TALK OF THE TOWN

A few articles ago I wrote about my love of a good map. This time, let’s talk about road trips!

Last summer, we loaded up the car and headed south.

It would turn out to be the longest road trip for my family over the course of around 10 days, visiting friends and family in South Carolina, spending 4 days in Orlando for volleyball and sitting by the pool, and visiting family in Alabama on the way back home.

The previous record for a family road trip was a memoriable loop through Wisconsin and Minnesota.

We visited the Leinenkugel’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, explored the waterfront in Duluth, stopped by a few lighthouses and waterfalls along Lake Superior, walked across the headwaters of the Mississippi River, kayaked on Lake Itasca, visited the Mall of America (one visit was enough for me) and took in a lumberjack show in the Wisconsin Dells.

Road trips aren’t intimidating to me. My girls have always been good travelers, since we’ve gone on road trips since they were babies. They were entertained with books, toys, snacks and a portable DVD player. Visiting family in Indiana, Alabama and in the Chicago area meant the road trips varied in length and

they just got used to it. A few lessons learned, keep the snack bag and drinks within reach to avoid stopping more than you need. Break up a long trip with a quick stop every two hours, and make use of small playgrounds and walking paths at rest stops. When there were no rest stops, we usually tried to find a Love’s or a Cracker Barrell for bathroom breaks. Also make sure if your younger kids want to pack their own stuff, they include a jacket. Especially in the winter. Lesson learned on a Presidents’ Day weekend getaway when we made a pit stop and one of our girls didn’t bring a coat. “I thought we’d be in the water park the whole time?”

Back when you could still rent them, we were (possibly) the top renters of the 15-passenger vans for our St. Ambrose Youth Group trips. Float trips, service projects, retreat events, you name it, we could get them there. The longest trip was to the UP of Michigan with 2 vans, kids and another parent driving a conversion van pulling a U-haul with all our stuff. No better way to travel!

I used to make mix tapes just for long trips, featuring the best of everything I owned at the time. I think I still have some of them and a working

cassette deck, but now I’m spoiled with online music streaming. Any song, anytime. The mega-road trips for us took place with the Encounter Youth Choir. We were privileged to go to St. Simon Island, Georgia; Estes Park, Colorado; and Panama City Beach, Florida with the group. Road trips on a chartered bus are the way to go and offer plenty of chances for bonding, sleeping with an armrest in your spine for hours on end, and watching friends make poor snack choices at truck stops at 3am. (never trust truck stop cheese!) The bigger reward was being able to be with teens who had never seen the ocean or the mountains before that trip. Road trips aren’t for just going somewhere, it’s about the memories you make!

Whatever you’re planning this summer, wherever you go, gas up the night before, have those snacks within reach, and don’t forget your sunglasses! Oh, and you can always stream the Big Z Media stations while you’re on the road through advantagenews.com! 3

Mark Ellebracht is the News/Content Director for Big Z Media, is co-host of The Morning Show and host of Let’s Talk, heard weekdays 10am-noon on 107.1FM/1570AM The Big Z.