After getting wet clothing from very inexpensive rain jacket and pants I went and bought what was supposed to be a MUCH better suit from the outdoors store. On the second use it began leaking so I treated the whole thing with spray on water repellent silicon. No change in performance.
So I just bought a suit by Mont-Bell made of Gore-Tex with taped seams and zippers. Did I mention I really hate getting rained on? I'll deal with the condensation dampness, but I do not want rain soaking my clothes.
Does anyone else use Gore-Tex and non0cycling-specific rain gear?

Kids, especially if they are reasonably fit, are really tough and resilient. They can blow your mind sometimes. If you put in plenty of conditioning and training rides and work on equipment while you're doing it, then you should be able to do 20-50 mile days without much hassle. Just think of this way: Say you were going backpacking at Philmont Scout Ranch. What would you do with the boys to prepare? Apply that same logic to the bike trip.