A 9-day/600-mile road trip covering National Parks of Southern California – including Death Valley, Joshua Tree and the Channel Islands. Travelers included our family with 3 kids ages 9-15. Enjoyed hiking over sand dunes, watching Joshua Tree sunsets, and sea-kayaking. Stayed in a variety of accommodations. Month of travel: April.
Continue reading “Road Trip: Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Channel Islands National Parks”
The idea for this post was born on a family bike ride on Sanibel Island in January of 2015. Biking behind my “new” teen, I had a few aha moments about how our family vacations were evolving as the kids were growing up. Our oldest was being particularly stinky about our bike ride – something we had done almost every trip to Florida. It was a tradition! But this time, it was like we were torturing him. By biking . . . in the sun . . . on vacation.
Continue reading “Travels with Teens: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly.”
An 11-day/1600-mile road trip covering National Parks of Utah and Arizona – including Zion, Bryce, Arches and the Grand Canyon. Travelers included our family with 3 kids ages 6-13. Enjoyed hiking among and above hoodoos, canyons and arches. Stayed in a variety of accommodations. Month of travel: April.
Continue reading “Road Trip: National Parks of Utah and Arizona”
Vancouver has everything: active excursions from beaches to mountains, plus shopping, dining and art. Whatever your travel plans, make sure to get the most out of your stay in this picturesque city.
We spent 3 nights and 4 full days in Vancouver hiking, biking and playing outside during July before heading south to Seattle, Bainbridge Island, and eventually Portland (check out our road trip itinerary). We stayed downtown in a high-rise building with a fantastic view of the city, which we arranged through AirBnB. Here are our highlights, some tips and a few recommendations for a fun active vacation.
Continue reading “5 Awesome Outdoor Activities in Vancouver”
Travel is fun, but let’s face it – packing is not. This wouldn’t be a proper travel blog if I didn’t dish out some tips for making the packing process easier, less tedious, or more efficient. I strongly dislike packing, but it must be done. Over the years we have honed our packing skills – especially when it involves all 5 of us getting prepared. We never start early, and there’s no chaos or panic (anymore). Here are my top 8 tips, take what you will:
An 8-day road trip from Saint Paul, MN to the Black Hills of South Dakota via Badlands National Park. Detour to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming on the way home. Travelers included 2 families of 5, with kids aged 4-10 years old. Lots of outdoor adventure and a variety of accommodations from camping to VRBO. Month of travel: July.
Companion post to Black Hills Gold
Vacation Coffee 