August | 2020 | The Snazzy Mom Blog by Arushi Garg

Traveling looks much different right now than it looked last summer. My husband and I talked for a week before we decided about the trip and it was not an easy decision to make. We decided to go with the idea that we’d be diligent, overly cautious, and not take any unnecessary risks.

My family just finished a 2300 miles road trip from Houston, Texas to Breckenridge, Colorado. One-way drive from Houston to Breckenridge was 18 hours and 1150 miles. This was the first time ever we decided to go on a long road trip with our son and dog. The longest road trip ( 7 hours) with our son was to New Orleans in December 2019.

Honestly there was a guilt of traveling in pandemic, the time away from our house was much needed for our mental health. We’d all been cooped up together for 5 months, and it’s been a real challenge working from home and keeping Vir active and engaged for so many months. The summer in Houston is always hot and humid with temperatures touching 102 degrees on some days.

This act of taking this road trip was a luxury for us even though it wasn’t a luxurious one. I realize we are extremely fortunate to both have jobs at a time when so many Americans are looking for work. And we are so grateful of the ability to take time off from work and stay out of our home for 10 days.

Please note – any decisions to travel are highly personal and I encourage you to take note of the risks. Please do your research, take your doctor’s advice, assess the health of your family and make an informed choice. The information I am sharing here cannot guarantee anyone’s health or safety and is not meant to be divisive or comprehensive. Please do not travel through Indigenous communities currently.

On my Instagram page I shared with you all details on my road trip and was flooded with questions on several topics. I will be sharing my tips and experiences on this post and will be happy to answer any questions either here on the post in my comments section or you can DM me on my IG page. Note- I approached our road trip planning with an overabundance of caution.

Covid Related Road Safety Precaution.

Tip- Plan you breaks ahead of time. Find the biggest rest stops that wouldn’t have a dingy bathroom.

Gas station

While stopping for gas, we took extra precautions. We wore hand gloves and a mask while pumping gas. I wiped the card down after inserting it into the card reader everytime. Also trashed the gloves immediately before entering the car.

Restroom

Our one-way trip was 18 hours so we broke up our trip in to 2 stops. 1 in Amarillo and 1 in New Mexico for the first phase of the drive.

However while returning from Colorado we drove 9 hours to Amarillo . (Pit stop at Sand Dune National Park) and straight to Houston next day.

On our entire road trip we ended up having total 3 restroom breaks. Stopping at hotels helped minimize public restrooms usage too.

Post using the restroom we used hand sanitizers immediately. We didn’t use any rest room that someone did before. I also carried sanitizing wipes and used on doorknobs and toilet seat before using. We wore masks all the time! Vir wasn’t allowed to touch anything.

Tip – With younger kids I recommend bringing a small, portable toilet to use. And be open to roadside bathroom break depending where it is allowed. Carry all toilet essentials.

On Road meals

I packed lot of snacks for the entire trip and a cooked meals that could easily stay fresh for few hours . We carried lots of water, juices to avoid any stops in an ice box. However we did stop at Starbucks and Mc donalds only to grab coffee, snacks and food. We wore masks all the time while getting our food from drive through.

Note none of these restaurants has restrooms open for public.

Staying in Hotels

We dint want to make this our first camping and RVing experience and so we decided the best option for us will be hotels. So far the hotels we stayed in took fantastic precautions. Everyone was wearing masks and it was enforced for all guests even kids. There were face shields between customers and front desk. The check in was smooth. The breakfast places were closed and food was only to go. Some places pools were closed too, while at our Colorado hotel, the pool had to be booked in advance . And only 2 families were allowed for an hour. We stayed in a condo in Colorado at Marriot Inn Breckenridge. Since we had our dog we had only pet friendly hotel options.

Tip – Take the first-floor hotel room next to the exit door to avoid getting in elevators and corridors with others. Call in before booking to check for covid measures taken at the property and booking room on 1st floor.

I carried a bag of cleaning supplies like lysol spray, paper towels , sanitizers and cleaned all the surfaces that would be touched before Vir entered the room.

We found that staying in a hotel and getting food to go felt perfectly safe with the excessive protective measures in place. Yet we booked a condo in Colorado with a kitchen and cooked some meals there too. I carried some ready to eat food like (pasta, pasta sauce, frozen paranthas( stuffed tortillas) noodles etc.

There was no room service until we stayed. For change of linen and towels we called the reception and left the stuff out of the room. Same with trash. It was replaced by the staff in few minutes.

National Park Visits on the way

Note: Some National parks are requiring reservations via advance ticket purchases.

We stopped on our way to Colorado at Paulo Duro Canyon in Amarilo. We checked ahead of time if the parks were open and what were the Covid restrictions. The tickets needed to be purchased in advance. We drove around the canyon and didn’t get out as it was 100 degrees that day.

On our way back from Colorado we stopped at Great Sand Dunes National park. Here the tickets were not needed in advance and was first come first serve basis. We wore masks throughout our trail and social distancing was relatively easy as it wasn’t crowded people were respectful of space.

Road trip Entertainment.

Spotify was the only source of entertainment for us. Apart from listening to my playlist we were hooked on to True Crime Podcast.

You can follow my playlists and podcast I like here

Kids Entertainment.

For Vir we had downloaded his favorite cartoons from Netflix and Amazon prime on his iPad.

Also he played his favorite online games and did reading eggs.

Additionally, Vir enjoyed listening to his favorite songs and stories podcast from Kids Spotify.

You can follow our Prek / Kindergarten playlist here

Things I carried for road trip for Vir

We also carried a car fold-able table that I highly recommend.
Toys -He played with his toys, legos, monster trucks and also did puzzles and coloring on his favorite kid’s magazine Highlights for Children.
Snacks – Juicy Juice boxes, fruits, chips and nuts, cheese and yogurt pouch and granola bars.
Travel Neck pillow for sleeping. Highly recommend this.
Blanket
Bike and helmet for the trip
Cap, sunglasses, sunscreen, change of clothes and shoes.
Kids mask and hand sanitizer

Other Essentials for the road

1)Big Bottle of hand sanitizer and several small for pocket use, Clorox wipes, latex gloves, lysol spray and paper towels

2)Lots of disposable masks and cloth masks, garbage bags

3) Back up phone charger Fast charge power bank from Otter box

4) Lots of water, snacks and fruits.

5) Supergoop sunscreen glow stick , sunscreen spray and Babyganics sunscreen for kids

6) Other essentials like – Mints, gum, chap-stick, pain killers, eye mask, flip flops to get in and out of car comfortably., scarf, glasses, caps, hairbrush, ties.

7) UV window shades

8) Cooler bag to keep food, water cold. Thermos. Tupperware

9) Swiss army knife, emergency window hammer and flashlight

10) Small reusable tote bag/ backapack with essentials for getting out of car and on trails or restroom.

On our way back to Houston from Paulo Duro Canyon

Have a safe road trip friends!

With the school year approaching, we’re ready to beat after-school boredom with some classic DIY- inspired activities and crafts you can do at home with your kids. When the school year turned virtual, Vir and I loved spending the days cooking and creating new crafts – we even set up a camp tent for our “summer vacation!”

Even though I loved the extra time with Vir, I know he missed his friends and teachers while we were at home. Homeschooling my son while working from home has made me realize how much work and effort goes into teaching our kids all day. Our teachers really made the year special, which is why I’m so happy that we’re a part of the new Juicy Juice 100% Thankful Teacher Contest. To honor and thank the teachers that go above and beyond for our kids, Juicy Juice is giving away over $30,000 in prizes to set them up for the best school year yet, and Michaels is even providing gift cards for the teachers.

Do you have a stellar teacher you want to nominate? If so, it’s super easy!!

1) Throughout August, parents can nominate the superhero teachers who have made school special for their kids, whether in-person or through virtual learning.
2) Entrants can go to juicyjuice.com/thankful to nominate teachers until August 31.
3) 20 finalists will be selected and then the grand prize voting begins!
4) All finalists will win an assortment of prizes, with 2 grand prize-winning teachers each receiving $10,000 and others winning a selection of Juicy Juice merchandise, product and a Michaels gift card!

To help get ready for the year, we found inspiration from Juicy Juice to help get in the back to school spirit and find at-home entertainment.

We usually play with the sprinkler in our driveway to cool off in the 95 degrees Houston weather and hydrate with Juicy Juice fruit juice boxes. Juicy Juice is an iconic kids’ beverage brand enjoyed by families for over 40 years. Available in 15 juicy flavors, Juicy Juice 100% juice has no added sugar, ever! I love that Juicy Juice is an excellent source of Vitamin C, making it a great choice as we head back to our school routine.

Below, I’ve shared a few of our favorite crafts and activities that you and your family can enjoy while getting ready for the year. Paired with 100% juice from Juicy Juice, it’s a great way to get ready for a new year!

1) Making tie dye shirts was on our bucket list, and it’s not as messy or daunting as it sounds. Vir was very excited about the project.

You need- White T shirt, Tulip one step Tie Dye kit and plastic bag. I searched on you tube to learn some tie dye techniques and used the spiral one for Vir’s T shirt. The idea is to keep it simple and mess free.

After tying the T shirt with rubber bands, we squeezed the dye bottles to get the color on the T shirt and then let the T shirt soak in the color up to 8 hours in the plastic bag. Later wash the T shirt in cold water and run a cycle too in the washing machine to get rid of the remaining dye and air dry.

2) Juicy Juice Monster Juice Box craft – Vir is fascinated with googly eyes and Halloween and we decided to decorate Vir’s favorite strawberry + watermelon flavor and berry flavor Juicy Juice boxes with felt paper, goggle eyes and colorful Chenille stems. It was one of Vir’s favorite craft activities to date. We are reusing the monster Juicy Juice boxes after they were empty as pen and crayon stands.

3) DIY hand painted bug rocks-These DIY hand painted ladybug rocks are perfect for your garden or indoor pot decor this summer. They’re so adorable, and so easy to make for kids. If you have stones is your front yard this is a great way to re purpose them. Vir learnt some facts about the bugs and insects too as it was the main theme for one of the camp days.
You need smooth rocks, acrylic paint, black color pen, glue, google eyes. (You can also use spray paint for better coverage)

4) Nature Scavenger Hunt – Taking a walk with the kids in the summer is exciting especially when they have the Summer camp Nature Scavenger Hunt sheet. This activity makes them more aware of all the things going on around them that they might otherwise miss. You can download the free Scavenger hunt sheet here.