Midnight Musings

Road Trip, Silicon Valley Style

This summer my family decided to head out to Yellowstone  I figured that seething hot springs and exploding geysers would have more appeal to an 8 and 9 year old than touring museums in major metropolis. And in a time of tightening budgets and the astronomical plane ticket costs, we decided to DRIVE to Yellowstone. And while we're at it, we figured we might at well camp to really get "close to nature".

I'm always up for a challenge, so after a dry-run weekend camping trip (where we figured out among other things that our gas stove didn't work) we were ready - at least on the camping end. There was this little problem of a 20 hour drive standing between us and American Western nirvana.

We all packed the various things we thought we'd need to entertain ourselves for the drive (and for the two week long trip). What I didn't anticipate was just how many electronics we ended up taking with us. And we were going camping for a week. In a tent, Where the only electrical source would be our car battery, Oh, the irony!

Here's a picture of all of the electronics we took with us and an inventory list:

- Three laptops (mine, my husband's, and my son's). My husband and I anticipated that we'd probably have to check in, get files, etc. We also used the laptops to play movies in the car, so they did double duty. My son had his favorite games on the computer that we refuse to load on our work computers, so we let him bring his. My daughter's Apple iBook has been on the fritz, or we likely would have brought that as well.
- Two Nintendo DSs. One wall charger and one car charger.
- Two cameras, a big Nikon SLR and pocket Canon and their chargers.
- Two phones, a Treo and Blackberry with a Treo car charger, wall charger and Blackberry mini-USB.
- iPod and Zune music players and their respective USB connector cords.
- Portable GPS (only the windshield holder is in the photo - the unit broke down the second day and we had to navigate with (gasp!) paper maps. It's been sent back to the manufacturer for repair).
- Sony Ericcson/TMobile PC Card to get wireless access. It turned out that only my laptop could use it and then, we rarely got a signal that would allow me to connect.
- iGo charger. This octopus of wires was our lifesaver. It's a universal charger that has interchangeable tips. Given all of our electronics and one power source - the car battery -- we had to make efficient use of our two cigarette outlets. One was shared between my husband's phone, one of the Nintendo DSs, and the GPS (while it was still working) - we were constantly swapping plugs in and out. The other outlet was used by the iGo which could charge a laptop, my phone, AND the other Nintendo DS all at the same time.

So the good news is we were pretty powered throughout our trip, although we didn't have Internet access for about a week while in the national parks themselves. We definitely missed the access, but not to the point where we went out of our way to find it. Occasionally we'd hit a pocket with mobile service and our phones would start pinging with text messages, voicemails, and emails. 

We were also pretty good about leaving all of the electronics in the car once we got to the campsite -- and we didn't miss them at all. After hours of driving through the Nevada desert and Idaho potato fields, the kids were pretty sick of their electronics, games, and movies. Instead, we had the typical kind of fun that comes with camping - and most entertaining of all was emulating Bear Grylls of "Man Versus Wild" and trying to get a fire started with a flint.

Toward the end of the trip, we finally broke down. While in Mammoth Springs, we realized that we were just 5 miles away from Gardner, Montana -- and that there were Internet cafes there! As a treat, we took a break and headed there for coffee, ice cream -- and some quality time with a wifi network. An hour later, at 10 cents a minute and a total cost of $15, we had had our online fix and it was back to tracking bison, cowboy cookouts, and sprouting geysers again.

When we finally left Yellowstone and headed back to connected society, we landed in Cody, Wyoming where we found a hotel with wifi -- but only in the lobby. Again, we gave ourselves an hour of quality wifi time, but we also received several looks -- and verbal disdain -- from fellow travelers. It was something to the effect of, "In my day we wrote letters instead of all this fancy Internet stuff." My son took it in stride, and just declared the older gentleman as "not with it". But sitting in the stands of the rodeo that evening, I couldn't have felt further from Silicon Valley -- here were cowboys and cowgirls who's livelihood was made from staying on a bucking horse for 8 seconds. So we enjoyed the last few days of our vacation in the West - cheering  and whooping for the heroics of these brave young adults and all of our electronics stayed neatly tucked away in their bags -- where they belonged.

Taking a child on a business trip - a survival guide

I recently took my son (age 9) on a business trip for the first time and plan to do more with both of my kids (daughter is almost 8). The reasons: I'm embarking on a book tour and will be on the road quite a bit over the next few months and this is a way for me to see more of my kids. But more importantly, I wanted my kids to see me "at work" and a lot of what I do is public speaking. When I travel, I usually am with a client all day, and it wouldn't work to bring a child along. But if I'm giving a 45 minute speech, I figure it's a good learning and bonding opportunity.

So my recent trip San Diego was a trial run with my son. I was set to give a speech on a Monday morning, so we left SFO early on Sunday to squeeze in a day at Legoland. That was "the bribe", along with missing a day of school. In the morning, we checked into the conference at registration (they made up a badge for my son, which was a nice way to include him) and got set up. He saw the backstage and then I found him a seat in the second row, sitting next to a friend he already had met before.

And this is our key survival tip - Nintendo DS. The night before, we made a trip to Best Buy and got him a new game. It kept him happy and busy for most of the boring waiting around, although I did make him promise to watch me for at least the first part of my speech. Frankly, he fit in with most of the other techie guys (and they were mostly guys) in the audience huddled over their laptops taking notes (or checking their emails).

After the speech, there were some hallway questions, which my son waited patiently to end, and then TV and radio interviews where he got to hold microphones and work cameras. We stayed for lunch and then headed back to San Francisco. As the plane touched down on the tarmac, I asked him what he thought, and he said, "When's the next trip?" Ah, the sweet taste of success.

My survival tips:

- Keep it short and sweet. I planned to be at the conference for only a few hours, and had some leeway in terms of being able to leave early if my son became bored and irate. It turned out he was a trooper and was game to try anything and everything.

- Plan a fun excursion. All work and no play makes for very cranky kids. I made it very clear that this was a working vacation, and that my son had certain responsibilities. An upcoming trip to Chicago will have a trip to the Field Museum and "the best pizza in Chicago", which we're still trying to figure out (chicago moms, any suggestions?). A trip to Seattle will include a full day spent sightseeing. You get the picture.

- Have self-service distractions on-hand. Being a geek, I had an arsenal of gadgets available for my son. In my bag was his Nintendo DS, several games, and an iPod. I also gave him my phone, which has several games on it as well as a lame browser and at one point, also my laptop since I wasn't using it.

- Stock up on food, water, and gum. The last thing you want to do is to hunt around for food and drinks. My survival stash is granola bars and Crystal Light powder packets, and I also let him pick out any kind of sugarless gum at the airport.

- Plan, plan, plan. I made it very clear with my son what the schedule was going to be and his options at each point in the day. I also had backups, such as my friend taking my son out of the room if he became distracted, or a swimsuit easily accessible in the luggage if he wanted to go for a quick dip in the pool.

One observation: It's still pretty unusual for people to bring kids on trips with them, and it can lead to some awkward situations. Most of the conference attendees cut a wide swath, especially during meals (I couldn't get anyone at a crowded lunch table to talk to me, and I had given the keynote!).

I also worried about the sterotype of a working mom lugging along a kid. Seems like there's a bit of a double standard -- a man bringing along a child would be praised for being family-oriented, a woman is dealing with the realities of being a working mom. I'd be interested in what you, dear svmoms.com readers, think about taking kids on business kids. Is it business-is-business and it's unprofessional to show up with kid(s) in tow? Or should we be bringing the kids along in specific circumstances, as long as they can behave themselves?

Originally posted on Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Showers at JFK and other airports

I recently took an overnight flight from SFO to JFK and was going to do my regular routine - check into a hotel, pay the full rate, and take a quick shower before heading off to my meetings. As I do this regularly, I decided to see if there were showers at JFK itself and thus avoid paying $300+ for the use of a hotel room shower, and also head right off to my morning meetings.

Lo and behold, American Airlines' Red Carpet Club Admirals Club (Terminal 8, Concourse B & C) has showers! At $50 for a day pass, it's a bargain. And more importantly, the bathroom is immaculate and stocked with towels, hair dryer, and shampoo/conditioner/shower gel. The catch - you have to fly American Airlines, so that may limit some options.

It looks from their list that they have many locations with showers, so please comment below if you've every used these facilities, or know of other showers in airports.

Surviving amusement parks with kids

I love roller coasters and for the past four years, my family has gotten season passes for the local amusement park, Great America, and we end up going at least four times a year. And yes, I actually enjoy it with the kids! My husband took the kids (ages 6 and 7) while I was at BlogHer and we just went again this Sunday with other family members.

I thought I'd pass along some tips and tricks we've developed to not only survive but actually enjoy and look forward to a trip to amusement parks with kids, and specifically, Great America. I'd welcome any other tips as well!

- Go early, leave early. Plan to arrive at the gates as close to opening time as possible.  You'll have the run of the park until around lunch time when the not-as-organized families and teenagers arrive. The park typically gets really crowded after 3pm, which is exactly when we head for the exits. Don't think you're getting your money's worth? Be sure to use the online ticketing options which can cut almost half off the price of an adult ticket, and think also about how much happier you'll all be if you get out while everyone is still in a good mood.

- Give the kids a budget for spending. One of the worst things about amusement parks is the whining. Opportunities to spend money are everywhere you turn -- from games to cotton candy to tempting merchandise. Our solution: give the kids a set budget and allow them to spend it anyway that they want. We typically give them $5, which allows them to play a game, blow it at the candy store, or buy a coveted necklace or car. Our only rule -- they can't buy/eat candy before lunch.

By doing this, we've pretty much eliminated all whining that surrounds spending money. It's also a nice way to teach them the value of money and have them do math as well. But when the money is gone, it's gone. It's hard the first the child realizes they are out of money and can't do anything, but the next time we go, they really budget their money.

- Eat an early lunch. Beat the crowds, avoid grumpy hungry kids, and hit the rides again as everyone else is heading to the cafes. At Great America, the NickToons Cafe is great if you don't mind your kids becoming video zombies. The cafeteria-style lines can be very long, so this is our trick - seat the kids at a table (they will zombie-out), then grab a fruit salad, a few slices of pizza, and make a stop at the drink fountain. I don't wait in the line as it's the people waiting for hot meals like burgers and chicken nuggest. We also invest in two refillable drink bottles that keeps us hydrated all day -- I usually fill one with Sprite and dilute it with lots of ice and also some water for the kids. The other I fill with Diet Coke to keep give us the energy to keep up with the kids wired on Sprite. One extra benefit of the bottles -- you can use them year after year after year.

- Plan down time. One of our favorite attractions is Scooby Doo's Haunted River, where kids can float boats down a mountain river. There's only one entrance and exit, and you can sit on a nearby patio or benches and watch all of the proceedings. Our kids know when they need to take a break and will ask specifically to go there to unwind! We also see shows, go on the SkyTower for great views, and take the cable car to slow everything down.