This is our agenda. You can see we are gone for many days and have lots of different stops, in many different locations. We are almost never in the same place for more than one night. We knew this was going to take a high level of organization and efficiency to get 8 people in and out of hotels and airbnbs quickly. Also, since we are going to the northwest and planning on doing a lot of hiking, we knew we were likely to encounter a lot of rain and mud. It was clear the minivan was not going to serve us well. Not only would it be incredibly uncomfortable for our adult size children to sit in for two weeks, it was also not going to allow us to be very organized, efficient, or keep things clean and dry. So, we ended up borrowing our friends 12 passenger van.
As mentioned before this was Jason‘s trip. He planned the entire thing. I cannot express my depth of gratitude for him doing that. To be honest, it was hard to give up the control, but I knew it was for the best. There’s no way I could have planned this. But when it came time to pack up for the trip and then execute it throughout the next 2 weeks, he asked if I would be willing to do that. Obviously I was, but it’s hard to pack for and execute a trip that you have not envisioned nor planned. It took several days of really intense preparation and packing and organizing. It also required a lot from my children. I explained the trip was going to go best if Jason and I had a high level of control, which would mean some sacrifices on their part, but it would be worth it. Jason took a picture of me packing something.
I made messes all over the house, trying to find enough bags and containers for everything.
I ended up deciding to pack the family according to days. For example, our first night we are staying in a hotel in Montana. So I had everybody give me a pair of pajamas, a swimsuit, and clothes they wanted to wear the next day. That way, we pull into the hotel parking lot, we could just grab that one bag out of the car. OK, so it wouldn't actually be just the one bag. It’s the one bag, a toiletry bag, Jason’s bag, (he operated outside of the system) and the fan for Dane and Eve. We did this for the first four days of our trip. Then we will be at a friends house in Seattle and we can do some laundry and repack the bags for the next phase of our trip.
When I presented Jason with the vision for packing, his first response was, “Madison's going to hate it.” Oh, how right he was. She could not give me an outfit that she would want to wear on certain days, “it all depends on the vibe” she says. But to her credit, she did it
Everybody’s stuff got put in lab bags
Then it was time to pack the car. I spent a long time watching YouTube videos and reading blogs about good ways to pack for a road trip and 12 passenger vans. There were a lot of good ideas out there and I bought and gathered a lot of things. In the end I just needed to lay it all out and look at everything and start trying different strategies. I didn't have an exact vision when I started, but as I worked, it came to me, line upon line, I guess you could say. :)
When all was said and done, I think it came out quite nicely. I zip tied the shelf down, and bungee tied the bags onto it. The bags that were needed that night and then next few days are on the central white shelf. Friday night is in the bottom shelf, Saturday night is the middle shelf, and Sunday night is the top shelf. I came up with a bin system for controlling the mud and rain. So I have an empty tub nesting inside of a tub full of supplies, like shower curtains for easy throw away tarps, a lot of rain ponchos that can just get thrown away, shower caps to put on the bottom of our wet or muddy shoes, garbage bags, towels, and rags. We’ll see how it goes! Behind the white shelf, our bags for next week and other items we don’t need until next week. The tall shelf contains bags of extra items and activities, like the shoe bag, jacket bag, the bag for the beach, the bag for the pool, stuff like that. I was pleased how it all turned out, and Jason even said it was great, which is all I was going for! And now We will put it to the test.
We left the house about an hour and a half later than we had planned. It was my fault, I got started about an hour and a half later than I had planned, but that's what I get for mismanaging my morning. Jason wasn’t too upset about the time delay and was very easy-going.
Inside the car everyone had a red tub under their seat that had their stuff in it. I also had a command center in the front. We decided that this was going to be a "less than normal" device trip. They weren't banned, but we had control of them. So the kids passed up chargers, phones, and earbuds when we asked for them and we gave them back when we were ok with it. I also had a bag of activities for Dane and Eve. And, of course, I had a bag of snacks. I had regular snacks but I also bought one "special" treat for every long car ride. These included things we had never tried (cereal bars, like lucky charms and cinnamon toast crunch) to favorites like gushers.
The kids were unbelievably excited. Especially Dane and Eve. When Dane woke up this morning, he came into our room and said, “today is a very exciting and important day”. Eve could not wait to get to "Wyoming" she would put her hands in fists and put them by her face and say "I am so excited to go to Wyoming, it is my favorite state". It was pretty funny and adorable.
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