Cheap(er) vacation ideas with the kids..

[Jarlaxle]

That's exactly where I'm at syrenn...

I have a couple of weeks, I was thinking four days actually there as well.

Wait...two weeks, and only 4 days there? What am i missing? 1000 miles isn't that far...heck, that's a day and a half drive.

 

[Againsheila]

I'm thinking of vacation today. The kids would LOVE to go to Disneyworld...and I really want them to go, at some point...but I'm torn. Given the fact that I can't afford big vacations every year, or even every 2-3 years, I wonder if perhaps we shouldn't do something a little more...cultural....

Like San Francisco! My kids have been raised in small towns, we haven't spent time in any of the cities, and I would love to up their worldliness a little...and San Francisco has so much that they would love. The ferry, the trolleys, and museums and Chinatown...

Then I think..wait...Shannon (Ireland) Lol...we could spend all vacation hiking, or rent horses and ride the miles of bridlepaths...

Then I think wait, that might be something for me to do alone when they're older, they might not be quite so gung ho...

NYC would be fun but honestly, the headache of navigating when I'm not at all familiar....on the other hand there are like dozens of museums, motels right on Times Square..I just fear we may wander off the grid adn nobody will ever hear from us again (I must get Jillian's cell if we go there just in case)...

Then I think wouldn't the kids love PARIS??? Or LONDON?

Then I think wait, I shouldn't spend money on a vacation at all..we should just stay home, lol.

Anyway does anyone have any really good stories/ideas for family vacations?

Vacations for us growing up was always road trips across the country when my dad got transferred from one place to another. We never had the money for anything else. Although, one year, my dad had to go to some kind of training in Texas. He took the whole family and for 2 weeks we stayed in a small hotel room with a color tv and a swimming pool and a restaurant across the way that served "Texas" sized hamburgers. We had so much fun and about all we did was watch tv, swim in the pool and eat at that restaurant. My parents often joked after that that if they ever wanted to take us on another vacation, all they had to do was drive around for miles, pull into a motel with a swimming pool and tell us we were in Texas.

For my kids, we'd take them to a condo on the Ocean in the summer. I'd cook the meals as it was cheaper but we always had a view of the water, access to an indoor swimming pool and a hot tub. I'd get up early with Andrew (our severely autistic son) walk down the beach with him picking up sand dollars for an hour or more. Then we'd come back and I'd take the kids down to the indoor swimming pool and we'd swim for about 1/2 to 45 minutes. Then my husband would show up, take the kids back up to the condo tv/videos while I got my private time in the hot tub. I miss that hot tub.

That sounds wonderful.

A few years ago, I was able to take my oldest son, his fiancee, my granddaughter, and both my younger kids to the beach (my #2 son and his wife were in KY)..this was before I lived here...we had had a rough few years, and I had moved due to a new job.

It was WONDERFUL. We got a nice little suite on the beach, I brought enough money that we were able to do pretty much anything we wanted within reason, there was a little arcade within walking distance, I can't remember if we had a pool, I think we did...we had such a lovely time none of us will ever forget it.

It's very, very tempting just to get a nice room at one of the resorts nearby..or even rent a house right on the beach HERE and invite the family to come stay. I mean, I have a house, but it's just not the same. Plus my house isn't on the beach. And I don't have maid service or a pool.

No driving, no tickets...

But the kids want to go to Disneyland.

We wanted to go to Disneyland too, and dad was stationed in California for awhile. Never did make it, still haven't.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The drive, if gas is $4/gallon, works out to about $400, which is do-able...though you have to figure in all the meals and the campsites as well, but even then...over two days if we pack our own food, I see it as being economical. And we'd have fun I think.

I'm not so crazy about the wear and tear on the rig though, it's not a new exploder and I really don't want to break down somewhere. Not that I have any trouble with it, but it has the miles on it.

I have done many road trips in high-mileage vehicles...my friend's father turned 480,000 miles (that's not a typo) on his van with his Airstream trailer hooked up en-route from New England to the Land Between The Lakes in western Kentucky. I'm probably doing Wisconsin in March...I'll probably have >190K on my Jeep by then. Check the vehicle over thoroughly, make sure all maintenance is done, and go.

 

[syrenn]

Vacations for us growing up was always road trips across the country when my dad got transferred from one place to another. We never had the money for anything else. Although, one year, my dad had to go to some kind of training in Texas. He took the whole family and for 2 weeks we stayed in a small hotel room with a color tv and a swimming pool and a restaurant across the way that served "Texas" sized hamburgers. We had so much fun and about all we did was watch tv, swim in the pool and eat at that restaurant. My parents often joked after that that if they ever wanted to take us on another vacation, all they had to do was drive around for miles, pull into a motel with a swimming pool and tell us we were in Texas.

For my kids, we'd take them to a condo on the Ocean in the summer. I'd cook the meals as it was cheaper but we always had a view of the water, access to an indoor swimming pool and a hot tub. I'd get up early with Andrew (our severely autistic son) walk down the beach with him picking up sand dollars for an hour or more. Then we'd come back and I'd take the kids down to the indoor swimming pool and we'd swim for about 1/2 to 45 minutes. Then my husband would show up, take the kids back up to the condo tv/videos while I got my private time in the hot tub. I miss that hot tub.

That sounds wonderful.

A few years ago, I was able to take my oldest son, his fiancee, my granddaughter, and both my younger kids to the beach (my #2 son and his wife were in KY)..this was before I lived here...we had had a rough few years, and I had moved due to a new job.

It was WONDERFUL. We got a nice little suite on the beach, I brought enough money that we were able to do pretty much anything we wanted within reason, there was a little arcade within walking distance, I can't remember if we had a pool, I think we did...we had such a lovely time none of us will ever forget it.

It's very, very tempting just to get a nice room at one of the resorts nearby..or even rent a house right on the beach HERE and invite the family to come stay. I mean, I have a house, but it's just not the same. Plus my house isn't on the beach. And I don't have maid service or a pool.

No driving, no tickets...

But the kids want to go to Disneyland.

We wanted to go to Disneyland too, and dad was stationed in California for awhile. Never did make it, still haven't.

its never to late......

 

[Againsheila]

That sounds wonderful.

A few years ago, I was able to take my oldest son, his fiancee, my granddaughter, and both my younger kids to the beach (my #2 son and his wife were in KY)..this was before I lived here...we had had a rough few years, and I had moved due to a new job.

It was WONDERFUL. We got a nice little suite on the beach, I brought enough money that we were able to do pretty much anything we wanted within reason, there was a little arcade within walking distance, I can't remember if we had a pool, I think we did...we had such a lovely time none of us will ever forget it.

It's very, very tempting just to get a nice room at one of the resorts nearby..or even rent a house right on the beach HERE and invite the family to come stay. I mean, I have a house, but it's just not the same. Plus my house isn't on the beach. And I don't have maid service or a pool.

No driving, no tickets...

But the kids want to go to Disneyland.

We wanted to go to Disneyland too, and dad was stationed in California for awhile. Never did make it, still haven't.

its never to late......

Considering how bad my back is, I think I'd end up in the hospital if I went on one of those rides. Besides, we don't have the money anymore than my parents had the money when we were kids. That's why we do cheap vacations. Even if I did win the lottery, I think I'd rather go on a cruise than to Disneyland at this stage of the game.

 

[Moonglow]

When I was a kid, vacation ment camping at the lake and fishing.