19 States, 21+ stops, with 4 kids, in 2 weeks. Can we make it?

When I was 6 years old, my parents took my sister and me on a road trip to Mount Rushmore that I have always held dear in my memories. We still laugh about Dad’s shoes getting stolen and his ugly boat shoes he wore for the rest of the trip. Not to mention seeing Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse (in it's beginning stages at that point!) and the Badlands. My husband and I have never regretted a trip we have taken so far, because we usually come out of the other side of it with memories to last a lifetime. We want to create some new memories with our own kiddos and knock some major items off the bucket list at the same time. 

Soooooo..... We're going on a road trip!!! That's right, We're leaving the Hearth and moving our Caravan across this great country to see things we have never seen before!! We are so unbelievably excited. We have talked about taking a trip like this for years, but it seems that it's all coming together to happen this summer. Here, we're going to keep you in the loop step by step, and give you our best advice, tips, and tricks. 

We're in the midst of Phase 1, which is the planning phase, there are several tools we are finding very valuable.

•  Roadtrippers.com is a very fun and functional website for planning stops along your road trip. You can choose destinations along the way and add/remove stops seamlessly. There are a few features that I would love if they would add, like being able to choose a specific road/route more easily, but it's the absolute best way I've found for mapping out a trip with multiple stops.
• Additionally, we have used google maps (duh!) because it's awesome,
• Maps on our iphones is perfect for finding mileage and estimated time between stops, and sometimes choosing your routes.
• We have also been riffling through Pinterest and leaving no stone unturned for highlights of the towns we plan to visit.
• Not to mention, drawing from our friends' personal experiences from around the US! 

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed and a little behind! We probably should have started planning months ago... But, hey, you live you learn! Only a couple weeks ago, our plan was to go to Mount Rushmore and back. We've expanded that just a tad... Now our trip is cross country and includes 19 different states, with more than 21 highlighted stops along the way. I think we might be insane to even attempt it, but we're going for it anyway! Kentucky to California, up the coast and back again !!

And one of the best parts is that we want to share our trip with you! We will be blogging all along the way, and sharing videos and photos across our social media channels!

Watch the trip as it unfolds here:

• Facebook
• Periscope
• Snapchat
• Instagram.

We can't WAIT to share the fun with you! Stick with us here on the blog to see how we're going to get it all accomplished. Check out our tentative schedule of stops. Do you have any suggestions of awesome things to do and see or places to eat? Please share them with us here in the comments! If you know anyone who may be interested in going along for this ride with us (through our blog, Unfortunately, Rosie,our van, will be packed solid,) share this blog post!