and came back in a month! Remember Holiday Inns are great to stay at we stayed in one in San Diego that the kids got all of their meals free. Good Luck and Enjoy!
July 14, 2003 10:59 PM
Our family just took a trip from Phoenix, Az to Alaska. Last year we flew and we missed out on so much. This year we did it in three weeks in a cab over camper with 2 kids ages 3 & 5. It was nice quality time since we both work full time and then some. The trip cost $2500.00 total(less than airfair alone)gas,food, camping fees, lodging, everything! We brought a camcorder and I kept a journal so the kids can look back on it later. We took 7 days getting to Alaska then spent a week there and 9 days comming back. We had a Woodall's camping guide and it lists amenities (i.e. showers). We did most of our own cooking. We traveled through California, Oregon, Washington,British Columbia, The Yukon, Alaska. On the way back went through The Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Utah. We traveled through Jasper and Banff National forest in Canada. We visited Seward(home of the Seward National wildlife center built by Exxon to rehabilitate sealife because of the Exxon Valdez disaster) , Whittier, and Denalli National Park in Alaska. Too much to list here but we had lunch at Shasta lake, camped in Birtch Bay,Wa., Painted rocks state park, Mt, ... We saw so many waterfalls, rivers, streams, lakes, 28 bears, eagles, caribou, doll sheep, deer, three kinds of foxes,etc... So much natural unspoiled beauty. We would like to take longer next year and do the trip to the East coast. Life's too short to miss out on exploring. Have fun!! I was a lucky military child we and I had alot of opportinity to go to historical places during our travels in the U.S. I would like my children to see and appreciate nature and history as well.
July 16, 2003 06:06 PM
Do it! My family and i just returned from a 2 week road trip. We drove from San Francisco to Yellowstone and back home again. We stopped in Salt Lke City and then went to 4 National Parks (Dinosaur National Monument, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon). We had a vcr in the van for the longest driving days, but we didnt' use it nearly as much as i thought we would. We took lots of breaks and enjoyed the scenery. I would do it againin a heartbeat. Make sure that all of your hotels have swimming pools and everything will be fine!
November 21, 2004 08:27 PM
Go for it!! We have taken a 3 week cross-country trip with our two boys via motorhome for each of the last 5 years. We have been to all of the lower 48 states, much of Canada, and have made enough memories to last 4 lifetimes. The boys are now 13 and 15 and still look forward to our "road trips". I have written a narrative travelogue, along with itineraries and highlights which can be found at http://www.gaidus.com/rvtrips/index.htm You will never regret taking this trip. Good Luck and enjoy!