When we first started traveling with kids, we were given the tip to do the largest chunk of traveling in the morning while the children were well rested and to save the fun activities for the afternoon. When I first heard this advice, I questioned the wisdom in it. At the time our children were very young and afternoon time was nap time. I couldn't imagine taking a child who should be napping into an attraction of any sort, no matter how fun. Besides, shouldn't we try to take advantage of the hours our kids slept and get in as much driving as possible? However, we tried to loosely apply that recommendation on one of our road trips and we found it to be very wise advice, despite trying to work around a nap schedule. Pushing lunch up an hour and nap back an hour allowed us to travel in the morning when the moods were great, do a fun activity when patience for being strapped with a seat belt was waning, and then to cover more distance while children peacefully slept off the exhaustion of the fun activity. They'd wake up just in time to pull over for dinner. After dinner, if we needed to cover more distance, the kids were rejuvenated enough to endure the seatbelt a little longer.
As our children have outgrown naps, we've found that this is still a great basis for planning our vacations. We enjoy getting up in the morning, packing up the van and having children who are well-rested enough to happily entertain themselves for a few hours of driving. As we get ready for the day, they develop their own plans for how to spend their time in the car. They hop in the car looking forward to reading their book, playing their DS, drawing, or playing with their souvenir purchased the day before and we drive in peace for quite a while. The activity usually falls just about the time that the book that couldn't be put down the night before suddenly transforms into the most boring book ever written, the "Are-we-there-yet?" questions start coming and the sibling squabbling begins.
We've discovered that "Travel in the Morning and do Fun Activities in the Afternoon" means that we sometimes have to find a fun activity. Many of our road trips are designed to get us to a location at least two days away, assuming we drove the most direct route to our destination. We've discovered that it's worth it to go a few hours out of our way to find diversions for as many days as possible, even if several side-trips end up adding extra days to the overall vacation. This way, we get to the intended target and see all the iconic American destinations for which we bother taking the trip, but we also see some of the less popular places in America. We have a blast every day of our vacation. Having something wonderful to look forward to each morning when we wake up makes the trip more relaxed and peaceful.
This philosophy has not only ensured happier children in the car, but it has lead us to see and do things for which we would never bother to take the time otherwise. We've played at children's museums, admired random statues that claim to be the world's largest of that thing, enjoyed small amusement parks that surpass our expectations, waded in rivers and lakes, seen beautiful nature, and slid down some fabulous slides. These small side trips are never intended to be the "meat and potatoes" of our vacation, but frequently provide the best opportunities for spontaneity and end up creating memories that are just as important to our family as the memories we create at our main destination.
