What to Take to Maine

We took a lot of stuff.

As you can see we have the Subaru station wagon with a large rooftop box and 4’x8′ trailer with bike rack and bins.

That’s a lot. Why so much?

First off, we were going for two weeks. That’s a lot of time to play with a lot of different things.

We were lucky in that the house we were staying at is owned by grandparents whose grandchildren stay and play a lot at the house. There already was a sandbox with plenty of sandbox toys.

There were inside toys as well, which the kids routinely spread throughout the house.

The house also included kayaks, so we didn’t need to bring ours. But we did bring all of our life jackets to insure we each had one that fit correctly (1 bin) when we went kayaking.

We brought all of our bikes. Jen and I each brought a bike with child carriers on them.

I brought the girls balance bikes as well as my balance bike to ride around with them.

We also had the bike trailer.

We brought a double jogging stroller for off-road stroller excursions.

We brought lots of warm and chilly weather clothes. During the day it’s warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, but nights and mornings often require jeans and sweatshirts.

We also brought the tent and sleeping bags for camping.

The girls love camping.

A kid backpack.

And a lot of shoes.

What would I have done differently?

I wouldn’t have taken the balance bikes. The driveway(s) wasn’t flat enough to make them very useful.

I wouldn’t have taken the double stroller. We only used it once and only because I felt compelled since we brought it.

I wouldn’t have taken the bike trailer. The girls totally prefer the bike seats on our bikes over the trailer. Once they ride up front they can’t stand to ride out back.

I didn’t need to take the safety gates. The house had one at the top of the stairs and I couldn’t get one to work at the bottom of the stairs. Everything else (i.e. the deck) was adequately child proofed already.

Minus those things, we could have traveled with less. As tempting as it it to leave the trailer behind, it’s actually better gas mileage to use it than the roof rack and rooftop box, so the trailer would stay – box and rack gone.

That being said, we may have been able to take the Prius. Then maybe the hybrid battery wouldn’t have died, then maybe…

Oh well. What is, is done. We’ll just keep it mind for next time.

– b

ps. all 600+ pictures are up in the gallery. See them here.