Just in time for Summer Road Trips, Kansas City has launched a summer-long savings promotion called “Sunsational KC.” Now through the end of August, visitors and residents can cash in on almost 200 special offers and discounts in Kansas City—including 2-for-1 attraction specials and hotel rates as low as $49.

Educational road trips are amazing. All that family time, they’re a heck of a lot more fun than summer school or most English teachers, and you get to stop at the world’s biggest ball of thread (or something like that) if your parents are cool enough.

If you’re traveling thru NW Indiana or SW Michigan this summer, check out this list of cheap activities from NWI.com.

NBC’s “Great American Road Trip” premiers July 9th. Seven families will take what NBC is calling the “journey of a lifetime” in an RV, on classic Route 66.

Living in Arizona, I pretty much accept that for most of the year you just don’t grab Fido and run errands. Or, take him on a road trip. It’s literally life and death.

This summer will be all about day tripping. Just because you’ve paid your share to bail out the banks doesn’t mean you want to forgoe a vacation. And, chances are, you’ve been so busy traveling around the world that you’ve forgotten what’s in your own back yard.

My favorite camping tool, ReserveAmerica.com, announced their picks for America’s top 100 campgrounds yesterday. I love ReserveAmerica. The site allows you to search for campgrounds along your journey, and has easy to use maps of the actual campgrounds, clear information on what’s at each campground, and you can search all federal, state, county and some private parks as well. There are over 300,000 campsites, cabins, day use facilities and picnic areas in their database.

With a car for any road tripper, from the 505-horsepower Corvette ZO6 to the family-friendly Honda Odyessy, Kelly Blue Book took their automotive expertise and picked a Top 10.

California Road Trips 2009 is a special advertising section that went into selected copies of Sunset Magazine’s June issue. As such, it’s chock full of ads, but there are several pretty good road trip plans in here, and if you want something that is low on hassle and planning, this is a good start.

It’s heartbreaking to learn how many kids of today have never taken a real road trip. Sure, there are moments of drama, frustration, and lots of “Are we there yets.” But, road trips are monumental.

In one of the more brilliant press releases to come across my desk in a while, Thule, a manufacturer of roof racks as well as other auto accessories, announced their picks for Road Trip Vehicle of the Year 2009. After reading the release, I’m pretty sure not very women work at Thule.

While researching our upcoming trip to Yellowstone, I remembered one of the great resources for planning road trips — Road Trips USA. I love the recommended routes, and would love some day to say I’ve taken every single one of them.

I’m a huge fan of Stepcase Lifehack’s productivity and technology lists. His suggestions for mobile apps for road trips are fantastic! I’m going to have to try TwitPic for emailing cameraphone pics to both grandmas and some assorted family and friends all at the same time. And, the speed trap app might come in handy for someone out there. (I never speed, I just sometimes forget myself and drift a little fast!)

Theme Park Insider, the guy who brings us the latest dish on theme parks all over the world is packing up the Prius and the kids for a 33-day trip, and of course he’s seeing several parks along the way. Definitely for the overachievers among us, his hints and tricks let you see any park you want in the most effective way possible.

From June 1 to August 30, families staying at San Francisco’s Fisheman’s Wharf can take advantage of a special package that pairs a stay at the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf with a tour from Ride The Ducks San Francisco. Ride The Ducks offers 1 1/2 hour land and water tours of popular cities on amphibious vehicles.

I love Common Sense Media. I’m a slacker mom, but I don’t want my daughter watching inappropriate TV or movies. And, being a slacker, I’m definately not volunteering to pre-screen every tween movie. That’s where Common Sense Media comes in.

I admit when Judy Colbert contacted me and told me about her book on temper tantrums I was skeptical. But, I was also interested. After all, who hasn’t had a temper tantrum on a road trip? I’m not even going to pretend I haven’t had a few world class tantrums in the car.

With Guitar Hero: World Tour Mobile, you can take all the fun cross country. With 15 all new tracks plus a bonus song every month, you have plenty to practice.

For those of us without a fancy internet-enabled phone, it can be expensive to need directions at the last minute. I do ok at home, but sometimes when I’m traveling I just have to have directions at the last minute. And, there’s usually no one to call who can do a quick MapQuest lookup.

Even though gas prices have gone down, the economy sure hasn’t made us feel any better about spending money. But, Farmers’ Almanac, the original sustainable living guide (who knew?, suggests some easy-to-follow tips that can cut your gas usage and save you a few dollars whether you’re headed on a family vacation or taking a routine car trip.