This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Trekaroo member Bubblace for winning!
Its hard to believe that a little over a month ago, my family and I were on a one week, two thousand mile adventure thanks to Country Inns and Suites. We saw seven states in seven days and were able to try out some really cool products along the way. Here is a quick run down of the products we were given to road test:
The Car- Ford Flex provided by Avis: I had never even heard of a Ford Flex before this trip, let alone driven one. But by the end of our journey, I sounded just like one of those cheesy Ford commercials on American Idol- I just couldn’t stop singing it’s praises. There was plenty of leg room, which is important to a tall family like ours, and the trunk held our ridiculous amounts of luggage with plenty of room to spare. If you need to rent a car while on vacation that is big enough for a family of four or five, I think this car is a great option.
The Video Camera- GZ-HM320 HD Video Camera by JVC: We loved this camcorder! It is so much smaller than the HD camcorder we had at home and it takes great video. We learned how to use some of its fancy features, including time lapse. The camera was portable enough to actually use on vacation and will become a permanent fixture in our camera bag.
The Phone- Samsung Moment provided by Sprint: It had alot of cool features, including a touch screen and a keypad. We did have to load quite a few videos and found that the phone slowed down considerably if too much memory was used. That being said, as long as the user keeps the memory from being bogged down, the phone works pretty well.
The Charger- Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger: This little guy rocked! When your smart phone or IPod dies all you have to do is plug the device into the charger and you have a new charge while out on the road! I love it!
The Water Bottle- Polar Bottle: What I loved about this bottle is that cold drinks actually stay cold. What a concept! We used this to keep our kids’ juice cold while driving across a very hot country. It worked great and kept beverages cool all day long. If only they could create a filtered version of this bottle I would be in heaven!
The Kid’s Entertainment- Travel Kiddy: Travel Kiddy makes activity kits for kids that are specifically designed for different age groups and perfect to take on road trips. All the goodies come packed in a pouch which is small enough to fit neatly inside a suitcase but still jam packed with lots of fun! My kids especially loved the Bath Kiddy. Normally, I don’t pack bath toys on the road and the kids are bored in the tub, but now they look forward to being able to use their special bath toys when we take trips.
The Steal: Win a Road Trip Prize Pack!
Summer is in full swing and its the perfect time of year for a family road trip. To get you started on your adventure, Trekaroo will supply one lucky family with some road trip goodies, including a few things I used while on the Country Inns and Suites 1K.
Number of Winners: 1 winner
Prize:
- $200 worth of Dining Cash from Country Inns and Suites ($200 value)
- a Duracell Rechargeable Instant Charger ($34.99 value)
- a Polar Bottle Insulated Water Bottle ($8.95 value)
- Family Table Topics, Kids Table Topics To Go, and Road Trip Table Top To Go ($43.00 value)
- and my favorite book to take on the road, National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States ($26.00 value)
That’s over $300 worth of road trip goodies!!!!
How to enter:
Leave a comment telling me which routes are your families favorites for road trips. We want to know where Trekaroo families like to head to on the road!
For additional entries, feel free to do any or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra entry but be sure to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ONE.
- Write a review on Trekaroo and post a link to it in the comments (include your Trekaroo username) one entry per review.
- Subscribe to the Trekaroo Blog
- Tweet a link to this Monday Mad Steal via @Trekaroo
- Post this on your Facebook Wall using the Facebook Share link above
- Fan Trekaroo on Facebook
- Follow Trekaroo on Twitter
- Post this giveaway on your blog
- Subscribe to Trekaroo in your reader
Rules and guidelines:
- 18 years of age or older
- US Residents only
Deadline to enter: Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 11:59PM PST
What is Monday Madness?
Every Monday, Trekaroo announces on our blog, either a fantastic giveaway or an incredible deal. It could be a green water bottle, a hotel stay on Maui or theme park tickets. Return every Monday to the Talking Trekaroo Blog for the details. Want a reminder? Become a Trekaroo member or follow us on facebook or twitter.
Thanks to Contest for Moms, Online Sweepstakes, CashNet Sweepstakes, and Sweepstakes Advantage.
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Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
The day had finally come. We were on the last leg of our adventure and anxious to see where we were going to end up. We woke up early, well early for us, and eagerly listened to our first clue. We were to head to the sculpture of the Mustangs of Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. Once again, my expectations were exceeded; the sculpture was incredible. The mustangs ran through the waterscape with such realism that it wasn’t hard to picture the actual mustangs that provided inspiration for the sculpture as they ran across a creek somewhere in North Texas.
Our second Suite Stop of the day was only a couple streets away from the first. It was the Flower Clock, which is located alongside an unassuming intersection across the street from a gas station. The clock itself was almost too pretty to be in such a mundane location, but it brought beauty to a spot that would have never otherwise received a second glance. I ran across the street and snapped a shot of the clock while Paul fueled up the car. We were amped and ready to receive our next clue of the day.
Clue number three lead us to visit a place that this diehard San Francisco 49ers fan never thought she would visit. We were heading to Cowboys Stadium. Yes, it is impressive with its 11,520 square foot HD television screen and the world’s largest dome enclosing its immaculate field, but in my mind, it was nothing more than the Death Star. We chanted the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme) as we pulled into the stadium lot and accepted our fate. Ben was feeling exceptionally grumpy (he was still fixated on that rocket ship) so he was unwilling to pose for a picture, but Mari was happy to oblige. Without prompting, she chose to make a silly face in front of the statue of Tom Landry. Coincidence? I think not!
After our quick visit to the hated Death Star, we decided to head across the street to another place I hate, Walmart, to finally appease my rocket obsessed son. I would personally like to thank whoever is behind the Toy Story Three mass marketing campaign for making a rocket small enough to stuff into my son’s carry on suitcase. Bless you! Bless you! Bless you!
After our short time in Arlington, we received our final Suite Stop. We were to head to College Station, Texas. I have to admit, at first I was dissapointed. We had driven two thousand miles in seven days to end up in College Station, Texas. But I continued to have faith. The trip had been fantastic thus far, why wouldn’t it have a great ending as well? We drove through the vast agricultural expanses of eastern Texas dumbfounded. Then we received another message. Suddenly it all made sense. We driving to College Station to help celebrate the opening of the 500th Country Inn and Suites!
We arrived at the Country Inn and Suites, College Station, in the afternoon heat and happily joined the Williams family in the beautiful new pool. We all had a blast splashing around in the water and reminiscing about our journey with our fellow road warriors. Soon the Svebacks rolled into town and we all gathered to toast our successful journey with the people who helped make it all happen (thank you so much Emily and Dave!). We had some excellent Texas barbeque and celebrated the opening of Country Inn number 500. It was a great way to end a great week.
Its hard to believe its all over. 7 states. 7 days. TWO THOUSAND MILES in a Ford Flex with two three year olds and a GPS that had a mind of its own. Yes it was crazy. Yes there were moments where I wondered how we were going to survive the next one hundred miles. But 95% of the time we were having a great time exploring the Midwest. Would we ever do it again? Absolutely! As I sit in the Houston Airport typing up this post, I am constantly interrupted by two little travelers asking if we can go to another hotel instead of going home. My children have wanderlust, and I couldn’t be prouder.
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Today was a day filled with contrast. We got in touch with our inner cowboy, cried for the tragic loss of so many, and enjoyed the beauty of one of our countries National Recreation Areas. It all started with our first Suite Stop clue of the day (watch it here) which directed us to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The museum is filled with western art, cowboy memorobilia, and rodeo regalia. I literally could have spent all day wandering it’s massive halls. While some of the art exhibits weren’t exactly toddler friendly, there was definitely plenty of great exhibits to keep children entertained for a couple of hours. Prosperity Junction is a replica of a turn-of-the-century cattle town which was built inside the museum. Walking around the town made us all really feel like we were in the Old West. Prosperity Junction had everything any respectable western town could need including a livery stable, saloon, church, mercantile, bank, jail, and railroad depot. We all absolutely loved it.
There is also a separate building housing a Children’s Cowboy Corral. Here, kids can pretend to build a fire near the chuck wagon, try out different saddles, and even put on chaps and boots in the dress up area. Mari especially enjoyed the pink cowboy boots. I personally loved the sections of the museum dedicated to the rodeo and paying tribute to famous movie and tv stars who played western roles. I am still in disbelief that there was entire exhibit dedicated to displaying 1300 different kinds of barbed wire! The National Cowboy Museum really is a great place and definitely worth visiting.
After a couple hours of exploring, we knew that we had to say happy trails to the museum and watch our second clue (here) which led us to Bricktown near downtown OKC. Our mission was to ride the water taxi. It sounded like alot of fun and we were eager to come aboard. Unfortunately, things went downhill quickly. Ben is on the autism spectrum and from time to time he has episodes where he can’t stop fixating on something. Today’s episode involved a toy rocket that he saw at the Kansas Aviation Museum. While we were at the museum, he didn’t even want the stupid rocket but today, it was all he could think about. We were stuck on a water taxi (which, by the way, was more of an advertisement for all the businesses in Bricktown than anything else) in a canal with a child who was freaking out about a toy rocket. I am sure everyone on that water taxi wanted to kill us. Luckily, the taxi makes a stop in front of Toby Keith’s restaurant so we quickly hopped off and opted to walk back to the car with a kid who was hysterical over a toy in Kansas. I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes when you travel with children. It can’t all be sunshine and rainbows.
Even though it wasn’t part of our mission for the day, we just couldn’t leave OKC without visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial which is located where the tragic Oklahoma City bombing occurred, killing 168 on April, 19, 1995. Words can’t describe the emotions that I felt when I stood on those grounds. The memorial itself is poignant and beautiful, with a reflecting pool, survivor wall, and field of empty chairs to represent the lives lost. We didn’t have time to visit the museum (and it probably would have been too much for a three year old to understand). My children don’t understand the concept of death yet so we didn’t explain to them why we were visiting the memorial, only that we needed to be quiet because some special people were being honored there.
The memorial also includes a children’s area with chalk and places for kids to draw to share their emotions about the tragedy and leave images of hope and comfort in honor of those lost. I asked my kids what they wanted to draw. Mari drew a whale (its her favorite thing to draw) and Ben told me he wanted to draw a cross. I couldn’t help but be emotional over his choice. The memories of the emotions we felt while standing on the former ground of the Murray Building will definitely stay with us forever.
We got back in our car (not without being reminded that Ben wanted a rocket no less than 150 times) and then listened to our next clue (here). The news that we were going to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area got this National Park junkie very excited! I will be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Chicasaw is located in southern Oklahoma so in my mind, I imagined a prairie. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Chicasaw was filled with lush green forest and beautiful creeks pouring over travertine terraces which served as perfect swimming holes. We knew we only had a short time to explore this beautiful oasis but we couldn’t leave without taking a hike. The rangers at the Travertine Nature Center suggested we take the 1.2 mile roundtrip out to Antelope Springs. We were surrounded by thick forest during the entire walk which helped keep us a bit cooler in the sticky heat. We followed the trail to the outcrop of rocks from which the spring flowed. Butterflies seemed to flock to the water and put on quite a colorful show for the family. Ben even forgot about his rocket for a few minutes! We lingered a bit longer than we probably should have, but we are an outdoorsy family and at Chickasaw NRA, we were in our element.
Finally, we dragged ourselves back to the car and listened to the fourth clue of the day (here). Just as we had suspected, we were headed to Texas. When we reached the border, we sent a tweet out announcing our arrival per the Suite Stop’s instructions, then received our fifth clue (here). We were to head to Denton, TX and take a picture out in front of its 114 year old courthouse. The courthouse itself is gorgeous and seems to be a popular gathering place for the local college crowd. We ate dinner at a pizza place across the street and then listened to our last clue of the day instructing us to go to the Lewisville Country Inn and Suites which is just outside of Dallas.
Now as I sit here writing this post in the bathroom of our hotel room (its late and the rest of the family is sleeping), I can’t help but feel a little bitter sweet about tomorrow being the last day. Yes, we have spent many hours on the road and every day has been very full, but it has also been incredibly fun. I have really enjoyed spending time with Ross, Kara, and their families and will be sad to have to say goodbye. I am extremely excited to see what the final day has in store for us and where exactly we will end up. I am imagining it must be somewhere in Texas, but Texas is a big state so who knows exactly where our weary heads will rest tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of the Country Inns and Suites 1K Adventure!
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Want to follow us on the adventure as it happens? Be sure to follow @doubleadventure on Twitter and the hastag #CIS1K to see what all the families are up to every day of the Country Inns and Suites 1K!
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Last night we spent our very first night in the Sunflower State. I watched the sun set over the Kansas Speedway from the parking lot of the Country Inns and Suites in Kansas City and then slept like a log until my alarm clock shouted at me to rise and shine. We knew we had alot of driving to do so we wasted no time getting in our Avis rental car and heading on down the road. Our first clue of the day (watch it here) informed us that Kansas City, MO was the city with the most water fountains in the US. As a matter of fact, the only city in the world with more fountains than Kansas City is Rome, Italy (don’t you just love fun facts like that?). We headed to the fountain dedicated to the man behind the City of Fountains, J.C. Nichols, which was located in Mill Creek Park. As we entered the Plaza District, we couldn’t help but notice a park with statues of giant shuttlecocks randomly placed in a field of green. We decided we had to stop and get a picture of such a quirky yet beautiful work of art. We drove a block further and spotted the fountain we were looking for. Mari pointed out that the “horse and bear were fighting but the horse was winning”. I am not exactly sure what the symbolism is behind this battle of the beasts, but I do know it makes for a very pretty place to take a picture.
Clue number two (here) was a very exciting one for our kids. It indicated that we were heading to Sylas & Maddy’s in Lawrence, KS for some ice cream! Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas and the downtown area was filled with plenty of Jayhawk pride. In my part of the country, Orange County, CA, all the architecture is contemporary, so it is always nice to walk through downtown areas filled with old storefronts and small town movie theaters. Once we got to the ice cream shop, we let the kids scan all the ice cream options and make their own flavor decisions. Mari chose mint chip and Ben picked cotton candy. They enjoyed every last lick of that fresh homemade ice cream and it seemed to give them the boost they needed for a long stint in the car.
Clue number three (here) told us that we were headed to Wichita for a visit to the Kansas Aviation Museum. I’ll be honest, at first I wasn’t too excited about an aviation museum because I have never really been into that sort of thing but it was actually very cool. That is part of what makes our Country Inns and Suites 1K Adventure so fun. Kansas was never really on my vacation radar but thanks to this experience, we will forever have fond memories of ice cream in Lawrence and sitting in plane cockpits in Wichita. The museum was filled with cases of model airplanes, antique engines, and cockpits from various airplane models. There was also an area outside where we could walk around all different sorts of airplanes from tiny gliders to massive 727s. Out of the all the planes we saw, our favorite was the 1927 Laird Swallow with its stretch canvas covered wings and wooden propeller.
1927 Laird Swallow, Photo Courtesy of Kansas Aviation Museum
After we closed down the Kansas Avaiation Museum we hopped back in the car and headed down the highway to Oklahoma City. We enjoyed the view of the green rolling hills of eastern Kansas and the checkerboard farmland of northern Oklahoma. Our day had been short in Suite Stops but very long in driving. We had completed our longest day on the road (or so they tell us) and happily settled in to the Country Inns and Suites in Oklahoma City. I am looking forward to getting to know OKC a little bit better in the morning and seeing what direction Country Inns and Suites will send us next. Only two more days to go!
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Want to follow us on the adventure as it happens? Be sure to follow @doubleadventure on Twitter and the hastag #CIS1K to see what all the families are up to every day of the Country Inns and Suites 1K!
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
7AM came early this morning. Luckily, it also came with a ton of excitement. Today was the day I had been hoping for since we first decided to participate in the Country Inns and Suites 1K adventure; we were going to the Gateway Arch! After spending the night in the beautiful riverfront town of St Charles (Main Street was incredibly charming. I had no idea St Charles had so much to offer!), I was excited to step foot in St Louis and see one of country’s most famous landmarks. Two of the main travel goals I was hoping to accomplish while on this journey were to visit a state I had never been to (and I have been to the vast majority of them) and to visit a National Park installation that I had never been to. Seeing the Jefferson Memorial in Missouri accomplished both of those goals.
We arrived at the Jefferson Memorial (see our video clue here) just before nine and were greeted by a television camera man who was there to film a story about our adventure (you can see the online version of the story here). As excited as I was to see the television camera pointed in our direction, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the fact that we were STANDING UNDER THE GATEWAY ARCH!!! It was even more impressive than I had imagined. Most of the time when I visit monuments, I tend to think they look smaller in person than the do on television. This time it was the opposite. The arch is massive and truly beautiful. We went under the arch and into the museum below to get our National Park Passports stamped and buy tickets to go up to the top of the arch. Tip- if you have plans to go up in the arch, get there when it opens. We went up at 9 AM and by the time 10 AM rolled around, the crowds were forming.
The elevator trip up to the top of the arch was unlike any other elevator I had ever been in. Families sit in small pods that seat 6 and go up at a slight angle (since it is an arch) until they reach the top. From the top you can walk through the middle of the arch and peer at the world from 630 feet above. Everyone but Ben loved entire experience. I don’t think he was a huge fan of the elevator pod.
When we got back down to the bottom of the arch, we took some time to explore the Museum of Western Expansion. The museum is filled with great exhibits about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and what life was like for early western settlers. Lewis and Clark began their infamous journey in St Louis, and there is a statue of the pair near the shore of the Mississippi River not far from the arch itself (though when we were there, most of the statue was under water. As a matter of fact, most of the parking lot was under water! We parked our Ford Flex about a foot from the Mississippi River).
After we had thoroughly explored the park around the arch, we dialed in for our secound clue (here). This stop was nothing more than a rest stop along the side of the interstate, but as always this Suite Stop had significance. We were driving down the very first stretch of interstate highway ever built, Interstate 70, and stopping at the rest stop was paying homage to the interstate system that helps make so many road trip vacations a possibility.
The third stop of the day (here) was the first ever Suite Stop to give us options. Our choices? Putt or pedal. We chose pedal because after all, we just hadn’t spent nearly enough time in a vehicle lately. Our stop was at Perche Creek in Columbia, MO, and our mission was to ride the go-karts. We put the pedal to the medal and had an absolute blast whipping around the curves of the racetrack. After our go-kart time was over, we just couldn’t leave the Perche Creek without doing a little putt putt as well. Perche Creek was generous enough to let us ride the go-karts and play mini golf free of charge. If you are ever in Columbia, MO, I highly recommend you stop by for some family fun!
Since our previous day had been so long, Team Country decided to give us all a break and let us arrive at our destination a little early today. We took some of the extra time and visited with a friend from college who now lives in Columbia, then headed on down the highway to Kansas City. Our spirits were high and we were excited about getting in to Kansas City early and maybe even sample some of that famous barbeque. We arrived in Kansas City and pulled off the interstate just as the lady who lives inside the GPS told us to do. After a couple miles of driving off the interstate, things seemed a bit off. We were deep into a residential area and we thought that it was an awfully strange spot to put a Country Inn and Suites. Finally, we pulled over and did some further investigating. It seem that Paul had read the address wrong and failed to notice that we were going to Kansas City, KS, not Kansas City, MO. Oops! We were about 30 miles out of our way with about 50 miles of gas left in the tank. We entered the correct address and followed the GS directions in to Kansas. Unfortunately, the lady who lives in the GPS must really like to explore residential neighborhoods because this time us getting lost had nothing to do with human error. I will be honest, I have never been a GPS girl. As a matter of fact, this is the first trip I have ever taken where I have given complete control over to electronics. 9 times out of 10, the GPS is wonderful and leads us to exactly where we want to go but that tenth time, it makes me want to pull my hair out!!! I am neurotic about knowing exactly where I am at all times and when Miss GPS gets me lost, I go into freak out mode. My advice? Always have a map for backup. GPS nagivation is wonderful, expecially when in a big city, but sometimes the GPS systems are wrong and nobody likes to spend an extra hour and a half in the car if they don’t have to.
Finally, after a phone call to the hotel, we coasted to a nearby gas station on fumes, filled up, and then let out a cheer as we pulled into the Kansas City, KS, Country Inn and Suites for the night. The property is directly across the street from the Kansas City Speedway so Nascar Fans should definitely keep this hotel in mind if they are ever in the area.
Now its bedtime for the Earnshaw Clan. We have had a great time driving through Missouri and I couldn’t be happier to be in yet another state I have never been in. Rumor has it tomorrow is going to be a day filled with lots of driving so wish us luck! I have no idea where we could be heading next but I can’t wait to see where the road takes us.
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Want to follow us on the adventure as it happens? Be sure to follow @doubleadventure on Twitter and the hastag #CIS1K to see what all the families are up to every day of the Country Inns and Suites 1K!
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
