omniscientmommy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2018
So a few weeks ago I made the last minute decision to take the kids and and head to Florida for a month.
We are going to be staying at a house for a month in Davenport. It will be me and my two boys, 10 & 7. I have a large SUV, basically a truck. We are driving from Milwaukee to Davenport. I planned to pack storage bins/containers versus packing suitcases. First they fit more and second they stack better in the car. I was hoping to leave them in the car overnight because honestly I don't think I can haul all that stuff inside by myself. I was trying to find a canvas cover to go the items in the back so it's not obvious that there's stuff in there. I was going to do backpacks for each of us but I might opt for a small/medium size suitcase to roll in and out of the hotels. One backpack to put all our tech stuff and paperwork might be easier for me to just be responsible for since we know how the kids are. I'm also bringing a bin of stuff for homeschooling.
My husband is trying to make me take a bunch of food from our pantry with so he can go 'on a diet'.
pft. We'll see. I do plan on packing a small cooler, which I can leave in the backseat with the kids and possible one of the insulated grocery bags. There's going to be a small garbage can in the back seat for them and I also have Dramamine, kids version. I get carsick unless I'm the driver and I'm not sure how well my older one will do. The longest trip we've taken is a 4 hour drive and he seems ok. We'll see. I'll also have a case of water and Gatorade zero. I do plan to have granola bars, fruit, peanut butter, crackers, oatmeal packets and bread with us. That should at least get us through the morning at the hotels so we don't have to eat out.
I have lysol wipes and disinfectant spray, along with disposable and cloth face masks. I also have camping hand soap sheets and hand sanitizer. I have gone in some bathrooms that the soap is empty and with the craziness of this past year I'm not going to chance it.
I have had my car checked over, the oil changed, checked my emergency kit, and double checked my jump pack. I do have Progressive with roadside assistance and we do also have AAA so I will put those numbers in my phone. I have a list on Google with bookmarks/labels of safe looking places to stop almost every 1.5 - 2 hrs. I even have a gathering of hotels marked on there that look good around each area I planned to stop at. I did mark a couple 'fun stops' I also purchased a SunPass which is good for GA and FL. I do have an iPass for IL.
I will have all our documents printed out for our stays at all the hotels and the house in Florida with copies of my IDs and credit cards. I know someone whose wallet was stolen and having copies of her stuff while on her trip saved her a lot of grief. Still a pain but could have been worse. I also have a backup ID with my previous address on it but it's still valid.
Day 1(THUR) - leaving to go stay in Oak Brook, IL to see their great Grandma who has been vaccinated for COVID and is finally allowed to see our family. Probably get there around 3pm
Day 2(FRI) - Driving from Oak Brook, IL to Nashville, TN. Booked our stay at a Residence Inn, through AAA, that had the premier cleaning standard. It seems like it's in an ok area. I also purchased trip insurance on each hotel stay separately in case we don't make it to our destination and need to cancel same day. Hoping to leave around 5:30/6am. We will be further south in the Chicago area and moving away from Chicago so I'm hoping traffic won't be too bad.
Day 3(SAT) - Driving from Nashville, TN to Valdosta, GA. Hoping to leave by 7am and it's Sat so I'm not sure how traffic will be since there's no 'work traffic'.
Day 4(SUN) - Driving from Valdosta, GA to Davenport, FL. Hoping to leave by 7am.
I do have a list of items to pack and also a grocery list started for shopping the day after we get there.
My in-laws will be joining us for the last 2 weeks of our stay and the possibility of my cousin coming by us for a little bit of time as well. As far as plans go for what to do on a day to day I'm not really that planned out.
Loose plans are 1st day get bare necessities from a store, Target/Walmart. The 2nd day there go serious grocery shopping and enjoy not being in the car! Swimming and checking everything over in the house and making sure to take pics and document everything. The 3rd day I did make park reservations for HS and have been on the hunt for a lunch ressie at Sci-Fi. No luck yet! The 4th day park ressies at MK and the 5th day park ressies at AK. Since we have APs and I can only do 3 park ressies at a time this is as far as I got. We do have the hoppers so at least we can do other parks after the first if we choose. I do plan to keep a little journal and update it every so many days.
We are going to be staying at a house for a month in Davenport. It will be me and my two boys, 10 & 7. I have a large SUV, basically a truck. We are driving from Milwaukee to Davenport. I planned to pack storage bins/containers versus packing suitcases. First they fit more and second they stack better in the car. I was hoping to leave them in the car overnight because honestly I don't think I can haul all that stuff inside by myself. I was trying to find a canvas cover to go the items in the back so it's not obvious that there's stuff in there. I was going to do backpacks for each of us but I might opt for a small/medium size suitcase to roll in and out of the hotels. One backpack to put all our tech stuff and paperwork might be easier for me to just be responsible for since we know how the kids are. I'm also bringing a bin of stuff for homeschooling.
My husband is trying to make me take a bunch of food from our pantry with so he can go 'on a diet'.
pft. We'll see. I do plan on packing a small cooler, which I can leave in the backseat with the kids and possible one of the insulated grocery bags. There's going to be a small garbage can in the back seat for them and I also have Dramamine, kids version. I get carsick unless I'm the driver and I'm not sure how well my older one will do. The longest trip we've taken is a 4 hour drive and he seems ok. We'll see. I'll also have a case of water and Gatorade zero. I do plan to have granola bars, fruit, peanut butter, crackers, oatmeal packets and bread with us. That should at least get us through the morning at the hotels so we don't have to eat out.I have lysol wipes and disinfectant spray, along with disposable and cloth face masks. I also have camping hand soap sheets and hand sanitizer. I have gone in some bathrooms that the soap is empty and with the craziness of this past year I'm not going to chance it.
I have had my car checked over, the oil changed, checked my emergency kit, and double checked my jump pack. I do have Progressive with roadside assistance and we do also have AAA so I will put those numbers in my phone. I have a list on Google with bookmarks/labels of safe looking places to stop almost every 1.5 - 2 hrs. I even have a gathering of hotels marked on there that look good around each area I planned to stop at. I did mark a couple 'fun stops' I also purchased a SunPass which is good for GA and FL. I do have an iPass for IL.
I will have all our documents printed out for our stays at all the hotels and the house in Florida with copies of my IDs and credit cards. I know someone whose wallet was stolen and having copies of her stuff while on her trip saved her a lot of grief. Still a pain but could have been worse. I also have a backup ID with my previous address on it but it's still valid.
Day 1(THUR) - leaving to go stay in Oak Brook, IL to see their great Grandma who has been vaccinated for COVID and is finally allowed to see our family. Probably get there around 3pm
Day 2(FRI) - Driving from Oak Brook, IL to Nashville, TN. Booked our stay at a Residence Inn, through AAA, that had the premier cleaning standard. It seems like it's in an ok area. I also purchased trip insurance on each hotel stay separately in case we don't make it to our destination and need to cancel same day. Hoping to leave around 5:30/6am. We will be further south in the Chicago area and moving away from Chicago so I'm hoping traffic won't be too bad.
Day 3(SAT) - Driving from Nashville, TN to Valdosta, GA. Hoping to leave by 7am and it's Sat so I'm not sure how traffic will be since there's no 'work traffic'.
Day 4(SUN) - Driving from Valdosta, GA to Davenport, FL. Hoping to leave by 7am.
I do have a list of items to pack and also a grocery list started for shopping the day after we get there.
My in-laws will be joining us for the last 2 weeks of our stay and the possibility of my cousin coming by us for a little bit of time as well. As far as plans go for what to do on a day to day I'm not really that planned out.
Loose plans are 1st day get bare necessities from a store, Target/Walmart. The 2nd day there go serious grocery shopping and enjoy not being in the car! Swimming and checking everything over in the house and making sure to take pics and document everything. The 3rd day I did make park reservations for HS and have been on the hunt for a lunch ressie at Sci-Fi. No luck yet! The 4th day park ressies at MK and the 5th day park ressies at AK. Since we have APs and I can only do 3 park ressies at a time this is as far as I got. We do have the hoppers so at least we can do other parks after the first if we choose. I do plan to keep a little journal and update it every so many days.
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