Car Tetris (Yosemite Family Vacation Day 1)

Car TetrisWhat is Car Tetris?

When going on any road trip, it seems people tend to get into an elaborate game of Car Tetris. Most people who travel are not nomadic. In other words, we love our stuff. Overpacking is sometimes an understatement. But, what is Car Tetris? It’s the real-life version of the popular 80’s video game, Tetris. In the video game, you have to fit pieces of different shapes together while not running out of room. It’s the perfect training for any novice packer. For your car, you start with lining up suitcases and end with throwing your extra shoes into little crevices. After getting your last piece of appurtenance (a fancy word for stuff) in the car, the game isn’t over. You also have to make sure all of the doors close shut! You’re now able to drive to your destination with your head held high and possibly outside of the window.

The Perfect Game

My game of Car Tetris started the night before a family trip to Yosemite. I needed to pack for five nights for my wife, baby and myself. This included food, camping supplies, clothes and a massive amount of baby supplies. I totally underestimated this monster of a task, especially with the baby having more items than both my wife and I combined. I needed to fit everything inside of the trunk, part of the back seat and travel box on top of the car. Sadly, it took me two attempts. Fitting a stroller inside of a densely packed car is like a sumo wrestler trying to sit inside a Smart Car. It doesn’t make any sense, but somehow it can be accomplished. However, packing becomes much easier once you figure it out. I successfully placed all of our items in the vehicle. Hooray!

A little side note, I suggest taking a picture of how you packed everything. If you’re like me, you tend to remember how everything was pieced together. However, the picture helps if you are more like my wife. Her brain just doesn’t work that way. She is way better at making lists of what we need to bring. Although, she keeps using the same list…. I might have to talk to her about this arrangement!

Let’s Roll!

Whoever invented the backup camera deserves a Noble Peace Prize and/or a cookie. It makes life extremely easy when you cannot see out of your rearview mirror. Luckily for me, I only have to take one road to get to the national park. Backing out of the driveway, I felt very accomplished on completing my latest level of Car Tetris. It’s kind of like the feeling you get when you mix a stripped and a wrapped candy in Candy Crush. The drive wasn’t all that bad either. We only made one pit stop about half up the mountain to Yosemite. Not having any traffic made a significant difference. Regardless of how many times you’ve been to Yosemite, it’s perpetually more breathtaking driving into the valley floor. It was only the beginning of the trip, but we all had high hopes. I always feel that everything that starts well, ends well.

Need guidance through your own travels? Please contact us today! Stay tuned for next week as we release a new Blog post every week.

30 thoughts on “Car Tetris (Yosemite Family Vacation Day 1)”

Comments are closed.