5 Days of Moving Madness- Blog Hop (day 4)

Still with me or have your eyes glazed over from the stress of the move yet?  Don't worry, it is all downhill from here.  Mostly!

Today we are on the road to new places.  If you are just joining us make sure you check out the rest of the series- 10 Commandments of Moving, The Details and Boxes Day.
I have found that once we get on the road I breathe a sigh of relief.  Just the quiet after days of hearing packing tape and movers chatter helps me regroup tremendously.  Maybe it's just the "it's time to get this party started"  feeling that makes me giddy.  Whatever the reason, I am usually glad to be underway driving.  At first!  Through the years, remember 12 moves, we have gotten this part down to a science for our family as well.  The look has changed a few times over the years, but the basics are the same.
Here we go!

Remembering that we have always driven to our new location, most times for many days, Pack a Cooler! The bigger, the better, in my opinion.  Our family does not love fast food restaurants.  We sure do not want to eat in them for three meals a day for days or weeks.  Gag!  I pack lunch meat and bread as well as peanut butter and jelly and we eat sandwiches.  This past move I even fixed chicken salad to change it up a little. Add some chips, homemade cookies and some fruit and you have yourself a picnic.  Healthier and less expensive.  And a lot more relaxing which brings me to...
Stop at rest stops when you can!  It is a much quieter place to eat lunch and it will give your children and your pets a place to exercise and run off some energy.
Stop at hotels that have a free breakfast!  You may be giggling, but again, it is better than fast food!   We do eat at a restaurant for dinner on the road sometimes, but we have also been blessed by staying at hotels that do a "happy hour" meal that have been more than enough to eat.
Stop at hotels that have pools!  If you have kids, this is a no brainer.  Even if you pull in late, kids sometimes just need a few minutes to run off that energy and something to wear them out.  I think the anticipation of pool time is what gets our boys through the long day of riding.  And hey, if it has a hot tub for the adults, bonus!

Pack some games!  This I mentioned yesterday but it bears repeating.  If by chance you stop early enough in the day you could face a few boring hours in a hotel room.  One can only stand the pool for so long. Quiet games can not only be played in the hotel but also in the car with minimal effort.
Don't forget your fury friends.  OK, my honest advice, don't have them if you move a lot, but seeing as how no one mentioned that to us (OK, we maybe just did not listen) we have moved with dogs, hamsters AND fish. So if you have them, make sure you remember to pack for them.  Leashes, collars, medicines, food, bowls and treats.  We also always pack their current shot records in case.  
Plan your last day of travel to be your shortest day.  If you are on the road for several days divide them up carefully and keep your last day the shortest if possible.  You are tired, the kids are tired and you are all anxious to get there.  Do yourself a favor and don't pull into town an exhausted mess.  
If you have packed several weeks worth of clothes in case or for a long wait for your household delivery, pack one suitcase for just travel-days clothes.  It is much easier to take one suitcase with a change or two of clothes into a hotel than to drag, in our case, six in.  This time around we also kept a dirty laundry bag in the car so when we came back out in the morning all the dirty clothes went in one place and when we arrived at the new house the bag went into the laundry room to await the arrival of the washing machine.  So much easier than dirty clothes all over the place! You have arrived!  Our last day will be arrival and unpacking...hope you will join us! Blessings, 


89 other talented writers have joined me in this blog hop...check them out for some amazing articles!