Know before you go to avoid "Are we there yet?"

I have to give some "props" to a reporter at The Seattle Times. He’s working on a story about our Fourth of July travel information and wanted to give the story a bit more depth. So he asked me what I would do if I had a child and we were going to be stuck in traffic.

Well, yes, I do have a little one to entertain. We have our hand-held video games and portable DVD player. Technology today – spoiled kids! Okay, so Transformers was good the first three times, but I really really don’t want to watch it again.

I think back to my own childhood and car trip games like I Spy, the license plate game (oh! oh! I see Hawaii) and find letters on the highway signs (yeah – Z is tough). No video games but we had fun. Don’t forget those “old school” games are still great ways to teach the kids.

Today, with that Internet thingy, we can even get some great information that’s fun and educational about what they will be seeing outside the car window.

Going over Snoqualmie Pass? On our I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Web page, you can find an award-winning activity book about the wildlife that call Central Washington home.

And you can visit Washington’s tourism site Experience Washington to get information on lots of spots your may be just driving through.

Any other ideas for your fellow travelers? Come on teachers…this is your chance to help us clueless parents and make those “what I did on my summer vacation” reports more interesting.

Hey, great idea Armando…hope your story helps keep those kids busy.