My wife and I recently drove the whole family down to Florida for a vacation. When you're on the road for that long, you learn some things.

Our vacation was incredible, but the drive to get there was... well, not as incredible. We saw lots of country and learned many things. So if you're planning on driving your family to Florida for the first time, you may first want to look at the 17 lessons we learned the hard way.

1. Every road outside of Michigan is nicer than every road inside Michigan.
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2. Ohio sucks.

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3. Your kids fart more than you ever realized.

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4. K-Mart still exists. So does 7-11.

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5. Bring snacks. Lots of snacks.

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6. Driving a van through the mountainous areas of Kentucky in the rain is a nightmare.

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7. Bring an iPod or a good CD. Nothing but country and Jesus stations come in from Lower Kentucky to Mid-Tennessee. Your cell coverage will suck too.

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8. There is a Shoney's, Cracker Barrel, and Waffle House at every exit in Northern Tennessee... but not much else.

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9. Most people have no concept of how to use the left lane on the expressway properly.

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10. No matter when you last stopped, your kids will have to pee at the worst possible time.

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11. Trying to cut from the HOV lane to an exit in Atlanta is basically suicide.

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12. Georgia is longer than you remember.

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13. If your hotel room costs less than $70, it will either smell like meth or look like this.

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14. In the south, there are several old school hip hop stations and they're awesome!

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15. Having tablets, DVD players and handheld video games to entertain your kids will cost you a few bucks, but not having them will cost you your sanity.

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16. Road construction jobs in other states are a joke compared to the extreme makeovers we have to deal with annually.

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17. You should have studied harder and got a better job so you could afford to fly instead of driving.

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