I suggest you take a second look at driving the entire trip. You may find that the expense and/or hassle of renting/shipping/selling/driveaway is just a bit too much.

Perhaps you might think about breaking up your dreaded return trip into segments, maybe look into stopping at a couple of national or state parks for an extra night or two.

You didn't mention the ages of your children, and that carries a lot of weight on how to approach a long-distance trip.

In general, small children require careful attention to comfort first, amusement second.

Infants normally travel pretty easily provided the items of survival used at home are readly at hand on the road. Keep the baby up a little later than usual the night before you depart on a trip, and he/she will sleep more the following day.

Toddlers, being full of energy and curiosity, can often be satisfied simply with new and unusual surroundings. A hotel pool or playground usually does the trick, but a splash in a quiet lake surrounded by the sights and sounds of the woods seems even better. Mom and Dad might go for that, too!

The overall best strategy for taking small children on a long-distance trip is to stop often. Most rest areas on the interstates offer at least a little open space, so you can follow up those potty sessions with a short, supervised romp before returning to the road.

Parents may find that by saving some of the vacation highlights for the return drive, the entire trip becomes less stressful for everyone.