Beachcombing to keep kids busy
trip to the mechanic and a few hours
later, we were on the road again—for
real this time. This early setback set the
tone for the trip. “Hakuna matata,” that
great wisdom imparted in The Lion
King became our mantra: No worries,
just roll with it. Our little family was
together on the open road.
Surviving the drive
One of the house/car rules on our trip
was no screen time during the day. The
kids should be looking out the window
at passing sights, not glued to some
cartoon. Most mornings, we’d do some-
thing active like beachcombing or a
hike, so the little ones would be ready
to sit in the car for a few hours. Around
noon, we’d break for a picnic lunch.
The kids could run around to blow off
some steam, while my husband made
grilled-cheese sandwiches in the Boler.
To balance our budget and diets, we
almost never ate out. Occasionally we
would eat in grocery store cafeterias.
Those were real multitasking pit stops,
allowing us to stock up on supplies, use
the Wi-Fi and fill our tummies.
Good music is key to any road trip.
In addition to our curated playlists, I
printed out the ukulele tabs for some of
our favourite songs. While my husband
drove, I’d lead music class with the
kids. We won’t be signing any record
deals, but we can do a pretty mean
version of “Purple People Eater.”
the coast is cLeaR
FROM VaNCOuVER, WE SNakEd OuR Way dOWN ThE COaST
FOLLOWING hIGhWayS 101 aNd 1 ThROuGh WaShINGTON,
OREGON aNd CaLIFORNIa, EVENTuaLLy ENdING uP IN LOS
aNGELES. ThIS ROuTE IS BLESSEd WITh SO MaNy GREaT
SIGhTS ThaT ThERE IS LITERaLLy SOMEThING aMazING EVERy
20 MILES. BE STRaTEGIC aNd PRIORITIzE yOuR MuST-SEES.
Oysters in sOuth bend, WashingtOn
For us landlocked Prairie folk,
there is something thrilling about
standing on a mountain of old
oyster shells. My husband got
caught up in the moment, buying
a whole bag of fresh oysters from a
local processing plant. That night,
we slurped back a bunch and
celebrated the next morning when
neither of us had food poisoning.
Craft beer in the PaCifiC nOrthWest
We sipped suds at Fremont
Brewing in Seattle and Portland’s
Laurelwood Brewing. Both brew-
pubs have play areas and cheap
non-alcoholic options for the
kiddos.
gum and kites
No trip to Seattle is complete with-
out a visit to the “gum wall,” in the
alley beside Pike Place Market. Buy
a pack of gum and let little ones
leave their sticky mark. Fly a kite
at Cannon Beach, Oregon, where
kids can run wild on the sand
dunes. Real thrill seekers may want
to bring a crazy carpet.
the giants Of redWOOd natiOnal
Park, CalifOrnia
We visited Stout Grove in Jedediah
Smith Redwoods State Park to
see the giant trees, some of them
thousands of years old. Our young
Star Wars fanatics loved playing in
what looked like the planet Endor
from Return of the Jedi.
mOnarCh meCCa at PismO beaCh,
CalifOrnia
Each year from late October to
February, thousands of monarch
butterflies cluster in the limbs
of eucalyptus trees at the Pismo
Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove.
It’s a magical sight to see the trees
“breathing” with butterflies.
CAA to the rescue
We planned to cross into Mexico at
Nogales, south of Tucson, Arizona. So
we left the coast at Los Angeles, cutting
east into the desert. It was late after-
noon and we had just left Palm
Springs, en route to our campsite at
Joshua Tree National Park, when a »
CAA SASKATCHEWAN
WiNTEr 2017
37