Road Trip 2019

Being a military family, many of you know the dreaded summer transfer season. You build up all these dreams of the perfect location and epic road trip for it all to be crushed by reality of military life. Don’t get me wrong we had an epic road trip even though it wasn’t the same as we originally planned! Here’s how we did our move across country with 5 people, 3 vehicles, and a cat.

CA: Once we found out we had to move ourselves, we had to scramble to finish packing and get arrangements in order. My sister-in-law flew in to help us drive to Reno, NV where we would pick up the rest of road trip crew. Northern California is filled with grade hills so make sure you are prepared for that. Also, remember when planning road trips you might be in the middle of nowhere for long periods of time. We invested in walkie talkies and that helped us through a lot of tough spots.

NV: Since we had the U-haul with us, we planned to stay outside of the cities to help with parking and safety. We backed the U-haul towards the building, fences, light poles, etc. Basically, as close to an object as possible so someone couldn’t open it.

UT: We stopped along the way to see the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It right across the border. I would recommend bringing shoes that you don’t mind getting wet or ruined by the salt. It was a nice break to stretch our legs and see beautiful scenery.

WY: Cheyenne was a beautiful stop! It was right before their annual Frontier Days so we were able to see everyone setting up for the weekend. I’d love to go back and see more of the history and attend Frontier Days. This was also the day we had to carry our cat in a backpack, but that’s for another post.

SD: I also believe in picking one big thing to do on a road trip. For us, it was seeing Mount Rushmore! We stayed in Rapid City which is 30 minutes from Keystone. There is actually a lot of fun things to do in the area. It gave us a nice break and rest in the middle of the trip too.

NE, MO, LA, to AL: Back to Back driving days can be difficult. Add the slow moving Uhaul to the mix and it was exhausting. To combat this, we only drove about 6 1/2 to 7 hrs a day most days. We would arrive just in time for dinner where we could see the different cities and towns.

Road Trip advice: Limit how many hours you drive in a day. If family or friends offer to help let them! Plan one big thing to do on the trip for a rest day or sneak in a little visit to home. Good luck on your next transfer!