Eighteen Short Years: Travel. Adventure. Joy.
After months of planning, our family had our first epic National Park tour vacation planned for June of 2020. We’d fly from Philly to San Francisco, rent a car, and head north. We would tour seven National Parks over three weeks, and fly home from Seattle. Awesome. Cue the Covid-19 pandemic. Through April 2020 we […]
You Can Never Go Home…Unless You’re Going Back to Custer State Park Read More »
After our quick tour of Yellowstone’s West Thumb Geyser, we pushed on east to say goodbye to Wyoming and head into South Dakota to revisit a family favorite from our first ever road trip in 2020: Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. But Wyoming doesn’t say goodbye easily or quickly –
Horseback Riding, Old Time Family Photos, Devil’s Tower and Hilarity on the Wyoming Road Read More »
Yellowstone National Park is massive. Covering more than 3,400 square miles of land in Wyoming and Montana, the park can be explored via North, east, West, and south access points onto a highway that creates an enormous figure eight through the park’s gorgeous (and often other-worldly) scenery. Entering from our campsite at Flagg Ranch Campground
Half of Yellowstone National Park in a Day and a Half Read More »
Our drive to Moran, Wyoming from Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho brought us to Flagg Ranch Campground from the south. That meant the last ninety minutes of our drive was North US 191 – a slow moving road right through the heart of Grand Teton National Park that offered endless wildlife viewing
Camping at Flagg Ranch and Two Days in Grand Teton National Park Read More »
According to our trusty Google maps, fourteen and a half hours of driving lay between Eugene Premier RV Resort and our next stop at Flagg Ranch Campground in Moran, Wyoming. No small feat. Oof. With our best attitudes packed, and excited to reach Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, we headed east. Oregon is a
Traveling East: Oregon Wildfire and Idaho’s Craters of the Moon Read More »
Our 48 hours enjoying Tracktown USA and the Oregon Country Fair Knowing that our next stop was in Eugene, Oregon, softened the heartache of driving away from the Pacific Coast after a beautiful and relaxing two-day stay in Cannon Beach. When I said in the Cannon Beach post that Mike and I honeymooned in Cannon
Camping in Eugene, Oregon Read More »
How we spent 40 GLORIOUS truck-free hours in a place that holds a piece of my heart. Mike and I honeymooned on Cannon Beach in 2010, so adding a stop there before heading back east made perfect sense to us. The more difficult decision was HOW to get there from Port Angeles, WA. We desperately
Camping in Cannon Beach, Oregon Read More »
This might just be a new favorite National Park for me. It was magical…sigh. Where We Stayed: Port Angeles/Olympic KOA Seven nights after leaving the campground of our dreams in West Glacier, MT, we arrived at the Port Angeles/Olympic KOA. This KOA is a holiday KOA version, not a resort like West Glacier, but our
Two Days in Olympic National Park Read More »
The road to Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park opened on July 4th, 2024 for the summer season. And early in the morning of July 5th, our family was making the trek up the mountain for the second day in a row. Our long and arduous (for our family!) 5+ mile hike on the Skyline
Mount Rainier Day Two: Sunrise and Cowlitz River Read More »
Like Glacier, Mount Rainer requires a reservation to enter the park, so we were back to our 7 pm alarm setting ways while staying in Packwood, Washington. We were successful in getting a pass for the Stevens Canyon entrance for the 4th of July. We were up early to pack for a big day of
Mount Rainier Day One: Skyline Trail and Cowlitz River Read More »
The trip from our Glacier Peak Resort Campground in Rockport, Washington to our Packwood RV Park site in Packwood, Washington was less than 4 hours. With an easy drive day to get from one place to the next, we were able to enjoy a little slower morning packing up in Packwood. Extra time is always
North Cascades to Mount Rainier – A Day on the Road Read More »
We got married on Martha’s Vineyard in February, 2010, hours before running one of our favorite races, the Martha’s Vineyard 20 miler. Mike has family on Cape Cod and we try to visit at least once a year. While there, we love taking the ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard, and even took the ferry over
A Day Trip from North Cascades: Anacortes to San Juan Island Read More »
Driving to the Glacier Peak Resort Campground that was situated on the western side of North Cascades National Park required pulling our 30′ travel trailer over the North Cascades Highway. Trucks and trailers are allowed on the road, but it isn’t an easy drive – especially at the end of two long days of travel.
North Cascades: Thunder Knob, Diablo Lake, and the Skagit River Read More »
With our bellies full from a delicious breakfast at the Bear Paw Cafe, we pulled out of the West Glacier KOA Resort at noon on Saturday to head west for two days of driving and one night of boondocking before reaching out next campground – Glacier Peak Resort and Winery – at the foot of
West Glacier to North Cascades: Trouble and Kindness on the Road Read More »
The weather forecast for our third and final day in West Glacier was similar to our second full day – cold and rainy. While it didn’t make a lot of sense to pack up all of our (now pretty wet) gear and head out before 7 am for a third day in a row, we
Glacier National Park Day Three: Many Glacier Read More »
Visions of the packed parking area at the Avalanche trailhead in our minds, we pulled out of the campground at 6:45am for our second day of adventure at Glacier National Park. We hoped that the pouring rain would also work in our favor. The heavy rains didn’t seem to discourage any of the other park
Refreshed from our first glorious night’s sleep in the campground of our dreams, West Glacier KOA Resort, we were up and at ’em at the crack of dawn Tuesday morning, ready to take on Going to the Sun Road and the Hidden Lake Trail hike. Disclaimer: there is nothing overly easy about National Park touring
Glacier National Park Day One: Hidden Lake and Two Medicine Read More »
We bid farewell to the Medora Campground and Theodore Roosevelt National Park at noon on Monday, and started West toward Glacier National Park in Montana. We had two choices of routes to drive across Montana. Both routes would take us roughly 9 1/2 hours. One promised more scenery while the other promised more fuel stops.
Medora, North Dakota to West Glacier, Montana and the West Glacier KOA Read More »
“It is an incalculable added pleasure to anyone’s sum of happiness if he or she grows to know, even slightly and imperfectly, how to read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature.” – Theodore Roosevelt We were all excited to get to our first (planned) National Park on this trip, but I don’t think any of
Fargo to Medora, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park Read More »
There’s some contention in our camper about how to count the days of this trip. I thought that leaving Maryland in our camper on Tuesday, June 18th, marked Day 1 of our cross-country road trip. Mike counts Thursday, June 13th, the day we left Pennsylvania and began the phase one “Vegas/cousin camp” portion of our
On the Road Days 6-10: Maryland to Fargo, ND and Indiana Dunes National Park Read More »
Our live music camping date to Saratoga Springs last summer celebrated the end of the Dead and Company era. For their farewell tour, Mike and I decided to see the band both nights and take our first-ever solo camping trip. But then, Mike turned 50, and we needed to celebrate. And Las Vegas built a
And We’re Off: With a Change of Plans Read More »
I am so thrilled to be able to report epic progress since my post (many moons ago) that offered a skeletal sketch of our 2024 road trip plans. As a result of Mike’s monumental time and effort spent on the phone and internet, and hours of family bonding time watching youtube videos of National Park
Our Summer Road Trip 2024! 38 Nights and Other Numbers Read More »
We have taken two extended cross-country RV trips and a two-week New England tour since 2020. We’ve driven from Pennsylvania to South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, and made layovers in many states in between. This spring of 2023, we took a shorter trip south to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. We visited Great Smoky
Planning Our Next Big RV Trip: A Skeleton Sketch of Summer 2024’s Epic Adventure Read More »
We love live music. We love camping. We combined the two loves for the first time this summer AND scored a two-night date getaway. Mike and I are quick to admit that we’re late to the game Grateful Dead fans. When we met 17 years ago, I don’t think either of us owned a piece
Our Live Music Camping Date Read More »
My husband has family on Cape Cod, so we travel to Massachusetts at least once a year to visit. While the narrow roads and premium land value of Cape Cod don’t add up to it being a sought-after RV destination in my book, we looked into traveling with our camper for our summer of 2022
We Love Camping on Cape Cod Read More »