Live Moore Fully

Day 1. We live in Central Texas so the first day of the roadtrip is spent just trying to get out of Texas! We left about an hour later than we had originally planned due to a work delay, but that also gave Emmy time to get a decent morning nap in before we left the house and gave me an opportunity to get the car set up before leaving. I have found that it’s best to have as many things prepared ahead of time as possible– for everything! For example, in prepping the car each morning, I go ahead and fill the snack bowls and milk and water cups. It’s less stressful to grab a cup or bowl that’s ready to go and hand it to a whiny child than to search for a cup, pour the milk while traveling and listening to the cries. One of my favorite car prep practices is to place a disposable changing pad in the carseats. This serves two purposes- protects the carseat in the event of a diaper leak and helps contain all the spillage of snacks and drinks. Both kids had diaper leaks on day 1, but the carseats were fine and did not need to be taken apart and cleaned! I have purchased this brand and they are large enough to cut in half and put half in each seat.

Another tip that has turned out to be handy already- I have a large ziplock bag that I put one change of clothes in for each child and it sits in “The Bin” (more on The Bin later). We needed a mid travel outfit change for each kiddo on day 1. It was so happy to have those outfits handy and easy to access in the front seat rather than having to pull a suitcase out and dig through it just for a quick change. 

We traveled about 5 hours on Day 1 (Dripping Springs to Odessa). We should have stopped earlier for a diaper change (hence the outfit changes) but the weather was cold and rainy and we just didn’t want to get the kids out of the warm car more than necessary. So, we made a stop for lunch, stop for gas and stop for supper with friends. We then checked in to our hotel in Odessa. This hotel was likely the happening place back in the day! It was quite dated but it was clean and it had indoor putt putt and a huge indoor playscape for the kids. This gave perfect opportunity for the kids to run around and play before and after breakfast. Best of all, it had an amazing complimentary breakfast! Made to order omelets were a hit for our family! Also, we waited until last minute to book this hotel on Expedia and got a great deal! 

We arrived at the hotel around 8 and got unloaded as quickly as possible. We have a pack n play for Emmy that we have to haul in each night but we are putting Jackson in a regular size bed. Both of the kids are still in cribs at home but Jackson is too big for a pack n play. We brought two mesh bed rails since he is used to sleeping in his crib at home and Momma feared he would fall off the bed. The mesh bed rails are light weight and take up very little space in the car! Most hotels do have a roll away crib that you can reserve but some are on first come basis. They also are more narrow than a regular crib and our kids have done better sleeping in a pack n play in the past. Our kids are so used to sleeping in places that are not their rooms or their beds because we are on the go quite often. We try to bring as many things as we can without going overboard to make their beds feel like home wherever we are staying. Blankets, stuffed animals, sleep sack (Emmy), pacifiers, sound machine and we even travel with a monitor. This way, if we want to sit out side the hotel room for a bit in the evening after the kids go to bed, we can do so at ease!

Day 2.  We started Day 2 off mid morning. After Emmy kept all of the family up most of the night before, we decided to sleep in. The kids let us sleep as late at 8:15 am. After breakfast and loading up the car, we were enroute to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains NP. This time of year the crowds were non-existent and we had no wait time at all. Since we were each carrying a kid on our backs and we wanted to get to Guadalupe Mountain NP for sunset, we decided to take the elevator down and do the shortcut loop in the Big Room. The elevator took us 700+ ft down into the cavern. No strollers are allowed in the cavern so we were glad we brought our kid carrying hiking backpacks. We have one Osprey POCO and one Kelty TC 20. We bought both of these used and they are in great condition. Check Facebook Marketplace and consignment sales. We paid way less than 50% of retail price for each of these and we use them often! It took us about 45 minutes to do the shortcut loop in the Big Room and we stopped for several photographs. It was a perfect amount of time with the kids. Jackson wasn’t sure about going in at first but he quickly got over his fear and liked the cavern. Emmy mostly enjoyed being loud after they told us to try to whisper. After the cavern visit we went ahead and checked into our hotel and got beds set up and the necessities unloaded from the car. Each day we strategically pack the car so that the items needed at night are most easily accessible. For example, our suitcases go on the hitch haul. We purchased this waterproof hitch haul bag which is amazing. We have driven through a lot of rain on this trip so we are happy that we bought these water proof storage bags for the hitch haul and the roof top. We put items on the rooftop that we do not need daily (double umbrella stroller, kid carrier backpacks, propane heater).

We took a short drive into Guadalupe Mountains NP to grab some sunset shots and then back to the White’s City where we were staying and had supper. We enjoyed a really good meal and some conversation with a few of the other patrons. The restaurant is the only one around yet it was quite empty. As we were waiting for our food and juggling and hushing loud children so not to disturb others, a gentleman came by our table on his way out. He mentioned that his children are grown and he misses the little baby noises and grunts and squeals. He told us that the kids would likely not remember anything from this trip but that we would make great memories and he encouraged us to continue to travel with them. Another gentleman was sitting nearby, eating alone. I always hate to see people alone; I never like for anyone to feel lonely. He began talking with us, asking about the age of the kids. He was friendly and we carried on conversation with him for a while. As he got up to leave he said this, “Right now, this time with the two of you and your kids, this is the best. Then it will be just the two of you and that is good too. But now, I’m by myself and it’s just not as much fun.” I was sad for him. I know these days are great with the babies and we love it. I want to love it too, though, when they are grown and it’s just the two of us again. I’m confident that we will!

Stay consistent with discipline, even while on vacation, or things are going to get crazy! Here is Jackson with his nose in the corner of the dinner booth. He has a bad habit of not swallowing his food so sometimes he has to stand in the corner until he does swallow.

After supper, it was back to the hotel for an early night and some much needed rest for everyone!