Back at it with another Road Trip - - Kids had no idea where we were going
Finally getting around to posting our spring break road trip. Here you go , the first post!!! All we told the kids is we were going to spend ALL Day in the truck... like all day. we planned on it being close to 14 hours or more with the gas stops, potential weather, and boarder crossing.
My kids were excited and of course wanted to know where we were going. Considering I already live Up North, and we were going North... they claimed it was not going to be a beach vacation. Little did they know that they we were actually going to the beach!
Like most of our trips, it requires a full day or more driving... I am not afraid of putting down miles. Lets take a look at our rules.
Senstless Road Trip Rules
- Hit the Road before any one else is up - We were miles down the road by 4am.. That means we were up and getting loaded at 3:30
- We only stop the truck, when it needs fuel. That's the only break to use restroom, so only sips - My truck has a range of 450-535 Miles. Given our past, we typically only stop in the 5-6+ hr range.
- All meals are prepackaged food. We prepack cereal, chips, dried fruit, apple sauce, etc. If we need something from the gas station, we will grab it when we use the restroom, but typically we don't need anything
- Coffee - I took coffee, and froze bottles half full, and then filled them up right before we left. make my own iced coffee and I had to wait to thaw before I could drink them
Final Destination - Niagara Falls, ON
We wanted take the kids to Niagara Falls - but given the new restrictions, we had to make the drive across the boarder in 1 day.. so that meant plugging over 810 Miles in one day, with a boarder crossing and forecast for snowy weather. We knew it was going to be a haul - but I would prefer to only spend 1 day driving anyways.
First Stop Lake Ontario!!!
That makes 5/5 of the great lakes. My kids are only 8 and 10 and have already had hands in each of the 5 great lakes! It took me over 40 years, and they got it done already. Spoiled kids for sure!!! Now this was only a pit stop to stretch our legs today. I really needed the walk considering when I got out of the truck my legs were asleep.
Pushing through to Niagara Falls
No issues at the boarder, no issues with weather, only a few spots with snow and white out conditions, but never had to slow down for more than 15 min.
We finally got to the hotel - We stayed at the Hilton Falls View hotel, and we managed to stay on the 48th ( out of 51) floors. I upgraded to the best room, two room jacuzzi suite, with a view of both of the falls. There is nothing better than moving the couch and just watching the falls, over coffee, at night, in the middle of the day after a long walk. We didnt get to the hotel room until around 8 or 9pm. Given the time zone change and the drive. It was pretty good!
The Room
The View
End of Day 1
Thats it for Day 1, Day 2 will be all the fun stuff, and lots and lots of walking!!!!
Vacation Stats
** Day 1 Drive to Niagara Falls!!! 810 Miles
Vacation Stats
- Total Miles - 810
- Total Time Driving - 14 Hours