Summer Road Trips near Temecula, CA
Advice for Parents
Summer wouldn’t be summer without family vacations. And often this involves family road trips. With so many great road trip destinations near Temecula, I would encourage anyone able to make one this summer.
But first I wan't to address the age old caveat of family road trips: Are we there yet?
Yes, the long trips in the car with the kids. You may be thinking that this won’t be problem. But for anyone who has done it before can attest, planning is everything. Before you embark on your summer road trip, arm yourself with a few of these kid pleasing activities and ideas.
Activities that might make the road trip smoother:
- Scavenger Hunt: Prior to your trip, create a list of things for your children to look for, for example; a horse, Mini Cooper, Motel 6, motorcycle, pond, strangely colored home or a city sign name. Play around with your list to coordinate with the scenery on your road trip to keep things exciting.
- Name State Plates: Print out a map of the US before your travels, and let your children learn as they keep track of the different state license plates they identify. They'll have fun searching out plates from all over the country and might just learn something about U.S. geography, as well.
- Next State/State Capital Game: If the kids run out of license plate states, turn them over to the next game. Ask them to think of another state to name, or ask them to keep tally on who can name the state’s capital.
- Cards & Board Games: Take your favorite card and/or board games along on your road trip! If you have room, store these in the back seat. Board games with lots of small pieces might not be the best idea, but simpler ones work great.
- Electronic Games and DVD’s: Of course very convenient, but truthfully, how many times can we all hear the Mario theme song in our heads or realize we can recite most of the lines from all of the Toy Story movies? So while this works great, it’s nice to have some old-school road trip diversions on hand for the kids.
While the planning and execution of family road trips can be excruciating, those hours spent with your little ones will make memories to last a lifetime. As a child growing up, and now as a mother, I have countless fond memories of road trips with my family.
Here in the Temecula Valley, we are central to so many fantastic destinations. Temecula is within 2 hours or less to countless places that people travel far and wide to experience. We have them at our fingertips this summer! Here are some of my favorite southern California road trip destinations near Temecula:
- Camping/Fishing:
- Big Bear – Big Bear Lake, CA
- Vail Lake – Temecula, CA
- Wilderness Lakes – Menifee, CA
- Julian – Julian, CA
- Big Bear – Big Bear Lake, CA
- Amusement Parks:
- Disney Land – Anaheim, CA
- Six Flags Magic Mountain – Los Angeles, CA
- Knott’s Berry Farm – Buena Park, CA
- Lego Land – Carlsbad, CA
- Castle Amusement Park – Riverside, CA
- Disney Land – Anaheim, CA
- Beaches:
- Oceanside
- Carlsbad
- La Jolla (check out the tide pools!)
- Santa Monica
- Oceanside
Whatever you do this summer, have fun and be safe. If you take your family to any of these fantastic Temecula road trips. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family, friends & I have over the years. We are so lucky to live in this ideal location. No need to get on a plane… All you need for a great family vacation near Temecula is a good old fashioned road trip. (As long as they kids get through the drive!)
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