For many families, Memorial Day conjures up images of pools, parties and backyard BBQ.
For families whose kids are on travel, or club, sporting teams, Memorial Day invokes completely different images.
Road trips. Gas stations. Traffic jams. Cheap hotels. Crowded, hot and stuffy gyms. Lots and lots of driving.
The stuff childhood memories are made of.
Is that why they call it Memorial Day?
Blessing or Curse?
We are lucky enough to have two kids that are very active on club sports teams. I’m not being flippant or facetious here, I really do think we are lucky.
The experiences that our kids get by participating on these teams are invaluable and teach them many life lessons. They also make life-long friends and we, as parents, make good friends as well.
Part of those experiences are the various travel tournaments. Gymnastics, baseball, volleyball and basketball have all given us ample opportunities to load up the kids and hit the road for a few days.
But sometimes, worlds collide and conflicts arise. In times like these, families are faced with logistical nightmares.
And sometimes, it happens on holiday weekends.
A Memorable Memorial Day
This past weekend was Memorial Day. I would have liked a nice 3-day weekend. Floating in the pool, spending time with neighbors and sparking up the ‘Q. Grandma was in town for the week to participate in my kids end-of-school-year activities. Fun stuff.
Then we got the schedules for our kids’ sports teams.
My daughter had a two-day volleyball tournament by Disneyland and my son had a three-day basketball tournament in San Diego. Grandma wanted to see parts of both while she was in town.
We live just northwest of LA, so getting to either of these locations is challenging enough. LA’s infamous traffic makes it difficult to get anywhere in the best situation. I mean, it can take me 30 minutes to drive the 3 miles to get my kids to school.
Driving to both Anaheim and San Diego, on the same weekend? A HOLIDAY weekend no less? For multiple days? All while shuttling Grandma back and forth?
Challenge accepted!!
Divide and Conquer
There’s only one way we this was going to happen.
Split up.
Mom went one way, I went the other, each taking half the family. Meet up in the middle for the Grandma handoff then repeat the following day. And that’s just day 1.
A 7am call time for volleyball and early afternoon time for the first basketball game complicated things. Going to need an early start, road snacks, good traffic and lots and lots of coffee.
On second thought, there isn’t enough coffee for this stuff.
Get in the car and drive. And drive….and drive
Here’s a quick rundown of the days, cars, distances and times we drove over the weekend.
Day 1
Car 1: LA to Anaheim for 7am volleyball: 45 miles; 1 hr 15 mins
Car 2: LA to San Diego for basketball: 195 miles; 4 hrs
San Diego to Anaheim for Gradnma handoff: 95 miles; 1 hr 35 mins
Day 2
Car 1: Anaheim to San
Diego for early basketball game: 95
miles; 2 hrs
Car 2: Anaheim to San Diego for evening
basketball party after watching volleyball all day: 95 miles; 2 hrs
Day 3
Car 1: San Diego to
LA after early basketball game: 140 miles; 3.5 hrs
Car 2: San Dieg to LA after early
basketball game: 140 miles; 3.5 hrs
Total Driving: 2 cars, 805 miles, almost 18 hrs, 6 hotel room nights. Yikes.
Crazy, or Just Today’s Sports-Parent
Are we crazy? Are we the only ones doing this? Is there an end to the cash outlay?
I think the answers are most likely “No”, “No” and “Ye…no”.
These days, if you commit to your child being part of a club sports team, it’s part of the gig. More and more parents are taking the club sports route, despite the ever-increasing costs. The travel burden just adds to it.
One way we try to make our dollars go further is by turning these excursions into mini-vacations or getaways.
We try to stay in hotels with pools, game rooms, etc. Or we look for hotels that are located in cool parts of the town or that are walking distance to attractions. It may take us a little further away from the sport facility, but it helps make it feel more like an actual trip.
Yes, it may also tack on a little extra cost. But we also feel like we get more for our money as opposed to the typical cycle of: drive to a spot, watch the event, go to the hotel, go straight to sleep, wake up, repeat.
I’m dying to hear from other parents. Does everyone drive this much? How do others mitigate the costs? What are the craziest club team/tournament travel itineraries others have endured in one day or weekend?
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