Before the kids grow up: A modified bucket list

winnietrey wrote:
The funny thing is, While the kids and you will remember the places you see and go. Those are not the greatest memories. The greatest memories are the unexpected little stuff that happens along the way. It's the bonding and exploring as a family that counts

Here here! The best teaching/learning moments I got from Mom/Dad are those "throw -away" moments.

Our kids have been all over the west with us. We bought our first RV. about 25 years ago. Oldest will be 23 next year and youngest will be 18.
Oldest will most likely buy an RV. next year and the youngest was given a small RV. already. I am sure this time was well spent as we always get comments on how good our boys are and how good their work ethics are .

Saying that one can never be sure as you can do all the right things with your kids and they can turn out bad and you can do all the wrong things and they turn out good. One never knows.

Spend time with your kids cause they grow up fast and move on.

Pogoil.

Bob806 wrote:
I see you're in Michigan- we took our kids to the UP twice, and that was cool. Union Bay on Lake Superior near Ontanogon is peaceful.

The UP is peaceful, I agree, but I'm kinda done with it for awhile.
We've camped in the UP twice in the past 3 years. This July, it was 28* at night and riddled with mosquitoes during the day. Then to sight see, we had to drive over an hour to get anywhere. I think 3 people live up there. There really is nothing around and all of the homes are run down. Sad.
I still want to visit Copper Harbor, but it's 560 miles away from home. I can be in southern Tennessee in 560 miles! I'll take Tennessee.
Even with all of that negativity about the UP, I still want to go to the Porkies as well. It's not necessarily on a 'bucket list' but a 'if I happen to be near it' list. ;)

I read you had the Utah National Parks on the list- excellent choices there. Moab is truly awesome (and there are some cool Utah State Parks nearby), plus Bryce Canyon & Zion.

Consider Glacier NP as well. The Going to the Sun Road is spectacular, and there's tons of nice simple hikes with great views. Black Hills & Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower can be visited on the way (if you have time).

I see you're in Michigan- we took our kids to the UP twice, and that was cool. Union Bay on Lake Superior near Ontanogon is peaceful.

All good stuff, especially the guy who said in retrospect he spent too much time at work. I'm in that boat right now.
Bottom line is you do what you can afford, time and money wise and eventually your kids will truly appreciate it, when they look back on it as adults.
My upbringing was very modest and my parents in order to afford to take these road trips, Civil War sites, Yellowstone, Banff, Texas, Disney, etc, started tent camping with us. Wasn't glamourous in the ole Buick with the National Lampoon roof carrier but I remember and appreciate all those experiences.
Remember, traveling is only one way to give your kids great life experiences and I know a lot of folks who never travel, rarely leave their home state.
Us on the other hand have moved every 2-3 years on avg so by default, the kids get to see more. What would be a full on summer vacation for someone from the east to The Grand Canyon was a weekend camping trip for us several years ago. Once in a lifetime trip to AK was a paid move to Anchorage last year where we camped our way up there, took the ferry part way and many weekend trips camping and fishing, Kenai, Denali, trout and salmon fishing.
Back in WA again there is still a lot to see in the PNW.

When we were your age we couldn't afford an rv but we made frequent trips in the car to places our daughter would enjoy along with us. By the time we bought an RV we were in our 50's, our daughter was grown and married so we did the next best thing; we decided we'd take our grandson with us on every rv trip we ever took for as long as he wanted to go. Starting when he was about 4 we did the Disney thing for a few years and expanded on that as he got bigger. He will be 14 the end of this month and between his first Disney trip up through this summer we've been to every state including Alaska (Hawaii is up for next summer). Each state we picked what we thought were the most interesting sites. We've been to the mountains, beaches and even Mexico and now we're having trouble deciding where to go next summer after Hawaii. :h

Grand Tetons, Moab, Zion and Bryce. The Four Corners area is unbelieveably rich with places to visit and I actually think Bryce is more spectacular than the Grand Canyon, along with the ride on 9 to 89 from Zion to Bryce and through the Grand Staircase on 12. In that area you can see old indian settlements, volcanos, meteor sites, the petrified forest etc. Its a great area for hopping from site to site without long car rides. The Vermillion cliffs are so pretty, they make your eyes hurt. Los Alamos was interesting, along with the indian settlements there and santa fe. If you are from the east coast, bring along a star map because the kids will never have seen so many stars. At least 15 minutes a night watching for satellites and constellations.

Don't count on it being "over" at 16. You might be surprised!

Agree 100%. My son is almost 23. He just went to Gettysburg with us a few weeks ago. We've joked around that when he graduates from grad school next year he'll be going on vacation by himself because he'll have his own money (assuming he gets a job!) and friends to go with. His response-he'll pay his way but he still wants to come with us! He has never NOT wanted to go with us and actually gets a bit miffed if we go away for a weekend by ourselves. BIL has 3 adult sons, and 2 still travel with him on occasion. Believe it or not, some kids still think it's "cool" to be with their parents!

Deb and Ed M wrote:
You've got 4 years. Once the oldest can drive, all bets are off, because they often have jobs and school .....

I thought this way too. I bought my first RV (a pop up) when DS was 9. Bought our current TT this past May. DS is a Senior in HS this year. This past summer he planned THREE camping trips for him & various friends -- with my blessings & input. He's already planning a Christmas trip with friends, and more trips NEXT summer.

Don't count on it being "over" at 16. You might be surprised!

Living on an island just hitting the road has never been an option. Growing up our kids had one trip a year. That was a trip to CO. to visit friends & a few days skiing.

The memories were made with summer weekends on the water. Right into the middle teens they were with us. What made it special is that we were never alone. Every weekend was spent rafted with friends & their kids. A real mixture of ages all growing up together.

A typical weekend looked like this.