The planning phase has begun.
But there are so many national parks, gorgeous drives and vistas, historic bits and pieces and fun hotels with swimming pools, how can we possibly fit it all into the two weeks we've decided to allot for this?
That's right. Two weeks. It's a miracle, but since it won't happen until next June, I've got plenty of time to plan my happy little behind off.
Some potential places of interest:
-- Anything to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose books held me spellbound as a kid. The Peanut and I have been reading them together bit by bit, and I think it might be fun for her to see some of this, too.
-- Dinosaur National Monument: My daughter will be 8. There will be dinosaurs. Need I say more?
-- Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park: Old Faithful, lots of wilderness and amazing wildlife. I booked our rooms there last night, and I cannot wait -- I've always wanted to see Yellowstone and Yosemite, both, and now I'll at least have gotten to one of them by next summer. Woo hoo!
-- Any number of lighthouses around the Great Lakes.
-- The Badlands, because who can resist something that that name?
-- Mount Rushmore, because we can't possibly drive all the way out there and not see it, now can we?
-- Glacier National Park -- although this one is iffy. Anyone go and love it?
Plus, we'd like to see some prairie in the mix as well, along with the Rockies.
Two weeks of car travel with an 8 year old. Are we crazy? Any tips on how you planned it (and better yet, survived it happily)? Let me know...
(Photo via Joits. Love this shot.)
6 comments:
If you come to Laura Ingalls Wilder country, you will be relatively close to where I live. If it's not intrusive on your vacation, let me know and I'll pop over for a cuppa java!!
Hi Christy,
Crazy Horse http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/monument/ to balance Mt. Rushmore.
Have a great trip.
T-
Barbara -- we're still in the very early planning stages, so no idea where we'll be going through or not at this point. Beyond Yellowstone, at least -- that's the only thing we've settled on for certain.
But if we get anywhere near you, I'd love to say howdy.
Hey T-! Yeah, we hope to see that, too. They are fairly close together, I think, and would make for a lovely day of touring for us, I'm sure.
after you do the norths (badlands, dinosaur, yellowstone) head south and take the southern route back. that way you can gaze upon at the grand canyon, see the alamo, and grab a beignet in new orleans before heading home through the smokies.
Sadly, Suz, I don't think we'll have time for the full Southern route. But I'm definitely trying to work in Dinosaur National Monument for The Peanut. The Visitor's Center and start of the drive through it begins in the northeastern corner of UT and goes through Colorado.
The Grand Canyon and other AZ goodies we can do the next time we are out visiting family in Phoenix, I think. Just blocking off 2 weeks on Mr. ReddHedd's schedule is crazy difficult, even a year out from it -- so Texas will have to wait for another vacation, I'm afraid.
Trying to plan driving days that get us a decent distance but don't make us insane makes a cross-country trip a little tough. But I figure an 8 year old can only stand so much time in the car every day, right? And we can only drive so much before we both desperately need a break, too. It's a tough puzzle to piece together, I have to say, now that I've started looking at it as a whole.
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