9 days on the road with a 6-month-old from Wisconsin to Texas and back. This was definitely going to be a challenge. There would obviously be more planning and logistics involved with this. However, that didn't deter me. Our son Austin did well on the trip to my hometown of Marshfield. He also did well with me being gone overnight in Illinois.
Victoria and I both figured we could make things work to visit Texas. Austin would then be able to meet his great-grandparents and great aunts and uncles. We would be specifically traveling to Bryan, TX, with a quick stop in Plano, TX. We planned to drive around 6 hours each day. Since the drive is 18 hours, we'd take 3 days down and 3 days back. This was a familiar route we had driven many times. We knew there'd be enough stopping points to feed Austin every 3 or so hours.
We booked the hotel rooms way ahead of time. On the way down, our stopping points would be Kansas City and Norman, OK. On the drive up, we'd stop in Edmond, OK, and then at the same hotel in Kansas City. We chose Edmond on the way back since hotel rooms in Norman were expensive. I think there was an OU football game around that time.
This would probably be the most planned road trip I'd take. If you know me, I typically just hit the road with a backpack and a few other things. Victoria and I had to sit down and really figure out everything we needed for the trip.
One thing was formula. Trying to scoop formula and mix up a bottle sounded super messy to do in the car. Luckily, we have disposable formula bags. We were able to prefill these bags with formula. Then, all we'd have to do is add water and shake the bag. As you can see, we premade a lot of bags.
We just purchased a new minivan, and we'd be taking this for our trip. It has way more room than my Focus. We definitely needed that for everything we packed. I swear we had more stuff with us now than when I moved down to Austin, TX!
Besides the baby, we were also bringing our dog, Maya. She and Austin would share the back seat.
Since this is Victoria's new van, she wanted to drive. I was perfectly fine with that. That meant I could sit back and observe many things I'd typically miss since I was paying attention to the road.
We made a quick pit stop at Kwik Trip for breakfast and then hit the road.
Our first feeding stop was the Wisconsin Welcome Center near Dubuque, Iowa. It was nice out, so we fed Austin outside.
On this trip, I would learn how hit-and-miss things were in terms of family friendliness. Some places were great. They had family bathrooms with changing tables. Other places really had nothing at all. This particular rest stop was in the middle. It had a designated area of the counter for changing.
Each stop to feed and change Austin would be around an hour. So after spending an hour at that Wisconsin rest stop, we were soon in Iowa.
The Dubuque County Courthouse is one of my favorites. I love being able to see it from the road.
You only drive through Dubuque a while before you're into the rolling hills of Iowa.
For some reason, the GPS took us on US-30 instead of I-80.
I guess we didn't notice. Sadly, you have to second-guess everything. It'll often take you a different way than you originally planned. Other times, it suggests complete idiotic things. For example, turning down a back road and adding over an hour to your trip:
Going on US-30 was the first kink in our plans. We knew I-80 had a fair amount of rest stops. Fortunately, we were able to stop in Toledo, Iowa. We first went to Hardee's for our lunch and then fed Austin in the parking lot of the Kwik Star.
After we were all nice and full, we hit the road again. We ran into an interesting tractor convoy along the way.
We also spotted a convoy of vehicles in tow. Judging by my past experience, I had a feeling these vehicles were headed to Mexico.
We were soon in Missouri.
It was time to mix up another bottle and feed Austin again.
We also got out and took a picture by the Missouri sign.
We were back on the road, and things were clouding up around Kansas City.
We were soon at our first stopping point for the night. The room at the hotel was pretty nice.
They luckily had a crib, which saved us from setting up the pack-and-play.
We started looking for somewhere convenient to get food. I noticed a pizza joint just down the road called Minsky's. I got The Louie Pizza. It is a St. Louis-style cracker crust pizza. I also got some jumbo wings. The food was absolutely amazing!
While the bottles we used had disposable bags, the nipples were reusable. We'd have to wash the nipples every night before bed and let them dry overnight.
The clouds from the night before hung around. It was rainy when we woke up in the morning.
I quickly loaded the van and then pulled it to the front of the hotel, where the canopy was. This allowed Victoria to get Austin and Maya loaded into the car. It started to absolutely pour. We decided to skip the hotel breakfast and get something to eat on the road. There was a McDonald's across the street, so we had that.
The drive in Missouri was wet, but it got drier as we moved to Kansas.
We got on the Kansas Turnpike and eventually stopped at a travel plaza.
This specific travel plaza had a "family bathroom" with no changing table. It was also cramped in the regular bathroom for the changing table. Luckily I had a pad in our diaper bag and was able to change Austin on the floor.
While we could feed Austin outside in Wisconsin, it was too hot everywhere else. So we'd feed him in the van with the air conditioning running. Austin is very observant and likes to take in the scenery. We quickly found that we had to feed him in the back seat. If we didn't, he'd get distracted looking around at everything happening. I also found his burp cloth doubled up great to block both the sun and distractions.
We were back on the road again and in the area where you could see for miles.
We decided to stop at the last travel plaza in Kansas. We'd feed Austin again and have another meal at McDonald's.
Before you know it, we were in Oklahoma.
We stopped briefly to feed Austin and take a quick restroom break. After we were at that rest stop for a while, it started raining. Then, it began to really rain, probably some of the worst rain I'd driven through.
We figured it was time to check into our hotel once we got to Norman. We pulled into the hotel and were soon checked into our room.
Again, the room was pretty nice.
When I got to Norman, I realized that we forgot Austin's pacifier. Luckily, we had a few extra in the luggage cart.
This hotel didn't have a crib. We set up the pack and play we brought.
Since we decided to get to the hotel a bit earlier, we had time to see the courthouse. The Cleveland County Courthouse is Art Deco, and it's gorgeous. We parked on the side and took some photos.
We were near another courthouse as well, the McClain County Courthouse. We also popped over there for a photo.
We were getting hungry and wanted dinner and stopped at the first place we saw, Braum's. I'm not sure if there are any in Wisconsin, but there are a lot of Braum's around Kansas and Oklahoma.
We tried getting our food and feeding Austin at the Braum's, but it ended up being really hot even with the air conditioning on. After we ate our food, we decided to feed Austin in the shade of the hotel's parking garage.
After a few hours, Victoria and I were hungry and wanted to eat more. There was a Whataburger around the corner. We stopped there.
Near where we parked, I noticed there was a snake. I took a picture of it.
We then went back to the hotel and called it a night. The following day, we got up and got Whataburger again. I can't get enough of it! I got chicken this time.
We got on the road, knowing we'd be getting to Bryan by early afternoon. The drive there was nothing too crazy.
It didn't take long to drive into Texas.
I make an effort to take pictures by state welcome signs. We ended up stopping near Ardmore at a rest stop.
We hit the road and eventually stopped at Buc-ee's in Terrell. If you don't know, Buc-ee's is a large gas station. It has like 80 gas pumps along with a large convenience store.
Maya got to enjoy Buc-ee's as well. They're very pet-friendly.
I personally think the food is overrated. However, I got a smoked sausage and Big Red, since you can't get that around Wisconsin. So I had to try it.
We continued down the road and eventually arrived in Bryan. Victoria's grandparents live in the typical suburban neighborhood with big yards.
We spent a few nights in Bryan. We were able to visit with her grandparents, and we drove to Plano to see her aunts and uncles. The drive to Plano was quick and had nothing too crazy.
When we were there, we stopped at Slovacek's. I'm pretty sure I've been there before when I lived in Austin. I couldn't remember what to get. We stopped and got food from there on our way back.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to bore you with what happened in Bryan and Plano. Let's skip to the road trip back to Wisconsin. I'm going to assume you're interested in that more so than a bunch of small talk.
We had to drive out of Bryan and into Waco to get on I-35 back home. By the way, Dr. Pepper was created in Waco. We stopped at Buc-ee's and then eventually got on I-35. After that, it was a straight shot until we got to Oklahoma.
We ended up stopping in Norman again, but it was at a different hotel. The room was again pretty nice.
As for dinner, we used a search engine and found a chicken place called Slim Chickens. We decided to get that. I got the chicken strip meal, and Victoria got the wings.
We woke up the next day and went to Andy's Frozen Custard. I actually got a breakfast platter for myself there.
Victoria wanted Starbucks before we left.
I'm so used to having Kwik Trip coffee, so I wasn't about to pay that much for Starbucks. Seeing that we'd be driving for a while, I stopped at OnCue and got gas and coffee. Admittedly, that coffee isn't that great either. But, at least it's cheap.
As we were driving around, I did spot the Cleveland County Courthouse. This would be our third courthouse in Norman. I drove by one day, but we never stopped. So Victoria let me quickly stop at the courthouse to get some photos.
After a bit of driving, we stopped at a travel plaza to change Austin. While I was there, I looked around at what they had. Unfortunately, a lot of stuff is generic, so I didn't see anything specific to Oklahoma. There was a Jason's Deli. I've never been there, so we got lunch and fed Austin in the parking lot.
Once we got on the road, Austin started acting up a bit. So, we stopped to feed him again at a random parking area. We pulled out the pack and play again and put it in the hotel room.
I took Maya outside. She got to relieve herself by the highway.
As we were driving, it started to look kind of bad outside. I was watching the radar, and it seemed like we were heading toward a storm. We kept driving, and I decided to pull over and look at the radar. It looks like we were going directly toward the worst of it. So, I kept checking every so often.
I was right about the storm. Eventually, we drove through some pretty nasty weather. This might have even been worse than the one we encountered on the way down in Oklahoma.
We stopped at Pappasitos, a Mexican food restaurant, for dinner.
We were all full and pretty tired. We quickly got to the hotel. For some reason, we didn't get any pictures of the hotel. We must have been too tired to remember to take any.
We got up in the morning and got breakfast at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. I got a breakfast taco.
Then, we stopped at Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. We didn't eat there but wanted to take pictures.
We then got back on the road and pretty much drove until we hit the College Station area. We stopped at the Cotton Patch Cafe. I'd been to one in 2014, and I thought the fried pickles were pretty good.
We decided to get them again, and they were still good!
We also got a sandwich. I think we decided to share it. I also don't think we finished it since the fried pickles were pretty big.
It was around this time that Austin got sick. He'd been coughing for a few days, and Victoria started to notice. She knows what she's doing. She's a physical therapist and works in the hospital. After debating for a bit, we decided to make a pit stop at Urgent Care and see if Austin had any sort of infections or things we should worry about.
We stopped at Urgent Care in College Station. After Austin was checked out, the urgent care doctor said that we should just take him to the E.R. We weren't in the area anymore, so we pulled over at a random parking lot. I quickly looked for the nearest E.R. and decided to take him to the Medical District in Bryan. The great thing was it wasn't too far away from where we were staying.
We drove to the hospital and were quickly rushed back to see a doctor. They took Austin's vital signs and checked him to see how he was doing. Luckily, they said he was doing fine. We were then told to keep monitoring him, which we did. From what it sounds like, he probably just had a cold.
This was a great learning experience for me. I learned that babies can't really clear their noses like adults. So, you should suck out the snot from their noses. We stopped at a Walgreens and got a thermometer and some Tylenol to help Austin for the trip back home. After that was settled, we continued on our drive.
We were back in Bryan, and we stopped at a few places. Victoria wanted to introduce me to Blue Baker. If you want a good bagel, this is the place to go.
The bagel I got was super good.
We also hit up H-E-B. It's Texas' version of Kwik Trip. People basically make a pilgrimage to H-E-B when they're in Texas.
As you can see, we did stock up. I got a bunch of H-E-B-branded items. I also made sure to buy some Texas beer. Who knows when I'll be out there again?
We also went to Aggieland Outfitters, the Texas A&M's College Bookstore.
The biggest thing we were looking for is a onesie for Austin. We found a pretty funny one.
Victoria wanted to get more Freebirds. She hasn't had it in a while, and she misses it. So, we also stopped at Freebirds.
After all that, we were done in Bryan. We drove back to Edmond, Oklahoma. Our room was pretty nice. It was spacious with all the stuff we had.
We also got dinner from Andy's.
On our trip home, I definitely regretted not getting more Whataburger. I'm not sure when I'll be back in Texas, but that Whataburger was calling my name.
Before we went to bed, Victoria checked Austin over. Luckily, we got that thermometer and Tylenol. I think he was running a bit of a fever.
We were still able to put him in his pack and play, and he was able to sleep.
The next morning, we got breakfast. I stopped at OnCue and got a breakfast burrito. I thought it was pretty good.
We hit the road and started driving. The trip was pretty normal at the start.
Then, we drove into some insane rain again.
We had to stop at a travel plaza to feed and change Austin.
I got more Slovacek's beef sticks.
We fed Austin, and the rain started getting lighter. We hit the road again, and I kept watching the radar. The cloud definitely looked threatening at times, but things seemed alright.
We wanted to get food before getting out of Texas, so we stopped at Raising Cane's.
We were soon in Oklahoma and stopped at the welcome center to feed Austin.
We then made it to Edmond. This is where we'd be staying for the night.
The room also had a nice area to put the pack and play.
I stayed at the hotel with Austin and Maya. Victoria went to Freddy's Steakburgers to get dinner. I've never tried Freddy's before. Their fry sauce on their shoestring fries was pretty amazing!
Since the next leg of the drive from Oklahoma to Kansas City would be the shortest, we had time to spare. I thought about other courthouses we could visit along the way. I started seeing what courthouses made the most sense. I found Logan and Noble counties were barely out of the way. Our normal route would take 4.75 hours.
Adding those 2 courthouses would only add about 15 minutes and bring the trip to 5 hours!
We went to bed, and the next morning, we got up and had breakfast from OnCue. I got a breakfast taco (more like a burrito) and a piece of pizza. It was pretty good.
We hit the road, and our first stop was Guthrie for the Logan County Courthouse.
Next was Perry with the Noble County Courthouse.
There was a cool wrestling monument across the road from the Noble County Courthouse.
We hit the road for a little longer, and Austin started getting fussy. We stopped at a parking area to feed him.
We were soon on the road and in Kansas!
We had to go to the bathroom and were getting hungry, so we stopped at a travel plaza.
We did some more driving in the vast openness of Flint Hills. We eventually had to stop at another travel plaza to feed Austin.
We hit the road and kept driving. All of a sudden, something started to smell a bit. Thankfully the travel plazas aren't too far apart. We were able to stop and change Austin.
Before you know it, we were in Missouri and back to the same hotel we stayed at on our trip down.
Minsky's Pizza was so nice, so we had to have it twice. This time I got the deep dish Papa Minsky's pizza.
Once I figured out why Austin cried in the middle of the night, the nights became uneventful. He would still cry once or twice throughout the night. I would then just reposition him in the pack and play, and he'd be good. I was happy I figured this out!
The following day, we stopped at QuikTrip (the other one, not Kwik Trip) for breakfast.
I got a breakfast taco and a piece of breakfast pizza.
It was kind of a dark and misty morning as we headed north in Missouri.
We made it to Iowa and stopped at the first rest stop to feed Austin.
We then started driving and smelled something again. Thankfully, another rest stop was nearby.
After a while, it was starting to get pretty desolate, so we found a Casey's to get some food and feed Austin.
That Casey's was so packed, it was hard to get gas. We weren't close to empty, but we kept an eye out for the next gas stop. We ended up at a Kwik Star.
A little bit more driving, and we were back in Wisconsin. We made another pit stop at the rest stop we first stopped at on our way down. Then, it was time to feed Austin again.
We were finally in the home stretch! We followed US-151, and I was happy when we crossed into Dane County.
We stopped at Kwik Trip in Verona to get a car wash.
Soon we were back home in Belleville!
We pulled in and got everything out of the van. I took a look at my haul from H-E-B.
I would say this trip went well overall. After all of this, I noticed that Austin has become way more observant of his surroundings. He really seemed to enjoy looking out the window. Sometimes it was frustrating when he'd stop eating to watch something. But, on the other hand, it was great to know he's taking everything in.
The biggest thing I learned is consistency is key. Try to maintain as many routines from home as you can. Whatever you do at home, try to emulate it as much as possible on the road. Also, make good routines for the road. We were able to keep Austin's feeding and sleep schedule pretty consistent. I think this helped us a ton.
One thing that wasn't consistent was the size of the place where he was sleeping. It was smaller than his crib. We saw the most issues from when he tried to roll like he usually would and couldn't. He'd then become frustrated and started crying. This was easily fixed by repositioning. Once we found this out, we'd still have to wake up to his crying, but we could get him back to sleep in a few minutes.
For road routines, you want to be organized and have a standard process each time you stop. Every time we pulled into somewhere to feed Austin, I'd mix up a bottle. I then fed him in his car seat in the back. In the meantime, Victoria took Maya out to go to the bathroom. Since I had a water bottle to mix up Austin's bottle, I'd also give Maya some water when she returned.
Depending on how Austin was eating, one of us would take him inside to change him. We would alternate who went inside. This meant we could always leave the van running with the air conditioning. Being able to tag team stuff definitely helped us.
We had everything organized in suitcases and totes, so we knew where everything was. It made it easier to bring things in and out of hotel rooms. When we got to the hotel, I'd usually check in while Victoria waited in the van. I'd then go to the room to see where it was. From there, I'd go out to the van, and Victoria and I would bring Austin and Maya inside.
I'd then start bringing in stuff while Victoria watched Austin and Maya. She then began setting things up, like the pack and play. We'd then figure out what we wanted to eat and what we wanted to do. Finally, after Austin's last feeding, we'd wash the nipples and let them dry overnight.
The next morning, we packed everything up and followed the same routine. Obviously, this was way different compared to my regular travel. It was regimented and full of routines. But, in terms of traveling with the whole family, it was necessary, and I'd consider this trip a success.
My biggest fear when we did get home was Austin reverting with his sleep training. However, that wasn't the case, and he started sleeping fine through the night again. I know traveling with a baby can be hectic, but it worked out well for us. I really hope I can instill the love of travel in Austin. I look forward to trips in the future with him and the rest of the family.