Having Fun in Yellowstone

February 27, 2008

As many of you know, I am planning a trip to Yellowstone for this summer.  It is going to be a really long road trip for my family, but we plan on breaking it up and stopping at some other sites along the way.  We are traveling from Indiana, so we decided to stop along the way at the Dakotas so we can see Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park.  We are also going to be stopping at Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Devil’s Tower.  From there, we will head to Yellowstone and we are planning a visit to the Grand Tetons and to Glacier National Park.

 Well, life is interesting sometimes, as I was just contacted today by a man named Allan Wright.  Allan told me about his company, which is named Zephyr Adventures and, interestingly enough, will be providing adventure-based family trips to Yellowstone and to Glacier this year.  I can’t personally say much about the service, but Allan tells me that they have been in business for 11 years and I think it is worth checking out what they have to offer.  If I see Allan while in the area, I will be sure to tell you all about him and his tours! 

By admin | Posted in National Parks to Visit with Kids, a, and, breaking, family, long, my, plan, planning, road, sites, stopping, summer  , the, trip, way  , yellowstone | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Keep Them Entertained

August 7, 2007

Perhaps the single most important family travel roadtrip tip is to keep the kids entertained while on the road. By  breaking up the trip and stopping every couple of hours, you will automatically help stave off boredom.  Nonetheless, you will need to take other steps to prevent boredom as well.

The most obvious thing you can do to help keep the kids from getting bored is to install a DVD system in your vehicle.  Watching movies along the way to your family vacation destination will certainly keep the children entertained as long as the movies remain available.

Of course, not everyone has a DVD player in their vehicle.  If this is the case, music can help prevent boredom from setting in as well – particularly if everyone joins in with the merriment.

Another roadtrip game you can play is to challenge the children to look for certain items along the way.  For example, you can challenge them to look for license plates for all 50 states. If you create a list ahead of time, they can simply check off the states as they find them.  You can use this states.doc with your kids while on your trip.

Another roadtrip game is to look for every letter of the alphabet on the signs along the road.  To make the game even more challenging, go in alphabetical order and only count the first letter of the words you see on the signs.  You might have to cheat a little on X, though we usually find a semi-trailer with Xtra on it at some point or another.  Q can be a challenge as well – just hope you come across a Dairy Queen once you reac that letter!

You can also look for different colored vehicles, such as challenging the children to be the first to spot a red vehicle or any other color you select.

With a little imagination, you can make your family travel experience enjoyable while on the road.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, and, automatically, boredom  , breaking, by , couple, entertained, family, hours, important, kids, road, roadtrip, single, stave, steps, stopping, the, tip, travel, trip | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Bringing Snacks

August 5, 2007

Now that you have the right mindset for your roadtrip, there are a few additional steps you can take to make your roadtrip as pleasant as possible.

If your budget is tight and stopping off for snacks periodically along the way will be too costly, be sure to pack some snacks with you.  Even if you have a “no eating in the vehicle” rule, you can pull off to a roadstop at some time point and pull the snacks out of the vehicle.

Keep the snacks that your pack on for your family vacation ones that do not spoil easily and that are easy to pack and to obtain.  Water is a good choice for drinks, as it won’t result in upset bellies like pop or even juice can do.  Peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers are a good snack to bring with you because they are filling and healthy without taking up much space.

Obviously, you will need to consider the likes and dislikes of your family members, but I would stay clear of candies and other sweets.  If you pump the kids up with sugar while on a roadtrip, you will go insane before the real family vacation has ever really started!

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, additional, and, eating, pack, periodically, pleasant, pull, roadtrip, rule, snacks, steps, stopping, the, tight, vehicle | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells – The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory

July 27, 2007

The Tommy Bartlett Expository offers a number of fun attractions that will test your mind.  Making your family vacation an eductional experience is not difficult at all at this attraction, as you will explore a variety of different scientific concepts with the hands on activities the Exploratory provides.

When you visit the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory on  your family vacation, you will find that there is a kiosk outside.  I highly recommend stopping off at this kiosk before you visit any of the attractions in Wisconsin Dells.  Here, you can buy packages that will save you quite a bit on your Wisconsin Dells trip.  Even better, you can select the tickets you want and how many different attractions you want to add to your package.  Therefore, you are not tied down to attractions you may not really be interested in.

Many of the attractions at the Tommy Bartlette Exploratory actually seem like magic tricks as they trick your eye and your mind.  Others challenge you to perform certain tasks, such as remaining balanced on a tricky rolly-polly device or trying to put puzzles together and solve mysteries.

When you visit the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, be sure to spend time with your kids at each exhibit so they will get the most fun and educational value the exhibit has to offer.

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, Great Cities for Family Vacations, Museums for Family Vacations, a, activities, an, attractions, bartlett, concepts, dells, eductional, experience, exploratory, expository, family, highly, number, offers, on , provides when, recommend, scientific, stopping, the, tied, tommy, trip  , vacation, visit, wisconsin | Comments (0)