Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve always been familiar with the history of the area and some key figures in its settlement, including Lewis and Clark, the famous 19th century explorers. In southwestern Washington and part of the Oregon Coast, there is Lewis and Clark National Park. We’re going to tell you all about this little known National
Visiting Joshua Tree National Park is a great addition to a vacation to Palm Springs or Southern California in general. It's a very unique National Park and visiting is a very different experience compared with Yellowstone or Yosemite. I'd sooner relate it to visiting the Everglades than any other Park. There are tons of things to do on a Joshua
Yes, you can totally get a good sense of Zion National Park in just one day, but believe me when I say that you'll leave wanting more. Between the unique, red and yellow and white canyon walls to the waterfalls that appear out of nowhere, it's remarkable. This is our complete family guide to Zion National Park, basically giving a
Zion National Park is known for its epic hikes and canyoning routes, but it's also full of fun hiking trails that are great with kids too! By now you’ve seen that we really love Zion; we found that the scenery paired with the activities make for a perfect family vacation destination. And that’s what we’re talking about here: best kid friendly
Bryce Canyon National Park is exceptional when it comes to unique geology and sights. It's a place for hiking and appreciating nature's fascinating processes and diversity. It also gets tons of snow in the winter and spring, so visiting Bryce Canyon in the off season is tricky but totally doable and beautiful. We paired it with a trip to Zion
Depending on your travel style, you may approach visiting a National Park, like Zion National Park, differently than other families. We range from camping to to hotels nearby to National Park Lodges. And our dining matches this: picnicking, easy lunches, local cuisine and fine dining. This is our guide to family friendly options for dining and where to stay at
One of the most popular National Parks in the United States is Zion National Park. Even though Yellowstone and Glacier hold our hearts, we may have just left another piece of them at Zion. Planning for and visiting Zion National Park with kids is really wonderful. There are boundless options for hiking and relaxing, and getting around the park is
We've been looking forward to this road trip for a LONG TIME. Like, I can't even tell you how long. We are finally exploring more of the Southwest with the kids: Las Vegas and the Utah National Parks. Being from the Pacific Northwest, we're used to cold, wet climates with lush rainforests and snow capped mountains. And saltwater on all
We’ve got another piece for the Alamo Rent A Car Scenic Route hub live and it’s all about great, easy day trips from Miami and our favorite simple weekend getaways to the Gulf Coast! From some of the coolest Florida wildlife to pockets of culture you’d never expect, you’ve got to check out our ideas for easy day trips and
October is one of the best months to travel since kids have gone back to school and people are prepping for the holidays. Also a bonus: fall colors are going to be showing up and changing before you know it. We've been thinking about all of our favorite places to visit in the fall and National Parks have the best
New York City is a lot of things, and one thing it’s not is boring. Even when visiting NYC with small kids it’s fun and interesting. Us Dads were particularly interested in checking out the historic side of New York when we were there and it didn’t disappoint. Visiting historic sites in NYC was fun and fascinating, particularly in Lower
Something that we always try to do with our kids, particularly since we are worldschooling, them is visiting historical sites. We visit Atlanta Georgia quite frequently and I've gotten the chance to go to Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site a couple of times. Oliver, our oldest is starting to understand why we visit MLK National Historic Site as
Every year you read about some tourist that didn't think about if trying to ride a bison or something was smart. You hear about people not paying attention or following rules and then the wildlife having to be caught and put down. Don't be one of those people. We want you to have an unforgettable time viewing wildlife in America's
Guess what we're doing over the Christmas holiday
In addition to geysers, the exciting thing about going to Yellowstone National Park is the wildlife. There are the standard deer and chipmunks that you’d expect to see, but there is so much more. The bison were a real hit with our family
When you're traveling a lot for work, chances are that you don't get to do too much exploring beyond the office. We're really fortunate in that we get to travel for fun as a part of our work, but sometimes we also tag along when Chris (papa) has his own work trips. We recently got to take advantage of one
Most of the National Parks we go to are fairly well-known. I mean, there are only 59 of them, so most are familiar to the masses. We love to return to Glacier National Park and Olympic and such because we’re so familiar and there is so much to do and see. We just added a new NPS site to our
Montana is one of the largest states in the USA and it’s crazy diverse. It’s Big Sky Country, for sure, but it’s also big mountain country and ridiculously still lake country and ride-a-horse-through-the-woods country. Basically, Montana is everything you could hope for except the beach. Flathead and Glacier Counties of Montana have all of this and more, and they encompass
An incredible train ride, amazing colors as the seasons change, wildlife around every bend
One of the most popular places or topics we cover is Olympic National Park. We've created so many articles and shared so much because it's a dream destination for so many. It's practically our backyard, so allow us to guide you and help you have an incredible time exploring. What began as Olympus National Monument until President Franklin Roosevelt was able
When you visit the Puget Sound area or more specifically the Olympic Peninsula, you’re bound to want to make a gazillion stops. We could tell you that every stop is awesome and worth your time, but we like to direct you to just the best stops. Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park is one of those spots that’s so
We’ve got another great, easy hike with kids to share! Our favorite hikes take us places with sweeping views and unusual sights, but we also love huge trees. The Hoh Rainforest is at the top of our list of hikes in the Pacific Northwest with kids, but let’s go ahead and add the Grove of the Patriarchs at Mt Rainier
Does anybody think of Washington State as a beach destination? Not hardly, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the most beautiful beaches around. True, totally missing the palm trees, but we make up for it in other ways. Of all we’ve been to, the most beautiful beach in Washington is for sure Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park. What
The Pacific Northwest is a dream destination for so many. Sure, we have our rain and grey skies, but we also have incredible mountains, beaches and forests. Olympic National Park is the perfect spot to experience all of those things, and the west side in the Kalaloch area is really an ideal home base. Camping or lodging, Kalaloch has you
Unless you grew up in the Pacific Northwest you probably think right away of tropical destinations when you hear the term "rainforest." We actually have several protected, temperate rainforests here in Washington State. Exploring the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park is our favorite with the kids and we bring a lot of out-of-town guests here too. It's just so
When we’re not lounging on a Florida beach in the hot sun or gallivanting the globe, we love to hike locally. Local, to us, is anything within a few hours’ drive of Seattle. One of our favorite local activities is hiking in Olympic National Park. It’s such an interesting place, with beaches, lowland rainforests, snow-capped peaks, and sweeping views from
On the northern border of Everglades National Park there’s a pretty cool Florida landmark. No, we’re not talking about the Tamiami Trail, even though Highway 41 is fun to drive, but we’re talking about Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress is a part of the National Parks Service and it’s pretty cool with its swamps and tree and gators. Being a
Bucket list item: Everglades National Park. Done. Can’t wait to go back. Must explore more. The end. Just kidding, we have much more to say. So, the Everglades is the coolest area and we’ve never been anyplace else like it. Everglades National Park and the surrounding area will leave you saying wow and itching to return. And itching from the mosquitoes. With
So often we see people asking questions in online forums about how to add a land portion to a cruise they’re going on or what they can do with just a day or two someplace. We have a thousand answers for those questions. I mean, if you’re cruising out of San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, or even all over Alaska we
Since the first time we visited Florida as a family we’ve wanted to see more and more of the Sunshine State. Florida offers a variety of family road trip options ranging from beach vacation, island hopping in the Keys, to exploring the one-of-a-kind nature on the Gulf Coast. We just completed an epic Florida Gulf Coast road trip and crossed