A long family road trip to Grandma's can range anywhere from fun to tolerable to a nightmare. Planning and a good attitude go a long way in making a long drive more enjoyable. Why not fly? Well, sometimes a flight from Detroit to Chicago and actually take longer than driving. I know it sounds improbable, but we live two hours from a major airport, flights take off and land when they're good and ready and if there's a storm or flight delays that can add another hour or more, then of course you're supposed to arrive at least an hour early. So, you'll pay more and go through more hassle than making the six-hour drive. And it could take longer in the end. So, consider that when planning a trip.

Start planning as far ahead as possible. Figure out about how far you want to drive per day and make reservations at a motel or hotel for an hour or two less than that. We never had a problem getting a room the same evening we needed one in years past, but lately it seems the hotels are booked up far in advance. We learned the hard way that a yearly convention can fill every hotel/motel/B&B for a hundred miles in any direction of the event. We once tried to find a room near a mid-sized city that was hosting a Southern Baptist convention and drove until our eyeballs fell out before we found a room, five hours past where we'd planned on spending the night. Also, weather conditions can take a turn for the worse causing people to stay in a motel when they normally would keep driving. Traffic jams and construction can make what you thought would be a six hour drive last for eight or ten. So, reserve a room and take a lot of stress out of the trip. Most large motel chains only require a few hours advance cancellation notice, but check that out ahead of time as well. Also, make sure the hotel will hold your room - sometimes they will only hold a room until ten at night.

Pack snacks and water. There's just something about a road trip that seems to give people the munchies. Maybe it's part hunger and part boredom, but it happens. Try to avoid salty or very sweet snacks. Auto travel can cause you to retain water, even if you normally don't have that problem. This can cause your clothes to become uncomfortably tight and give you headaches or just make you feel plain yucky. Sweet snacks can cause you to have sugar highs and lows and end up making you sleepy, not a good thing when driving a long distance. A sealed container of fresh veggies cut in bite sized

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