Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip - Family travel through a slightly twisted lens. Sense of humor required. Shoes optional.

Drop of Hope

June 20, 2009 by Susan Getgood

DropOFHope_backfacebook I was updating the Blogroll and We Recommend pages this morning. In the process of adding the URL for SIGG water bottles, one of the products we recommend instead of purchasing water in plastic disposable bottles, I found SIGG’s fundraising campaign for the Jane Goodall Institute.

For every Drop of Hope bottle (a special design just for this campaign) purchased online, SIGG will donate $5.00 to the Institute. The money raised will be used to help improve clean water access in Africa.

If you are thinking of buying a water bottle this summer to save money and conserve our natural resources (by not contributing more disposable plastic to our landfills), consider a Drop of Hope.

SIGG also offers free shipping on orders over US$50.00. Buy two – one for you, one for a friend, and a cleaning brush or replacement cap. You’ll be good to go, and SIGG will contribute $10 to the charity.

Snapshot Recommendation: San Diego Wild Animal Park

June 14, 2009 by Susan Getgood

One of the highlights of our trip to San Diego a year ago was a visit to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido. It’s one of those places that I wish were closer, as I could go back every day and not be bored.

The facility itself is remarkable, but I encourage you to save some of your splurge money for one of the Park’s special experiences.

We did the Photo Caravan Safari, and chose the last tour of the day, which departed after the Park closes. Being among the only guests in the park is in itself cool, but you cannot beat the experience of feeding a giraffe.

New this summer at the Wild Animal Park, a Wilderness Ridge Mule Ride.

More pictures from our day at the Park.

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Across the USA: Yah, I want to go…now what?

June 10, 2009 by Mary Cardwell

So, we’re going cross country! Yea! I’ve been talking about this trip for years and now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is! Planning major events is not new to me; I’ve done it hundreds of time…for work. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I got. What the hell do I know about going cross country?! Nothing! I need to learn and fast!!

I know I said this trip was for my kids – their education and an opportunity to spend quality time with us, that kind of crap – but that’s not the whole truth. The truth is much more selfish. I made a goal for myself to see all 50 states by the time I am 50 years old. I’m in my mid-forties and I’ve been to 34 of the 50 states. Not a bad track record but I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

So back to what this all has to do with planning a trip. My first step was to mount of map of the USA on a board and note with pushpins the states I need to visit. Then I asked the kids what are the places they’ve heard about and want to visit. To this day, their answers amuse me – Niagara Falls, Las Vegas and Oklahoma. Don’t ask. So I marked those next. We then identified friends and family that we should stop and visit while “we’re in the neighborhood.” Up on the board they went, too. Last we added the obligatory National Monuments. How could we justify a cross country trip without seeing Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and the world’s largest ball of string, my personal favorite? It may sound like a painful exercise, it was really quick actually. The hardest part was finding the map. With that complete, the route presented itself almost immediately. It really came together by playing connect the dots with some string and the push pins.

A semi-painful but very useful exercise!

Although we had a basic route in place, we really didn’t have a good handle on how long or how many miles we were talking or how much time we needed. Google Maps became my best ally in the next planning stage. A quick search for directions from location to location, tracking the miles and time to get there gave us a good foundation to work from. We guessed on how many days to stay in each location, whether it was a stopover or a major sightseeing opportunity. My advice – make your plans like there were no restrictions – you have all the time in the world and money is no object (oh to dream!!) See what you get, then scale back as needed. What can you afford and how much time can you really afford to be away? As with most major decisions, budget may not be the deciding factor but it certainly has a big impact. Since we live on the East Coast, we scaled back Washington D.C. and North Carolina because we knew those were trips that would be easy for us to make at a later date.

So you’ve got some ideas on the where to go and how long you’ll be gone, you’ll also need to figure out the when. We knew we would go when the boys got out of school but we live in New England, predicting the end of school is nearly impossible but we did our best! Now your straw man is almost complete…

Let’s review. You should have a foundation of where you will travel, how long it will take you, how much you can afford and when you want to go. With a basic framework of your perfect trip, you can turn your attention to travel. How do you want to travel – car? RV? Plane?

Anyway you choose, be realistic about the cost of travel. You will never visit multiple states over the course of a couple weeks and only spend $100. That’s not to say that you can’t find ways to minimize your costs but know what and how much you are willing to compromise. What’s more important to you, getting to the largest collection of hubcaps or the extra $100 and 6 hours it’s going to take you to get off the interstate and head down the endless dirt road in the middle of nowhere?

TIPS

Write it down! Every decision, every idea, every phone number, web site or travel tip. You’ll discuss so much it’s easy to lose track. Keep a log of your dates, locations, and travel time.
Google Maps is your friend! So is AAA. Use the tools available to you.
Create a visual of your trip. A map with pushpins always offers a clear picture of where you’re going.
Not everyone has the luxury of unlimited budget and unlimited time. Set your priorities.

I Want to See (the Rest of) America

June 10, 2009 by Mary Cardwell

Deciding to go cross country was one of the easiest decisions we ever made. When I got pregnant with the twins twelve years ago, I had visions of our future family vacations. A cross country trip was at the top of that list. Initially, I hadn’t given it much thought about planning a cross country trip. It can’t be that difficult. I’m not really sure what caused my temporary insanity – maybe the excessive hormones, I was carrying twins after all? Maybe I was too focused on the tag team wrestling match knocking my spleen around? Whatever it was, I had unknowingly drifted back my college years … all we have to do was pick the landmarks, pack a cooler and pillow, grab a map and go! Eventually I regained my senses, most of them at least, and realized there was a lot to making this trip real. I don’t know that I would use the word “difficult“. Detailed is more accurate.

We talked about going cross country many times after the kids were born, well I talked and my husband nodded. I would remind him of our (by “our” I mean “my”) vacation schedule on a semi-regular basis – Disney at 5, cross country at 10 and Europe at 15. Really, just trips for me that I could pretend were age appropriate and were in the best interest of the kids. My husband’s response was always the same – a nod of his head followed by “Sure, we’ll talk about it.” Don’t get me wrong, my husband is wonderful but I wasn’t convinced he wanted to take this trip until one fateful day about 3 years ago.

I was droning on about the importance of “connecting” with the dynamic duo before we entered pubescent hell and I honestly believed a cross country trip would offer us much needed quality time with the boys (yes, it’s true, I will confess that as a first time parent I did fall for that Dr. Phil BS during the early years. No worries, like I said I did regain my senses.) As I continued to babble, my husband finally jumped in and bottom-lined it for me “You better start planning and saving for this thing if you really want to do it.” I was so excited; it was really going to happen! So, I started to plan, in my head. I thought about it a lot. And thought lots of wonderful ideas. In hind sight, it was not a very good plan.

Would we drive or fly? What would we drive – RV, car, van? How much vacation time will we need? Can we afford this? Should we stay at hotels or campgrounds? Where should we go? How much valium will I need (just joking!)? Our approach was simple – discuss it from every aspect, research, research and research some more and then discuss even more until one of us caves. Last man standing wins. Not scientific but works for us. Since my husband and I approach challenges from polar opposite points of view, we honestly felt confident that we covered our bases. Hopefully our planning adventures will be helpful as you start on your own cross country journey.

Welcome new author Mary Cardwell

June 8, 2009 by Susan Getgood

My friend Mary Cardwell and her family are going on a month-long trip out west this summer, and I was thrilled when she agreed to join me here on the Roadtrip to chronicle the trip. Her twin sons may even chime in with a post now and again to give us the kids-eye view. Watch for her first post later this week.

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