Getting there (part 2)

Road trip!

Once as a kid my family had planned a road trip to Disneyland. My dad runs his own business and was waiting for a customer to make a payment so that we could have enough money for the trip.

Sure enough the customer made good on the promise to pay. So we picked up the check, hidden in a milk box in front of a house (they knew we wanted to get on our Disneyland trip and made sure the check was available ASAP), made a quick run to the night deposit box at the bank and we were on the road well after sunset from Salt Lake City to Anaheim.

I don’t remember much about the trip except somewhere in the middle of Utah, we kids in the back had fallen asleep, and then a large boom woke us up. My mom had hit a deer! After a quick assessment of the car and deer situation we were back on the road late in the night heading towards Disneyland.

I believe my family stopped in Las Vegas to get some sleep and then continued on to Disneyland the next day.

Road trips can be fun, they also can be stressful. Mostly because of our adorable kids. I love them dearly and will do all that I can to guide them and teach them in their life but sometimes they make road trips difficult. Boredom, thirst, the need to go to the bathroom, hunger, one kid not being willing to play the game the other one wants to play in the car is making them upset. I could go on.

I don’t have great tips on “snack packs” or “game bags” or those kinds of things. I do think sometimes kids just need to be bored. It is good for them to just sit and think or be forced to listen to their parents music for a few hours. I also eventually give in and let them watch movies on the tablet.

With that said, I do have some ideas on places to stop between Salt Lake City and Anaheim that will help break up the drive.

If you’re one of those who leave around your kids’ bedtime and drive straight through to Disneyland, I wish you well but I have no tips for you. Just good luck and drive safe!

For the rest of us, here’s a couple of places we’ve enjoyed stopping at while on our road trips.

• Fillmore, Utah. If you need a great lunch/dinner spot Cluff’s Carhop Cafe is great. The food is kid friendly and you’ll enjoy it too. It is a hamburger joint. The fries were tasty and it was a fun place to make a stop at. You do have to drive about 10 minutes off the freeway to get to it, but it is on the same road that you exit the freeway from so you won’t get lost trying to get back to I-15. Cluff’s address is: 270 N Main St, Fillmore.
• While in Fillmore, if you need to stretch your legs, you can also visit the state territorial capitol. This is the oldest government building in Utah. You probably won’t need to spend a long amount of time there, but it is something to see while heading down the road. Here’s the website for more details on the Territorial Statehouse: https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/territorial-statehouse/
• If you don’t want to make a stop in Fillmore, you could also make a stop at Cove Fort. Cove Fort is about 10 minutes off the freeway between Fillmore and Beaver. The early Utah settlers once needed a resting point between cities and so Cove Fort was constructed. It now has been refurbished and made up for tourists. There are Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints missionaries on site to act as tour guides through the fort. They did a good job of handling my seven-year-old’s many questions about the fort and even gave our two oldest a “pioneer” era toy to take with them while we went down the road, they would have given our third a toy also but we worried she may just shove the toy in her mouth. This was a good 45 minute stop and gave us and our kids plenty of time to stretch our legs and get our wiggles out.
• Do your kids like Dinosaurs? Do they love parks? Do they love splash pads? Then St. George has a stop for you. Thunder Junction All Abilities Park in St. George is now a must stop for us when traveling through St. George. This is the ultimate city park. The whole thing is dinosaur themed and has a train to go around it. There are plenty of slides, swings and other all ability friendly things to play on, as well as a splash pad area and a volcano that erupts. Our kids look forward to Thunder Junction. It is another good spot to tire the kids out as you head down the road.
• Las Vegas. I’m not one for ten hour car rides, unless I have to do it, so I’m all for making a stop in Las Vegas and spending the night. Vegas with kids is interesting. We all know why, there’s no need to go deep on it here. Recently we stayed at the Wyndham Grand Desert, which is right off the strip near the MGM Grand. It was great. They have two large pools, one for adults and one for kids. Our kids loved the kids pool. It has a basketball hoop, a zero entry side and plenty of room to splash around. To the side of the pool you’ll find ping pong tables and a life size chess set, as well as a grassy spot with small backyard playground toys. The hotel also has a “kids play room” that has different video game counsels to play on as well as a host of board games. The hotel also has a theater in it showing different movies. They do try to sell you a timeshare when you check-in, but maybe that’s something you’ll want to consider if you enjoy your stay. We found it to be great and our kids loved it.
• Kid friendly stops in Vegas: This list will likely grow but here’s a few things we have done and have considered doing. M&M store (near the MGM Grand), your kids will think it is fun, yes you can buy m&m’s cheaper at a gas station. Dolphins and tigers habitat at the Mirage. We’ll call this a mini zoo on the Strip. It’s expensive (everything is on the strip), but the dolphins are a sight to see and how often do you get to see a white tiger? Nevada Southern Railway. Think the Heber Valley Railroad and now put it in Las Vegas. This is way off the strip but we still had a fun time when we did it (I am a bit of a train nerd so I might have a slanted opinion on this). You can take a ride on a train or just enjoy looking at the trains that they have on display at the station. If you want to get some theme park action in before making it to Disneyland, you can always stop at Circus Circus’s Adventuredome. Just make sure that you’re kids are tall enough for the rides to make it worth it. If you need to cool off there’s the Wet’n’Wild water park as well as Cowabunga Bay. Finally, if you just need a place to let your kids roam, there is a children’s museum in Vegas.

Once you’ve wrapped up the fun in Vegas, I would say get on the road and head for Anaheim. Making more stops now is just getting in between you and having fun at your final destination. The drive is a little more than four hours (maybe quicker if you don’t stop and traffic is friendly). If you do need a stop, there’s always the world’s tallest thermometer (it is a road trip after all may as well stop to see something ridiculous).