I just wanted to suggest that when the kids are in the car, they can be a great help by playing car games with you, such as the alphabet game. You each takes turns finding each of the letters of the alphabet in signs, on buildings, in car license plates, etc. You can make up a lot of versions of this, finding plates from other states, different farm animals, different colours of cars, depending on what types of areas you're driving through, and how old your kids are.
It can also help to take new routes to familiar places. You'll be less likely to go on "auto-pilot" if you have to keep an eye out for which streets to turn on.
Thank you for sharing your question!