Spring Break 2016- Day 7 - Last Day and Tips we found helpful!

Our last and final day!

We greeted the sun, checked out of the hotel, and headed to Yosemite for hiking and frolicking in the woods. So much to see!

Around 2pm we used the bathrooms one last time, then headed back home to Reno. Not gonna lie, there was an hour stretch of the trip home that was terrifying. The weekend before, it had snowed. And our route home took us up and over the mountains, past Kirkwood. Not I-80. In the prius. Who we named Sea Maiden if you did not know. Sea Maiden does not do snow, ice, or extreme cold. The roads were clear, the snow was piled thick and high. Every quarter mile or so were signs discouraging folks from stopping for fear of avalanche.

I have never been so excited to pull into Gardnerville in my life! And thankful Matt likes to drive :-) Home by 7:30p and our grand adventure came to end. I have some tips I'd like to share for others considering a whirlwind road trip with little ones... after the pictures of course!

Fun Tips to Share!

1. It's a no-brainer to pack stuff for the kids to do. However, where you place those items in the car is important! Seriously. You can pull over to open a back door and reach under a seat for that crayon or book that is lodged in just the right unreachable place, then because you are stopped someone wants to go to potty, then you're left hunting for hand sanitizer or hoping the bathroom has soap and water, if there was a bathroom near the place you stopped to begin with. Or, you can arrange items you need in containers that don't topple, on the floor behind the console, between the kids. Where your arm can reach! I recommend practicing. 

2. Cup holders are for more than drinks! Get a plastic cup that fits in the cup holder of the kid's car seat or the cup holder closest to them. Then put stuff in it! Crayons are awesome.  Small toys are good. Granola bars are handy. Goldfish are not. Why pray tell? Because someone drops the goldfish, pretzels, or other tiny bite sized snack and not only are they upset they are snackless, you now get to find crumbs in the tiniest of crevices all over your backseat. 

3. If you are taking movies on a kindle or iPad or whatever tablet, make sure they download first so you don't require wifi to watch them. Also, with two kids, make sure you have two headphones and one splitter. The girls did get kindles for Christmas, but instead of letting them watch individual movies on them, we watch one movie at a time. Saves battery, forces them to bond. Birds and stones folks. 

4.  For us, it worked well to time our long drives around naptime and find playgrounds near gas stations. Google is friendly, but the gas station attendant is pretty awesome. If you go back to day 1 of this trip, you'll see that is how we find an awesome playground near a museum where we ate lunch and ran around for a bit. Does it extend the trip a bit? Yes. Is it worth it to keep the kids happy and tire them out for a nap? Absolutely. 

5. Should you decide to stay with friends and family like we did, see if you can use their washer/dryer. Then do laundry when you first get there and don't forget it's there! Set a timer and reminder. 

6.  If you stay in hotels, take one of those things that is a doorstop. We have one that you slide onto the door so it can't close all the way. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Protect the babies' fingers and toes! Those hotel bathroom doors are heavy and for some reason very attractive to small ones.  It's such a small item, you can slip into any luggage or bag. 

7. Last and final tip to share. Set a budget. Write it all out. Then take it with you. What worked for us was to create a budget months in advance, save up, then use cash and reconcile as we went. I know this may not work for everyone. For us, it really helped us having cash (I know, this is kinda scare for the ease with which you can lose it) but then we weren't tempted to spend more than what we budgeted. 

Any other tips y'all can share?