Advice on moving with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cars (packing, driving, hotels)
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We moved cross country from CA to TN with my DH, his 86 year old mom (with mild dementia), and 2 dogs and 1 cat. We had one car shipped ($1000), and I drove the other car. Hubby drove the 32 foot Penske truck with the 2 dogs. I took MIL and the cat in my Honda CRV. It was 5 days of 8-9 hour drives, and we stayed in Motel 6, or La Quinta, because of their liberal pet policies, and because we were only looking for a cheap place to sleep along the highway, not amenities.
The doing of it wasn't that bad, but it was an overall exhausting experience, especially since we had to unload our beds immediately after arriving so we could sleep when we got there.
Throw the kids and dogs in the cars and head off an adventure.
Plan to stop at least two nights along the way. Choose hotels with pools/waterparks.
Sing songs. Play I Spy with My Little Eye.
Videos?
Enjoy.
I love this! Moving with kids and dogs can be exhausting and irritating or it can be educational and enlightening. Attitude might not be everything but it sure can have a big affect on how to handle things under stressful situations and an excellent way to be positive role models for the kids. Things go wrong in life all the time and kids who learn early how to make the best of situations have a head start in life.
This post from GotHere just stood out to me as an example of starting off with the right attitude. I'm not saying it's the best choice for the OP since I don't know them, but I sure do like the GotHere's style
We always moved with the kids and pets. It's an adventure. Make sure your motels take pets and have enough parking for the U-Haul. It will be slower than a regular road trip due to the stops for the pets and kids and also because those trucks don't go as fast as you may want.
My DIL always makes reward bags for the kids if they are good after so long in the car. Nothing wrong with them watching movies or playing on tablets to pass the time.
Thanks for the advice, everyone! It is from NYC to St. Johns. Kokonutty, you're saying it can be done in under 14 hours??
You guys are very optimistic! We are leaning towards driving the two cars and dogs ourselves and sending the kids on the plane with the inlaws. I feel like the road trip might be too much.
Thanks for the advice, everyone! It is from NYC to St. Johns. Kokonutty, you're saying it can be done in under 14 hours??
You guys are very optimistic! We are leaning towards driving the two cars and dogs ourselves and sending the kids on the plane with the inlaws. I feel like the road trip might be too much.
I've done it a number of times; that's normal driving time; you would need to add in some time for stops for food and gas and try to avoid heavy traffic times through the major cities on day one.
A "road trip" could be big fun. ... otoh, a "cannonball run" for a caravan won't be any fun at all.
The difference is about planning for more fun stops and being ready for the surprise stops.
Per google maps (LINK) it's about 1000 miles @60mph that's NO LESS THAN 17 hours behind the wheel.
At six hours in motion per day... that's no less than three days plus the side trip/distraction time.
If the weather is nice go for it.
Thanks for the advice, everyone! It is from NYC to St. Johns. Kokonutty, you're saying it can be done in under 14 hours??
You guys are very optimistic! We are leaning towards driving the two cars and dogs ourselves and sending the kids on the plane with the inlaws. I feel like the road trip might be too much.
Depends on how lucky (or unlucky) you get with the traffic. It once took us 11 hours to drive from Raleigh, NC to Jacksonville, FL. Another time took us 7 hours to go from Raleigh to Savannah, GA. Yup you read that right. SC is a wild card.
It's also taken us 12 hours many times to drive from Raleigh to Long Island.
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