Trip Report: The Perfect Family Trip, Northwest 2016
In a groove...
I believe we are becoming accustomed to this lifestyle. Just 3 short years ago, my wife and I had never taken more than a week in a row off. Not for 20 years. There's been a change, and it's for the better! In the last 3 years, we have traveled over 20k miles, covered over 30 National Parks and probably as many states. This is a travel resume' that I didn't think in my lifetime would be possible. I had even convinced myself that travel was for "other people". People with time, that I'd never have.
Well, life and circumstances change. My family has been blessed. Not with riches, but with love and time...the all elusive TIME.
We just returned from another epic 40'ish day summer! Another "Perfect Family Trip"! This year took us to the Northwest. We covered parks that many would put near the top of their rankings. The cornerstones were Yellowstone and Glacier. We traveled almost 7k miles. And once again, we had our cameras by our side the entire way.
The thread in my signature titled "Southwest 2014: The Perfect Family Trip" was so rewarding for me. I enjoyed sharing, I enjoyed the feedback and comments, and I learned from the input. I hope to cover this trip as well as the first, and I hope for the same rewarding participation. Please join in.
We've had a different philosophy on this trip, and didn't know how it might change the experience. For SW2014, I had researched and planed down to the gnat's eyelash. 90% of our nights were reserved, and 90% of our daily itineraries were decided. In other words, the trip was intentional. This year, I'm not sure why the change, but we researched very little and planned even less. Of course, we had reservations for Yellowstone and Glacier, but the rest of our nights were left to the wind. We also had zero itineraries planned. We weren't even sure what was in the parks until we went to the visitors centers. Both strategies have pros and cons, and we now think we understand them better.
June 3rd was my last day of school. We finally left the house of June 4th. Our itinerary would be the following:
1. Grand Tetons
2. Yellowstone
3. Glacier
4. Black Hills
5. Badlands
Much fewer parks than SW2014. We tried to fill in-between parks with whatever we came across. At times we did well and at others we struggled to find anything. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
In the first 3 days, we logged in some heavy miles. Day 1 was about 480. Day 2 was 575. Day 3 was somewhere around 500. It wasn't in the plan that way, but I was feeling good. We stayed in a campground the first night (due to it being hot), but the next few would all be Walmarts or Cabelas.
We high tailed it like this until we hit western Nebraska. We were on I80 and came into Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff. Thanks to my planning thread, we knew we would come across these and were ready to slow down.
I am out of town right now and don't have access to my photos, so, I'll stop here until I get back home. We weren't home a week when I decided to drive 1500 more miles to see my parents for a bit before the school year started. I'm a gluten for punishment.
Again, I look forward to this thread. I'll post lots of pictures, but it will take time. Bear with me. Speaking of bears... :)
I believe we are becoming accustomed to this lifestyle. Just 3 short years ago, my wife and I had never taken more than a week in a row off. Not for 20 years. There's been a change, and it's for the better! In the last 3 years, we have traveled over 20k miles, covered over 30 National Parks and probably as many states. This is a travel resume' that I didn't think in my lifetime would be possible. I had even convinced myself that travel was for "other people". People with time, that I'd never have.
Well, life and circumstances change. My family has been blessed. Not with riches, but with love and time...the all elusive TIME.
We just returned from another epic 40'ish day summer! Another "Perfect Family Trip"! This year took us to the Northwest. We covered parks that many would put near the top of their rankings. The cornerstones were Yellowstone and Glacier. We traveled almost 7k miles. And once again, we had our cameras by our side the entire way.
The thread in my signature titled "Southwest 2014: The Perfect Family Trip" was so rewarding for me. I enjoyed sharing, I enjoyed the feedback and comments, and I learned from the input. I hope to cover this trip as well as the first, and I hope for the same rewarding participation. Please join in.
We've had a different philosophy on this trip, and didn't know how it might change the experience. For SW2014, I had researched and planed down to the gnat's eyelash. 90% of our nights were reserved, and 90% of our daily itineraries were decided. In other words, the trip was intentional. This year, I'm not sure why the change, but we researched very little and planned even less. Of course, we had reservations for Yellowstone and Glacier, but the rest of our nights were left to the wind. We also had zero itineraries planned. We weren't even sure what was in the parks until we went to the visitors centers. Both strategies have pros and cons, and we now think we understand them better.
June 3rd was my last day of school. We finally left the house of June 4th. Our itinerary would be the following:
1. Grand Tetons
2. Yellowstone
3. Glacier
4. Black Hills
5. Badlands
Much fewer parks than SW2014. We tried to fill in-between parks with whatever we came across. At times we did well and at others we struggled to find anything. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
In the first 3 days, we logged in some heavy miles. Day 1 was about 480. Day 2 was 575. Day 3 was somewhere around 500. It wasn't in the plan that way, but I was feeling good. We stayed in a campground the first night (due to it being hot), but the next few would all be Walmarts or Cabelas.
We high tailed it like this until we hit western Nebraska. We were on I80 and came into Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff. Thanks to my planning thread, we knew we would come across these and were ready to slow down.
I am out of town right now and don't have access to my photos, so, I'll stop here until I get back home. We weren't home a week when I decided to drive 1500 more miles to see my parents for a bit before the school year started. I'm a gluten for punishment.
Again, I look forward to this thread. I'll post lots of pictures, but it will take time. Bear with me. Speaking of bears... :)
