Why I Use a List when I go on a Road Trip

When I go on vacation, I always make a list because I don't want to forget something. I do really well with making a list.  It is so expensive when you forget to pack something and you have to pay for it in a hotel gift shop or a beach store. They know you don't really have much of a choice so they charge whatever they want. I remember when we went to Disney World and I forgot to pack aloe. I ended up spending $14 on a bottle of it because I was so sunburned. It's also really important to remember to take with you some travel essentials when you go on a cruise. There is no other option to shop anywhere except locally and if you are at sea you are out of luck. I also remember a time when CD players were still big having my batteries run out at the airport and having to buy batteries at the airport to listen to music. I know I didn’t really need the batteries, but it helps when I listen to music when I fly. It makes the flight go by so much faster.  Sometimes you don't want to go to a big store or that's just not an option. Depending on where you visit, you may not have access to a car.  My aunt and uncle live in the mountains and the closest store is thirty minutes away. I love visiting my aunt and uncle because we just hang out and watch movies and chat the whole time. We sometimes do a little sightseeing and have a great time.  You can prevent these worries by making sure you have everything you need when you’re traveling. When you are driving in the car, it can waste time if you have to stop at a store that you can't find. 

As you are packing for your summer trips check out my list of road trip essentials.

I used to be the Car Sick Queen

I used to be the car sick queen. I used to throw up every time we were in the car for an hour or more. I vomited almost every time we drove to my grandparents. I was getting really good at vomiting in a plastic bag. I hated it. I guess it started when I was two. We went to Santa Claus Land and I got so car sick that my mom had to throw away my car seat at a rest stop in the trash can. My mom said it smelled too bad to keep it.

Noah is unfortunately following in my footsteps. It's become a running tally about how many states Noah has thrown up in. My mom used to give me car sickness medicine hidden inside a spoon of peanut butter.  I used to not be able to swallow pills so this was her "remedy" for this. I still can't eat a spoon of plain peanut butter without gagging. I really think that car sickness is something you grow out of as you grow up. Hopefully Noah will get over his bouts of car sickness soon.

Check out my post about preventing car sickness for tips and tricks.

Sheilacakes Family Travel Traditions

Traveling traditions are great. Every time I hear the phrase travel tradition, I think of the movie Home Alone 2 because forgetting Kevin has become a Mcallister family travel tradition. My family has always had travel traditions. We always listen to the same music. Even now, we still listen to Billy Joel and Carly Simon when we travel as a family. When I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I used to collect shot glasses. The best places to get shot glasses is in souvenir shops. I didn't use them I just liked to collect them.
My Grandma Rose collected salt and pepper shakers and postcards from her travels.  My Grandma Rose and my Grandpa were always traveling somewhere out west. We also found salt and pepper shakers for her when we were traveling. We would send postcards too. We used to always get a new book or magazine when we traveled. I really want to start this tradition with Noah soon. It was pretty neat to get a special book just for our trip. Sometimes it was a coloring book instead.  Do you have special travel traditions?

Check out my post for more ideas for travel traditions.

Eating Healthy on the Road with a Picky Eater

My son Noah is the pickiest eater in the world. He is very specific about what he wants to eat, he has a really hard time trying new things. He is stubborn like his mama. He won’t eat meat. He won’t eat chicken nuggets. He won’t eat hot dogs, or fish sticks. When we travel it can be a total pain to feed him. He doesn’t really have any options at McDonald’s or Wendy’s. He used to just get apples and milk or sometimes ice cream and milk. I have learned that while I would be fine with McDonald’s, Noah isn’t good with it, unless I let him get ice cream. That is a great treat every so often but not for a meal. I have started packing him foods and stopping at places with healthier options. I used to be able to eat McDonald’s and other fast food a lot, now it is an occasional treat. I am getting older and I feel that it makes me feel sick and greasy if I eat too much.

We don’t have allergies but it would be harder to eat on the road if your family did. Noah is pretty good about eating the stuff I pack him like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honestly, the only “fast food” Noah eats is Steak N Shake and Panera. I don’t consider either fast food. He will occasionally eat Subway because they have good cheese sandwiches and lettuce. That’s what he told me a week ago. I don’t really mind though, because he’s not obsessed with fast food like I was when I was a kid. I only got it once a week but I loved it so much. It was my favorite thing about Thursdays or spending time with my dad because I knew I could have fast food. Of course I love my dad but fast food was just a huge bonus. I think it’s important to start good eating habits young and when you are traveling it’s difficult to remain consistent. 

Here are my tips about Eating Healthy on the Road.

Road Trip to Random Places in the US

I want to take a road trip with my friends and go out and see the strangest and most unique things that the United States has to offer. I think it would be so much fun to plan an entire trip and start an album of photos next to all the strange things we find. It would not only be fun to do but it would be so much fun to plan. It would be best if it were kind of spur of the moment. I went to Florida with some friends after a memorial service.  We talked about going at like 3 pm and that night we left for Florida for ten days. The trip was just what I needed. I like the randomness of these things. It really doesn’t matter where you live or where you want to go, you can find many different things to see in any state. If you want to make it a themed trip across the US like in the movie Kalifornia you could definitely do that too.

I try to see strange things while traveling already. When we were visiting my cousin’s family in Chicago, several years ago, on the way home we saw signs for a candy factory. I love candy so much and we ended up stopping and buying some gummy bears. Noah doesn’t remember it and I don’t think I let him have any candy because he was only two but I would love to take him again so he can remember it. There have been many times I would coax my mom to stop so we could see some random oddity while traveling in the car. We never went too far off course but I really want to plan a road trip to visit some strange things in the Midwest. There are some pretty cool things, interesting things and just plain strange things.  Two of the things on my list I have heard them mentioned on different TV shows. It made me smile because they were both in the Midwest. 

Here is my list of unique places to visit in the Midwest