We have been searching for flights to Spokane, WA to visit Chad's parents. We wanted to go for Colin's spring break, but haven't found anything very inexpensive yet, so we are thinking of going during the summer (Spokane is a MUCH prettier place during the summer anyway!). The cheapest flights we have found so far would cost a total of around $1400 (four tickets), for an atrociously long, two stop flight - any decent flights would cost a few hundred more.
So here is the crazy part - I started thinking today - why don't we drive?! I looked the trip up on mapquest and it is 2546.08 miles, or about 38 hours of driving. Estimated gas cost? $210. Double that for a total of $420, and figure in food and a couple nights of hotel stay (hoping that Ashley would board us one night), and we would still be saving hundreds of dollars.
The pros: Save money, see a little bit of the country, maybe stop by Yellowstone, see Ashley and her baby (even if my kids are wiped out the whole time we are there)
The cons: Where do I start? A total week of driving with two kids and a baby, and all of the potential misery that would entail. It could be really really ugly. Not just for the kids. Chad and I always joke that we could never be on Amazing Race because we fight every time we travel somewhere together. Chad would also have to take more work off without the benefit of using that time to see his parents and the rest of his family. It would used for driving.
Yet there is this tiny optimistic part of me that thinks that with the right preparation it wouldn't have to be a horrible thing. If saving money is a huge priority for us (which it is), then shouldn't we be willing to try?
How much am I willing to spend to avoid potential misery?
Do you think it would be a disaster?
