Road trip from NH to Grand Rapids, MI? Or just nutty, stay in Grand Rapids?

[maestramommy]

We are attending my cousin's wedding in Grand Rapids this summer. We are planning on taking a week and making it a family vacation. So, we can either fly SW into Detroit, and play in the Grand Rapids, maybe Ann Arbor area, OR, we can make it a road trip, and go through London, Ontario. I am leaning toward road trip to save on airfare, since we will have to pay for hotel for 6 nights no matter what.

I took a quick look at Google maps, and it looks a possible itinerary out would be:

Day 1: Rochester NY 8 hours
Day 2: London 4 hours
Day 3 Grand Rapids 4 hours

Going back we could zoom past London into Rochester, then go through maybe Mass. It's the craziest route, but apparently we have to loop down to Mass at some point.
Maybe Springfield?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has done a drive through this general route. What are good places to play with little kids in these cities? In particular, are Rochester and London expensive places to stay? Also, I remember posting a thread about this a couple of years ago and someone said something about, not a passport, but something similar that I could get for less trouble and in less time just for traveling on the continent. None of us have passports.

Also, if anyone has done a multi day road trip with kids 6 and under, any tips? That don't involve DVDs or other "devices" I mean? I deliberately broke up the trip so that the second and 3rd leg could be done in the after lunch period, so they would probably nap during half of it at least.

[candaceb]

I have done the trip from Ann Arbor to New England (Cape Cod and Connecticut) many times, so it travels some of the same route - definitely the same across Canada. There is not much excitement along the way. In Ontario, our highlight is usually Ikea in Burlington. I know there is some sort of wild animal safari park around there too. When we lived in Ann Arbor, we would usually leave around 4PM, drive until about 1AM and stay somewhere around Syracuse (there is a Super 8 in Liverpool that we like), and then drive the rest of the way to the Cape the next morning, arriving in early afternoon. We weren't doing it with kids and tried to keep going and avoid stops as much as possible.

[ahisma]

I live in GR. There are tons of things to do with kids in the summer!

Grand Rapids Children's Musuem
Walk along the river- great path, picnic spots, etc.
Meijer Gardens - amazing childrens' garden
pick blueberries / strawberries / whatever is in season
Most importantly - go to the beach! Lake Michigan is within an hour drive, gorgeous sandy beaches, hands down the best sand that I've found at any beaches.

Good websites: http://www.grkids.com and http://grnow.com/

If I was going to make a family vacation of it, I'd do the wedding and then spend the rest of the time at the beach. Holland (touristy and conservative), Saugatuck (touristy and very liberal), Whitehall / Montague (my favorite), Muskegon, etc. If you need recommendations, LMK, we know the area well.

ETA: We are soundly in the "no device" category in general. We don't do battery toys, etc. BUT... we have a DVD player for roadtrips. I caved when we were driving to New Orleans. I was determined to do it without, put together all sorts of materials, toys, activities, snacks, etc. We made it 90 minutes before we stopped to buy a car DVD player.

Money-wise, I'm not sure how much you'll save by driving. If you went straight through, you'd definitely save. But, stopping that much, it's hard. We always wind up spending a ton of money on the road. We've started driving straight through. Last trip was MI to New Orleans, straight through. It's brutal, but it's like ripping off a bandaid. We get the travel done and then have downtime.

You can get in to Canada with a birth certificate and DL, but you can't get back into the US, go figure. You'll need a passport or a enhanced driver's license (that may only be a MI option, not sure). Kids are fine with birth certificates. Here's that info, be sure to read the section about re-entering the US, that's where it's the most difficult. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1082.html

[MontrealMum]

I sent you a pm :)

[maestramommy]

Money-wise, I'm not sure how much you'll save by driving. If you went straight through, you'd definitely save. But, stopping that much, it's hard. We always wind up spending a ton of money on the road.
l (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1082.html)

Do you mean because of the hotel, or playing? If we drove/flew straight through, we'd still have to pay for hotel once we got to GR. Is it cheaper to play in GR than in other places?

Thanks for the travel through Canada link!

The DVD player is tempting, except that we still have one kid rfing. Plus, I've noticed Dora gets carsick when reading in the car for too long. I am assuming the DVD player would have the same effect?

[KrisM]

I drive from about Flint MI to Nashua NH every year. You'd have an extra 1.5 hours or so to get to GR. We have never stayed in a hotel. We sleep in the car for 2-3 hours at a rest area in NY state. They're huge, well lit and seem safe. Many others are sleeping then, too. It works for us :). We leave about 6pm and arrive in NH about 11am. We stay with relatives, so we can crash and the kids just play with cousins.

I think customs would be faster if your trip through Canada was faster. We only stop for a bathroom break and then the questions are quick for us. So, if I were planning on driving and stopping 2 nights, I would do Buffalo and Albany maybe. It's 3.5 hours from Buffalo (northern most bridge) to Port Huron MI.

Our route is I-69 to I-94 and into Canada. Then the 402, 401, 403, QEW, and then 405 to Queenston Lewiston bridge to USA. Then you're on I-190 and go to I-290 and finally I-90. We take that all the way to I-495 in MA and then to Route 3 into NH.

For us, it's about 13 hours of drive time, even with 3 kids. We all get out every time we stop, unless it's over night and kids are asleep. We eat a snack in the car. We usually sleep about 1-4 am. I bring blankets, as it gets cold even in the summer. Then, we stop again about 7am and DH takes a quick nap while I take the kids into the McDs at the rest area on the Mass Pike for breakfast and some running around. We then do the rest of the trip.

This summer, I am considering taking them out by myself so that we can be there longer. DH would come the following week or so. If I do that, I will do 1 night, likely about Utica or Albany so that day 2 is shorter.

[KrisM]

I wanted to add, that we plan on $300 for gas for the RT. Definitely less than flying 5 of us!

We now have a DVD player. But, we did the trip a few times with 3 kids in a Malibu. That was significantly less fun than in a minivan, but we did it. We did it many times with 1 or 2 kids in the Malibu. No dvd player there. Now, we do have the movies on for a bit of the trip, but we do a lot of books on CD and those work well. DS2 got a Leapster last year, age 3, just to entertain him. I hit the Target dollar spot over the months to look for cheap car things, like little notebooks. They love little notebooks! Small cars, stickers, crayons, etc. But, really, they all do great, but it might be they just know how far it is. We tell them that they'll sleep in the car, have breakfast in the car, and we'll get there to eat lunch. It gives an idea of how very long they'll be in the car. I think mine do better because we don't stop and do it again the next day.

[wolverine2]

We do this drive almost annually (MA to Ann Arbor).

We stop in Niagara Falls- you can get good hotel rates on the Canadian side and there's a ton to do there. We do a long day to get to Niagra, and then play a bit there in the morning, before driving on to MI, which is a shorter day (but a bit longer to get to GR).

[KrisM]

About the passports. Your kids do not need them. A birth certificate is fine for them. They will need those. Adults can have either the passport or the passport card. The card is good for land travel to Canada and back.

[ahisma]

Do you mean because of the hotel, or playing? If we drove/flew straight through, we'd still have to pay for hotel once we got to GR. Is it cheaper to play in GR than in other places?

Thanks for the travel through Canada link!

The DVD player is tempting, except that we still have one kid rfing. Plus, I've noticed Dora gets carsick when reading in the car for too long. I am assuming the DVD player would have the same effect?

I think I mis-read. I thought you were staying in MI for a week either way, but that the drive time would be tacked on. If it's the same duration / overnights either way you'd definitely save money driving.

I guess my only hesitation would be that it's a lot of unpacking / repacking if you're stopping somewhere new every night. In my family, DD and DS1 would be fine with that but DS2 would get really unsettled.

Until recently, DS2 was rfing. We had a two screen DVD player with a remote. All 3 kids were in the backseat. DS1 and DD watched the DVD screen FF-ing, DS2 watched it rf-ing. We had a remote to control it, although really, DD1 can do it too. We got lucky and found it on clearance for $50 at Meijers when we stopped in total desperation.:rotflmao: I don't know what the impact would be in respect to carsickness though. My girlfriend has borrowed the DVD player for her DD who gets carsick. I think it helps, but I'm not entirely sure.

[maestramommy]

I drive from about Flint MI to Nashua NH every year.


Thanks for replying KrisM. Again!:ROTFLMAO:I remember your post from last time. I will have to bookmark this thread, because there's so much info.

Unfortunately we have no childcare options once we get to our destination, so driving all hours of the night is not doable. But it's intriguing nonetheless. I wonder how Dh would feel about switching off.

[KrisM]

Thanks for replying KrisM. Again!:ROTFLMAO:I remember your post from last time. I will have to bookmark this thread, because there's so much info.

Unfortunately we have no childcare options once we get to our destination, so driving all hours of the night is not doable. But it's intriguing nonetheless. I wonder how Dh would feel about switching off.

My DH doesn't sleep if I drive, otherwise we'd do that. I'd try to get it down to 1 night stay though. I think putting kids into a car 3 days in a row would be rough.

[sjfin]

We routinely drive 6-9 hours to visit family. We do have a portable DVD player but do NOT turn it on until we get to the highway. In some cases, that is an hour into the trip. We do make a big deal of going to the library to choose movies and books for our trip. My kids are used to this, we have been driving to see family their entire lives. They are now 7 and 4. This past year, we drove several long trips, ranging from 400 to 900 miles each direction.

I also pick up a few small surprises from the Dollar stores. Quiet toys for the car. The biggest hits were sticker books, finger puppets, and notebooks. We bring snacks and have a small cooler in the car. I just read you already do this. Play the alphabet game, license plate game, etc.

If you do have time in Rochester, NY, you should check out the Strong National Museum of Play. I was just there last week and we spent 5 hours there.