We’ve recently taken on the weekend as the time to get out of the house and explore Montana so this post is about road trip essentials when traveling with your little ones.

In our case, that means hauling our three rugrats from their dungeons (ha!), put on their winter clothes, and strapping them in their car seats before driving to whichever destination we decide to go.

Last weekend, we drove from Kalispell to Bigfork to check out our neighboring town. It was a great 25-minute drive one way and it felt good to be out that day when the sun was out slowly melting the snow but leaving enough to create a magical view in this part of winter wonderland.

Before I blabber on the interesting vacation homes we passed by, allow me to now share my list of road trip essentials when traveling with younger children. Note that this is just for a two or three-hour road trip and you are expected to be back home by the end of the day if you started your trip early afternoon.

 

1. Pack up the bag for all seasons

From a small white, waterproof backpack, we have now graduated to a huge, black bag (still a backpack!) to fit the needs of all three kids.

I pack up the following for Nick and Toni:

 

Since JJ is still fourth months old, the list is longer:

 

And of course, there’s the general list:

Pack everything inside the baby backpack and make sure it’s within your reach when you’re inside the car.

 

2. Stop for drive-thru if you didn’t pack food

We eat homecooked meals most of the time so fastfood is a treat for the kids but even then we don’t go crazy and buy every burger at McDonald’s. In fact, we never go to McDonald’s.

We go to Popeye’s Chicken because their chicken nuggets are made of real chicken meat and not some disgusting pink goo. We like Wendy’s because their burgers are fresh and I like their green tea drink. And then there was the Dairy Queen we passed by on our way home from Bigfork to Kalispell that served shrimp popcorn that cured my homesickness for Philippine seafood for at least an hour.

So… my point? It’s fine not to pack food from your kitchen but it also doesn’t give you an excuse to just pick out just any fastfood (except when you’re really starving and can’t find any Wendy’s at any stops but what’s the point of reading this right?).

Hey, fries and nuggets or chicken strips are staples for our children. We occasionally share cookies but that happens once in a blue moon. You don’t need sugar-infested children because oh boy, that’s a nightmare of a company inside a moving car.

 

3. Bring along a stack of bottled water

Okay, okay, I don’t mean crowding your rear seats with stacks of bottled water which are more than enough to help you survive the next zombie apocalypse. What I’m saying is to being around some bottled water just in case anyone gets thirsty on your trip. The twins have water tumblers which we fill almost to the brim but anyone with toddlers know that they will be soaking wet before you even close your house’s gate.

So the tumblers are parked in an area inside the car where they can’t reached and they can have a drink during designed stopovers, which is usually a park or the parking lot of a fastfood establishment.

We also keep the bottled water for ourselves. You never know when you need water. The Dollar Store sells six small bottles for a dollar so we have a good supply of bottled water in our car.

 

4. Ditch the electronic devices

I don’t know about other parents but Jeff and I agreed to keep tablets and othdr electronic devices away from our children during these road trips. We’d like them to stare out of the window and point at the horses, birds, or turkeys we see along the way. Montana is such a beautiful state and it’s a pity if you don’t get to see and appreciate it because you’re glued to Facebook or Instagram.

While I took some pictures in this Kalispell-Bigfork road trip, I noticed that I haven’t taken any photos of our previous road trips. Jeff asked me why as it is unusual for me to take photos and I simply said: “I forgot. The views were breathtaking.”

I’m a big book person and I carry one or two in my backpack (which I recently got online and it has watermelon prints all over it!) but in these short road trips, I encourage you to focus your attention on the scenery, the people outside your car, and the people inside your car. You’ll be surprised how many stories you can tell and share just by taking in the sights and scenes and observing how people move and talk to each other.

Last Sunday, as we were driving from Kalispell to Bigfork, the sky opened to say hello to America’s mere mortals. There’s a reason this part of the world is called Big Sky Country.

It’s a joy to be a witness to God’s beautiful creation.