Roadtripping with Kids

A few days ago I asked for some advice on taking long road trips with kids. I got nothing except a conversation on the best doughnut places to stop at. The best road trip advice I have received came from my cousin Annalia who told me not to expect my kids to behave in a restaurant after being cooped up in the car all day. So true.
 So here are my own tips after driving 792 miles in the past two days with three kids, two cars, one husband and a cat.
1. Stock up on pretzels, or crackers, or something small that your kids like to eat. Bored kids are hungry kids so keep something small and accessible on hand.
2. Put more than one kids CD in your CD changer before you leave. Through the mountains the radio cuts out and if you are like me you may have a hit out on John Jacob Jingle Hiemer Schmidt.
3. The cat must go in the air conditioned car. Otherwise she will get heatstroke and everyone will cry.
4. Don't give the baby an entire package of fruit snacks and let him have at it. He will choke and puke and when it's 107 degrees, even in an air conditioned car, it smells bad and he ends up naked.
5. Have some sort of signal for stopping suddenly worked out with the driver of the other car. Just in case you have to clean up baby puke or have a potty emergency or something. That way they don't just keep on going and leave you to clean it up on your own.
6. Have a back up coloring book handy. Sometimes an entire bottle of lemonade spills on your brand new coloring book and you need a spare.
7. Lots of energy drinks.(Advocare  anyone?) Both to stay awake while driving after trying to sleep in odd hotels and because your kids will have tons of energy when you do stop because they have had lots of napping time.

That's it for now. Maybe the next 500 miles will give me more ideas.

Any great tips from you?