Rambling itinerary for Christmas road trip

[Smart Red]

Leaving Southest, central-est Wisconsin for Little Rock, AR on Monday,
Houston, TX on Tues and Wednesday,
Dallas, TX on Thursday and Friday,
Kansas City, MO on Saturday and back home in
Southest, central-est Wisconsin on Sunday.

Little Rock and Kansas City are more or less resting spots to keep the daily drive to something more managable for an old lady, but we do have places we want to see in both cities.

Son will be holding down the fort and feeding the livestock while I wine and dine and treat his children. It's a rather long drive for a short stay, but a promise is a promise. I think the next trips will be by AmTrack at Easter break and by plane this summer.

 

[thistlebloom]

Drive safe and enjoy the scenery Red! Give a wave to my sis while you catch your breath in KC MO.
I enjoyed the tour at a coffee roasterie in KC Kansas while I visited my sis in October.

I have always wanted to take a train trip somewhere. The north route in the fall to see the autumn foliage is one I daydream about.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That has some resemblances to some of our trips to see relatives, long drives and short stays. When visiting school teachers you have to pick your spots. And when they have small kids they have to be careful of using days off. Our longer visits are usually when the start of their teaching jobs does not match the kids school starts so we baby sit the kids. Oh the sacrifices grandparents make.

Your driving distances are certainly long enough for one driver. Our routine is I take the morning driving shift, my wife takes after lunch, and I take the last stretch. That break really helps me. Stay safe and don't overdo it.

I'm not sure of your route to Little Rock or to Kansas City but there is no reasonable route near me on either trip so no need offering your a cheap place to stay. Until they finish Interstate 49 in Arkansas I'm not on the way to anywhere. I-49 is decades away from completion. Other than about a ten mile stretch in Missouri, the rest not built is through the mountains of Arkansas. That's not going to be finished anytime soon. I'll probably never live to see it.

We took a train trip from New Orleans to Minnesota more than two decades ago with the boys. A part of that was that we wanted the boys to experience a train trip, not a lot of people take long train trips anymore. When you compare the costs it wasn't that bad compared to driving. There was one inconvenient spot at Kansas City where we had to transfer trains by bus. It was still a tiring trip but safer than driving. I'm glad we had a sleeper.

Let us know when you are back home safe.

 

[Nyboy]

I know this 1st Christmas without your husband must be very hard on you Is your grandson old enough to share driving? If you and your family ever visit NYC I would love to play tour guide. Keep safe and enjoy spending time with grandkids

 

[pjn]

Be safe and have a great time.

 

[so lucky]

Red, that's very brave of you to take off cross country with the grands! But then, I found I was braver when I was doing something "out of the box," when one of the kids was along.
I hope you have a great time!

 

[ninnymary]

I'm not sure how much driving or distance it is between stops but I hope it's not too much for you or one person. Hope the weather also cooperates. Glad you are being adventurous and going out there and doing it. It will also be good bonding time with the grandkids. How many are going and what ages are they?

Mary

 

[Smart Red]

I know this 1st Christmas without your husband must be very hard on you Is your grandson old enough to share driving? If you and your family ever visit NYC I would love to play tour guide. Keep safe and enjoy spending time with grandkids

He's got half a year to go before he can get his license, but we're expecting he'll be able to drive with his temps by the time school gets out for the summer.

Traveling east is definitely in the cards .. perhaps later in the summer. I was actually thinking Washington, DC but where depends upon how much time we have for traveling.

 

[Smart Red]

Red, that's very brave of you to take off cross country with the grands! But then, I found I was braver when I was doing something "out of the box," when one of the kids was along.
I hope you have a great time!

For a long time I've told the grands that if something happened to Grandpa I would take them traveling. They haven't gone much out of WIsconsin.

They are the perfect age for traveling with -- Maverick at 15 and Gypsy turning 14 during our trip -- are great fun and really appreciative of time spend with them. So soon they will be wanting to be with their friends, but right now I'm enjoying the heck out of them.

The longest stretch of driving is just under 10 hours. With a couple of breaks for meals or snacks along the way, I figure I can handle that long if not really enjoy it. I know 6 hours was a breeze when we went to St. Louis so I'm not really worried and there's little need to rush anyway. This is supposed to be fun, right?

 

[digitS']

I've been on the Arkansas ... River . But, that was in Colorado.

It's good to have an itinerary. I had one of those for going to Houston - to visit the flagship Neiman Marcus store! It wasn't until after I arrived at the Houston store that I learned that the flagship store is in Dallas. Oh well, once I got inside that store I wondered what the heck?! I couldn't have been there long! Scurried off to Rice University to witness college shenanigans.

If you were going a little further SOUTH in Texas ... oh well, YOU just try to be safe and I hope that the 3 of you have fun!

... I have always wanted to take a train trip somewhere. The north route in the fall to see the autumn foliage is one I daydream about.

Would that be like out of Vancouver to Lake Louise and Banff?

I have enjoyed the train out of Portland and down to Central California, and back. Taking the one from Spokane to Portland was pretty terrible but surely they have retired those horrible old cars I traveled in 30 years ago.

Steve