Our Country Inns & Suites 1K Adventure

Going on a road-trip vacation is always exciting.  It's what we used to do as a family growing up, mapping out our destinations, planning our stops - the anticipation before the trip is almost just as much fun as the trip itself.  Fast forward to today and our 1K Adventure Across America which starts next Saturday, sponsored by Country Inns & Suites by Carlson.  It is all very exciting, but there's a glitch - we don't know where we are going!

Country Inns & Suites by Carlson has mapped out our destinations beforehand, but we will not know them from day to day, sometimes from morning to afternoon.  It's like the Amazing Race, but different!  We are going on this trip with two other couples - Sharlene Earnshaw, who runs a travel site called Trekaroo. She and her husband Paul reside in California with their 3-yo twins.  You can learn more about the Earnshaw family here.  Also joining us is Kara Williams, from http://www.thevacationgals.com/.  Kara, her huband Quent and children are traveling all the way from Colorado.  You can learn about the Williams family here.

There are some tidbits of information we have been told.  We will be spending our evenings enjoying the comforts of home at Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, relaxing in their beautiful rooms and enjoying the numerous amenities.  We are going to be traveling around in vehicles sponsored by Avis, and will be receiving our destination messages via smartphone technology. JVC will be supplying us with a state-of-the-art camcorder to film our adventure.

As a lifestyle expert, I had to think of some ideas that could help make traveling more enjoyable and so I will also be recording my experiences in keeping my 14-yo teenager entertained by bringing our Nintendo DSi XL's - which will be our enhanced way of spending quality time together. 

As many parents can attest to, one of the expenses on a road trip like this is beverage consumption and having a variety of beverages to please everyone.  I am going to be bringing what I think is one of the greatest inventions to come out lately - the SodaStream Pure.  Small and compact, it carbonates water in convenient, reusable BPA-free bottles which you then add their convenient, ready-to-use syrups to make whatever flavor soda or lightly, flavored water of your choosing.  You can even make energy drinks!  This is going to save us not only a lot of money, but a lot of room since we will not be using AND wasting so many bottles.

Follow me on Twitter under Sveback or look for me on Facebook, so you too can join us on this amazing adventure across our great country! Book your summer vacation with Country Inns & Suites today: