national park Archives - 2 Travel Dads

Exploring Oregon Caves National Monument w/ kids

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

Rustic heaven at the Chateau at the Oregon Caves

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

Hunting for gnomes in Redwood National Park

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

Taylor Family at Entrance Sign in Yosemite National Park 3

The amazing Yosemite Valley tram tour

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

The Evergreen Lodge at Yosemite National Park: amazing.

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

Why you must stop at Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park

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

Vintage Tour Bus in Mount Rainier National Park 2traveldads.com

Day Hiking in Mt Rainier National Park: trails for any age

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

Rob Taylor at Comet Falls in Mt Rainier National Park 2traveldads.com

Waterfalls of Mt Rainier National Park

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

Rob Taylor and LittleMan in Stocks at Pirate Museum St Augustine Florida 2

Strolling Historic St Augustine: a perfect family day

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

Fort Matanzas: worth the drive, walk, boat ride and climb

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

Chris Taylor and LittleMan setting up Camping

Family Camping With Kids: 5 Dad Hacks

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.

Travel Bucket List: where should we go?

We are always planning another trip; always adding to our travel bucket list. A week out, month, maybe a year or two. We need to have a list of where we want to go and what our next jaunt is. Typically, we plan a year out, but sometimes it’s more,

Rob Taylor heading into woods hiking Glacier National Park

Behind the Picture: Heading Into the Woods in Glacier National Park

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

Chris Taylor and TinyMan Glacier Park Boat Co

Behind the Picture: Watching the Lake 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

Rainbow at Many Glacier entrance Glacier National Park

Behind the Picture: the Rainbow in Glacier National Park

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

Lake Josephine Boat Dock Glacier National Park 1

Glacier National Park boat tours: 4 reasons to do one

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,

Cow Moose in Fishercap Lake Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park: Many Glacier, many sights

We always make big plans. BIG. ALWAYS. I mean, we plan out where we’ll hike, sights we’ll see, maybe where we’ll dine. We will craft an itinerary and stick to it comfortably. This keeps us low stress and with all of our resources in place. If you recall from our

Glacier National Park Forest Fire Header

Glacier National Park: when a forest fire foils you

“The best laid plans of man…” I hate that phrase. It is so heavy with impossibility. But it’s true. Recently, we wrote an article about traveling in Europe and that by the time we got to Venice we were tired of being foiled at every turn, so we just had

Family Guide to Eastern Glacier National Park

We were fortunate to get to take the kids to Glacier National Park during summer 2015. Due to forest fires, most of the Park was closed, but we still had a great time in Eastern Glacier National Park. So, due to the restrictions we faced, here’s our abridged guide, or actually

Washington Monument Blood Moon Capitol Building 1

National Parks: what are they and why do we care?

Once upon a time (1872), in a faraway place (Washington, DC), there lived a mediocre looking prince named Ulysses S Grant. He was the President of the United States. At this time and a bit before, there was a group of people that had explored the Yellowstone area of Wyoming

Rob Taylor and TinyMan Camping Yellowstone

Being prepared for all weather in Yellowstone National Park

You know how when you go to Vegas it’s blazing hot all day and you think you might die, and then you roll out at 4am and you’re frozen? The same thing happens in Yellowstone. The elevation mixed with the crazy weather patterns of the Rocky Mountains makes for a

LittleMan Picnic Table Yellowstone 1 header

The Best Picnic Spots in Yellowstone National Park

If you’ve got kids or share your life with another adult, you know that getting “hangry” is a very real and present danger. If you don’t know what “hangry” is, it’s the morph from being hungry to being angry/irritable. Three of the four in our family suffer from this. Solution:

Black Pool West Thumb Geysers Yellowstone

The Geysers of Yellowstone: how to geyser

Almost anyone in the world can tell you that Yellowstone National Park in the USA is the place you go to see geysers. Only the actual experience of being there will make you understand how amazing it is. True: there are millions of people in the Park throughout the summer,

Taylor Family West Thumb Geysers Yellowstone Lake 1

Yellowstone National Park family travel guide

Once you’ve conquered the road trip that is driving to Wyoming from wherever you actually start, you’ll have more planning…and more driving to do. I’m lucky because I love to drive. I used to be a driver-guide for a cruise company in Alaska even; that’s how much I love it.

LittleMan Swan Taxidermy Bridge Bay Yellowstone 1

Families Like Ours: even pelicans have two dads

Having two dads isn’t the norm. It’s true. But gosh, it would be nice if we ran into more families like ours out there. We do what we can to raise our kids just like any other parents do, but as they grow, we’ve got an extra step of calling

Camping List Extras

We have migrated our camping list extras into a post instead of a page. We made this list because after you’ve camped with a child, you can walk away from the experience able to say “Next time, I will definitely bring…”…hence calling them camping list extras. Here is our list

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