Summer Road Trips!

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Red Rocks in Sedona, AZ

      Living in Phoenix, AZ where the heat is already about 200 degrees hotter than where anyone else lives, one of the things we love to do to get out of the heat is take weekend road trips out of town into higher and cooler country! My husband and I will take off on our own and just take an all day drive or sometimes we get together with family members for camping trips or sight seeing trips.  There are great places to visit in our beautiful state that are within just a couple of hours driving distance. 

This was a great trip to Wet Beaver Creek, one of our favorite spots! There is always cool, refreshing water to play in. Our grandchildren had so much fun!

This summer, we have already taken a day and driven up to Prescott, AZ. We took in a folk arts festival with our son, daughter-in-law and little grandson. It was a great day. Prescott always seems to have something going on and is such a great place to visit.

This is a picture of the court house in Prescott. This photo was from another time when we had gone to visit up there during the holidays.

       Trips up to Flagstaff and the south side of the Grand Canyon are also easy to do on a weekend, as well as trips to the Mogollon Rim or even over to the White Mountains.  We have done all of these trips over the years with our children.  As adults, the drive to these places were relaxing and beautiful. But, to kids, a couple of hours can seem like an eternity and it takes some creativity to help them have fun and make memories with you that will last for years to come. 

      Car Games are always a life saver.

• My kids remember playing "A" My Name is Alice  and laughing so hard over our choices of places and foods. 
•  Another game we loved was a Word Association Game.  It went like this:  One person would start by saying a word such as "Pillow."  The next person would have to think of an associated word like, "Bed."  The next person might say, "Sleep", and so on until someone repeated a word and then it would be over and we would start all over with a new word. 

     Songs

It is second nature to me to sing in the car while driving. My dad always sang with us when I was a child when we drove places. It is one of my favorite memories. We would sing old songs like "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "I've Got 6 Pence." I taught those to my children as well. With our kids, we would also put in tapes (in the old days) and now CDs and sing along to favorite oldies. Beach Boys and Beatles tunes were some of our favorites. Our kids loved having Mom and Dad join in singing with loud pizzaz and gusto as we drove down the road. Everyone laughed and had fun.

      Maps

      We traveled with our children before the days of GPS.  So, we navigated using maps! It always surprises me to learn that people do not know how to read maps.  It really isn't that difficult.  My kids have GPS now, but they still look at maps as well.  Reading maps is a very good skill to have and maps give you a better idea of the lay of the land and the area you are traveling in than simply by following a GPS voice.  

      Don't get me wrong, there are some really good benefits to having better technology when it comes to traveling though.  For one thing, because of social media, we have a lot more access to tools and ideas that will help kids have more fun on trips and to help families create more memories together.  

     For one thing, we can go to Etsy and find great travel game printables! 

     Or, for your next Disney trip, this Disney Would You Rather Game will keep everyone happy until you get there. 

      My husband and I were just settling down after his Father's Day festivities and we were talking about some short trips that we would like to take, as well as a couple of long ones! I'm starting to love the idea of his retirement coming soon and the time we can spend together. I as so glad that we still love being together and spending time doing things that we enjoy.  
       Are you planning any road trips this summer?  We would love to hear your plans! What are your favorite ways to pass the time as you drive? Leave a comment and let us know!