We’re going to do a stereotypical and highly ridiculous thing. A lot of writers will tell you about the “only sight you need to see in…” or the “absolute most perfect…” and we try not to do that. Ever. Tell you what though, we are going to tell you about the best most worthwhile hike […]
Growing up in Washington with family in both northern and southern California, the West Coast road trip was guaranteed at least once per year… if not three times. This meant though that we got to experience everything: lighthouses and coastlines, hiking in the mountains or rides in Disneyland. Such an array. Now, being parents, we […]
There are many ways to approach a West Coast road trip. Seriously, you can do the Pacific Coast Highway from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington all of the way to Tijuana, Mexico, or you can shoot down the I-5 corridor, making intentional stops within an hour or two off the freeway. You could even just […]
Going off the beaten path is something so many travelers strive for. You know that we’re usually traveling with kids, so we try to experience the less-crowded areas of the world when we can so they can see what the earth is actually like. When you ask somebody if it’s quiet in Yosemite National Park […]
Spelunking: the act of exploring caves and wandering deep into the earth… with kids. That’s what we got to do at Oregon Caves National Monument. We had an the best experience, which we were a bit worried about before starting our tour. We were welcomed by Oregon Caves National Monument for our ranger-led cave hike […]
If you know me (Rob, Hi!) you know that I use the word “magical” in 50% of my sentences… and so does Oliver… because he’s my mini-me. Blame it on working for Disney or just watching a bit too much Harry Potter, but I love the word. I’m going to use it again: The Oregon […]
We grew up in a great period in film history, where there were movies like the Land Before Time, Ferngully and, from even before we were born, The Gnome-Mobile. On our way to California’s North Coast and the Redwoods, the boys got to watch The Gnome Mobile in the car and they loved it!! If […]
Ooh, we love a good tourist attraction. Not a tourist trap, but a genuine attraction. Of all of the classic American icons a few really stand out: the Statue of Liberty, the White House, the Golden Gate Bridge. In our house, being the family travel folk that we are, we’ve got a lot of maps, […]
While we typically just do our own thing and plot out sights we want to see, every now and then we’ll do a tour. National Parks are so easy to explore on your own, especially when you’re planning on hiking a bunch, but when we were in California, we opted to do the Yosemite Valley […]
Such a variety of accommodations in this world. We’ve seen them all and stayed in half of them. On our epic road trip through the National Parks of Northern California, we got to experience some wonderful places. The Evergreen Lodge at Yosemite National Park is so different from the other spots we stayed. We loved […]
Everybody seems to have an opinion about overrated sights and places to visit. Roadside attractions are totally cliched to stop at, but why not stop? Viewpoints on highways that have pull-outs are usually there because the view is incredible. Why wouldn’t you want to stop at a vista like that’s “like woah”? Tunnel View in […]
It was so great to stay in lodges on our #2TDgoparks2016 roadtrip. After several days of snow chains and foiled hiking plans it was nice to arrive at the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite. We’d stayed in some pretty small lodges within Sequoia and Kings Cayon National Parks for our nights prior to getting to the […]
You know when you’re excited for sweeping views, spring flowers, newborn baby animals and getting your first tan of the year? That’s where we were at prior to driving into Kings Canyon National Park. As we drove up into the hills from Fresno, California we felt the temperature drop, but it was still sunny. We […]
After a few days of battling the fog and snow in Sequoia National Park we took the short drive to cross the border into Kings Canyon National Park. Like with Sequoia, we had big plans for hiking in the beautiful, sunny valleys of Kings Canyon and exploring the granite cliffs and meadows. We were booked […]
Traveling with kids is always fun…and a challenge. We love to visit National Parks and typically do so in the summer when the hiking is good and the sun will be shining. We were invited to California to experience Sequoia National Park with kids and jumped at the chance. This was a great opportunity for […]
So, we always camp when we go to National Parks. For our big #2TDgoparks2016 trip we’ve taken a totally different approach: lodges. Why lodges? Two reasons: we are doing the trip in the spring when the weather is totally unpredictable and we were kindly invited to explore the Parks and lodges. The Wuksachi Lodge in […]
We’ve been to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield a few times now. It’s one of those places that has both historical significance and modern day appeal. What? What sort of appeal is there to a battlefield, particularly with kids? Well, we’ll tell you. There’s more the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield site than just what the name […]
Even though we love going to Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park is one of our favorite spots in the state of Washington. One of the things we love about Mount Rainier is that you can enjoy the North or the South Side and have very different experiences. On the north side there are […]
There are few things that we’re just suckers for: lighthouses, bathrobes, and waterfalls. When you’re heading to the mountains to go hiking, you can only count on getting one of those boxes checked off, and it’s waterfalls. Mt Rainier National Park is an easy day trip or multi-day camping destination for any type of traveler, […]
So, you know we love our National Parks. One of the most fun things we do when we go to a National Park, and this might sound kind of strange because it’s so small, is to get cancellation stamps in our National Parks Passports and learn a little extra here and there. Do you have […]
Historical sites rock for family travel. Well, most of the time. No, all of the time. Here’s why: they’re a snapshot of a moment in time that we’ll never experience again. Sometimes those sites are really well preserved and you can step back in time with little use of the imagination. Heck, sometimes there are […]
A town like St Augustine, Florida is great to explore with kids because there are so many sights and fun things to do around every corner. We didn’t do half of what we could have, but we still did a ton. Every town or city has its must-see sights. In NYC you’ve got the Statue […]
You’ve been in St Augustine all day and are ready to end it on a high note. The town is wonderful and it’s so calm and relaxed everywhere, but you’ve been walking so much because every narrow street is just taunting you to head that way. You’re tired. What can you do to make the […]
Before we got to Florida, we’d built it up a bit to our kids. You know, it’s all pirates and alligators everywhere. With that, we also told a few lies… like there are pirate forts and you can find treasure on the beach. Well, that built up the excitement even though we lost a little […]
As Americans, we’re always thinking about venturing out to other countries and planning a week long trip here and two weeks there. When we look at going back to France, we know that it’s not ridiculous to plan a week or two to catch a few big sights and have time to relax. When we […]
Dads have the stereotypical reputation of a few key things: bad jokes, BBQing and convincing the family to rough it. None of these are bad stereotypes, but also none are true for every dad. I’ll be honest, these all are true for us…and doubly so as we’re a gay dad household. Our sons are used to […]
Having already gone on an amazing hike to Bullhead Lake earlier in the day, we were all pretty tired after dinner. We cleaned up camp and decided just to take one more jaunt, a short one. We put the tiny man in a hiking pack and headed off into the woods in Glacier National Park. […]
The story: One of the things that makes travel with kids more smooth than people would expect is sticking to the schedule. We’re not talking about the itinerary, but the nap schedule. If you don’t have kids, you might not be familiar but the concept is this: get and keep the kids on a nap […]
The story: It’s not everyday you get to see a rainbow in Glacier National Park. After securing a campsite we had one beautiful day to enjoy the area. Midway through day two though, the most ridiculous storm hit. We rushed the kids into the play area we’d made under a canopy and then the four […]
We still haven’t visited Switzerland. It’s been on our list for some time and somehow we haven’t gone. We have been to the Rockies in the USA though, and I think that’s sated us. True, the Rocky Mountains don’t have the quaint villages, but they do have the beautifully jagged mountains, the pristine lakes, the Swiss-style […]
We're 2 dads with our 2 kids, traveling the globe, having fun, learning new things, and giving the kids a broad world view.
