you have some great advice here. We just got back from a long weekend in Santa Barbara. we bought the crate because we knew we'd need it for an airplane trip we're taking later. I was surprised just how quiet he was since we normally allow him to ride with us. We padded it really well and he just curled up and slept the entire time, not a peep out of him. The crate had the added benefit of being a place to sleep at night at our friends' house, since we usually crate him, and for times when we couldn't take him with us during our stay.
The outbound, we stopped at a dog park about half way and honestly, he just didn't seem to want to play, he ate a tiny bit and drank a bit. On the way home we fed and watered him a little in the am (I suggest a big feeding night before like we did, led to a good potty in the am and I wasn't worried about him not eating until later in the day), but since the ride was only 5.5 hours, we just sped on through this time without taking him out. We stopped at the local dog park with him to potty and run a bit before taking him home, when he finally decided to chow down and drink a gallon of water. Feeding/potty schedule was a bit off next couple days but as of today, 48 hours later he's fine. oddly enough that night he just crashed hard, we didn't see much of him. I thought he'd be wired, but I guess like humans the excitement is tiring!