Whether it's a few hours to Grandma's house or a multi-day summer vacation, taking the kids on road trips is a rite of passage for parents. Doing it right, however, requires practice and preparation.

Back in college, I worked one of my summers at a car wash. It was the ideal place for a teenager: I was in an unsupervised, dripping-wet cavern full of expensive Mercedes-Benzes and Land Rovers that I ...

Every time my grandmother parked the car, that accordion-style sun shade came out like clockwork. She unfurled and stretched it across the windshield of her black 1988 Ford Tempo. That simple device ...