How to Prepare for a Move With Kids: A Week-by-Week Plan

From liquor store wine boxes to U-Haul’s box exchange, eight reliable sources of free moving boxes and how to tell which ones will hold up.

Independence, culture and less driving on one side; space, schools, safety and cost on the other, plus questions to help you decide.

Free state parks, a public lakefront, resident museum days, libraries with museum passes and Lincoln’s Springfield, explained.

Choosing between the Detroit and Port Huron crossings, where to stop in Michigan, and which documents kids need in each direction.

Free Como Park Zoo, the Science Museum, the Children’s Museum and a National Park Service river center, all within a short drive.

Stone Arch Bridge, the Mill City Museum, Spoonbridge and Cherry, the Chain of Lakes and Minnehaha Falls in a two-day family plan.

A free zoo, the Capitol Square market, the children’s museum, Taste of Madison and campus ice cream, planned into two easy days.

Which canyons to try first, when the waterfalls run, how to handle the stairs, and the safety rules that matter at Starved Rock.