My husband called and said he got off from work early, let’s leave for our road trip a day early! We arranged for our friend to look after our animals, packed a few things, and hit the road.
3 Days, 1300kms, and a whole lot of fun! We laughed a lot, and memories were made. It was a great weekend.
Road Trips are a great time to get your kids talking. They can’t walk away from you, so they kind of have to participate in the conversation. My son had a device and headphones and still chose to talk our ears off, I was pleasantly surprised!
My son is turning 13 this fall, and as I’m sure many parents of tweenagers can appreciate, the conversations become fewer and shorter. Answers like “nothing much” become the normal when asked about their day, and a it feels like you’re pulling teeth to get a just a few! Details about their day.
We got stopped in a construction zone and were told it would be 10-15 minute wait so we got out to stretch our legs. I took a few photos, and then our son jumped into the ditch and started attempting rock climbing up the mountain!
When the kids get bored, we go back to basics – I Spy, Truth or Dare, or just shouting out random things as we see them – animals, landmarks, etc. At one point around the 4 hour mark, we were shouting anything and everything “barrel! Construction cone! Sign! Bridge!” And we all dissolved into hysterical laughter. These are the memories that last forever. It’s kind of a “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality to be honest.
We had a great time in Quesnel. We spent most of the first night walking around downtown, exploring.
The next morning we discovered Granville’s Coffee and ordered breakfast and delicious coffee. Later that day, we returned for more coffee and my daughter ordered a $6 giant, delicious cinnamon bun (don’t worry, she shared).
We chatted with some locals who said they’ve lived in Quesnel since the 70s and love the town and then we walked up the road to a game store where you can rent games and movies!!! I felt like I had stepped back in time. They also had lots of models, RC’s, puzzles and toys along with lots of arts and crafts supplies. It was a dangerous store to bring kids to but we let each of them pick out one thing for a trip momento and continued on our way.
Then we called a few hotels that were listed as having pools, but they weren’t open. (The first night I booked a hotel on Hotwire that advertised a pool but it wasn’t open). We debated driving home, but I called the Sandman and their pool was open, I was able to book a time slot right after check-in, as well as get early check-in, and got a discount, so it worked out great!
I’m glad we stayed the second night and got to enjoy some family pool and hot tub time – we had the place to ourselves! We also booked a time slot for the next morning before check out and a nice soak in the hot tub before the drive home felt amazing.
My son kept commenting that he couldn’t believe I didn’t have a plan, or a hotel reservation. I’m a planner, my husband likes to wing it, so sometimes we have to meet in the middle. This trip was a great example of that!
We spent more money than we had planned on, but we had a great time and definitely made some great memories with our kiddos, and that’s what it’s all about! We haven’t done much this spring break with my husband working and me finishing my final school semester, so this was a good quick getaway. Short and sweet, but tons of fun!
As always, thank you for reading! Have you gone on any road trips this Spring Break? Comment below, I would love to hear where everyone else went!!!
Life Begins At The End of Your Comfort Zone
Neale Donald Walsch
nice to hear abt randon family trips .great to be there with kids.. we did this during my teen years of both kids.. every trip is a lifetime memory.. wishing y0u many more memorable and random roadtrips.