Karen wrote:

> aem wrote:
> > Cash or a credit card. For several reasons it's much better to stop
> > for a while and get something to eat. Take apples or bananas, maybe,
> > and some water. But don't be planning on driving nonstop for many
> > hours without any kind of break or walking around time. -aem
>
> Stopping at restaurants can take up a huge amount of time. An 8 hour
> drive can turn into 10.

Only if you stay for two hours.
Driving for 8 hours straight is a bad idea. The driver gets bored and risks
falling asleep. Kids get bored and restless. It is a good idea to stop
every few hours and walk around for a few minutes and get the blood
flowing.

> We drove across country every summer. The trick with kids is to get an
> early start to the drive. I mean daybreak. Kid sleeps for two hours in
> the car.

That is a good way to travel. Five years ago I went on a trip to Europe
with two of my brothers and their wives. My wife could not get the time
off work. While both brothers, one SiL and I were all early risers, were
late getting going every morning because the other SiL liked to sleep later
and have a leisurely breakfast. We never hit the road until about 11 am.
That late start meant driving all day and then grabbing a hotel around 7 pm
and not having time to look around.

I took my wife back two years later and did a similar circuit. She and I
were down for the breakfast buffet just about as soon as it was opened. We
had a nice leisurely breakfast, then back to the room to get our stuff,
check out and were on the road by about 8 am. We could travel for about 6
hours to get to our next destination, stop for a bite, grab a hotel and
have the rest of the afternoon and the evening to enjoy the place.