Before the kids grow up: A modified bucket list

[michigansandzil]

I'm thinking I can't be the only one out there with this type of list. There are numerous places I want to take my children before they grow up. Sure, memories can be made anywhere, but I want to travel and experience America with them.

We're in our late 30s, obviously decades away from retirement. The kids are 12, 10, and 6. Excellent travel ages. They're not sassy teenagers yet and hopeful the youngest is old enough to have memories of our travels.

This August we're going to Gettysburg, DC, Baltimore, Assateague Island, Philly, and NYC.

But the biggest item on my modified bucket list is Yellowstone and South Dakota. I've never been there and I can't wait to take the kids. This is planned out for 2016.

I also want to do Utah NP and the Grand Canyon. Boston is big on my plan list as well as the Everglades. I'm hoping we get to all of these places and more.

Anyone else?

[jepalmer]

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.

[Pogoil]

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.

[michigansandzil]

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. 😉

[Bob806]

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.

[Grit_dog]

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.

[noe-place]

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

[puttd]

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.

[Crowe]

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!

[happybooker1]

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!

[Veebyes]

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.

[Mountain_Mama]

Yes, I understand. I never traveled much when I was a kid except to see cousins in west Texas. We camped lake trips with our kids, but when the were jr high age we took a 2 week trip to DC and then then when they were in high school we did Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore , etc trip. We all had a great time and we knew once they graduated from high school it would be harder to do trips together. They would also get busy & may never do those trips so we wanted to do them. Wish there had been more big trips but I was surprised when our DD after she married stated that she had grown up camping & I never thought of it like that. She still enjoys going with us. Her husband came back to our campsite once when they were camping with us in SE. Oklahoma & said he'd found a trail that was just like heaven! Of course, with him growing up in south Texas , we knew why it seemed so special to him. We're booked for a 2 week trip with them next summer to go to Yellowstone..it's time to take the DGD! So I guess we still have a bucket list as grandparents, too!

[winnietrey]

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, more than the actual places.

We are in our late 50's, we took the kids many, many places. ( all over the USA, Canada, one European cruise and one Mexico cruise) My only regret is I wish we had gone more.

As you get older you come to understand, your career is not as important as you thought it was.

When I look back, I realize I could have taken more time. But was afraid to, or I thought the world would end if, I was not at work. Or I was afraid to spend the money. None of which in the long run was true.

The clock is ticking, kids grow up and are gone. Enjoy your young family while you can in my opinion.

As a post script. my wife and I always thought experience was more important than things. So we lived with older cars, lesser houses and lesser things than many folks. And put that money into these experiences. In retrospect, we feel it was a good choice

[Merrykalia]

michigansandzilla, be sure and let the kids know that Hershey Park is just an hour away from Gettysburg. Do the chocolate factory tour along with the park and make it a "learning experience".

Although Busch Gardens is just down the road from Williamsburg!

If you are going to be that close, go to the shipyards in Norfolk for a great tour (if they are still doing them). The aquarium in Va Beach is really nice, also.

[michigansandzil]

dverstra wrote:

michigansandzilla wrote:

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 events......

My kids liked any adventure involving water... LOL!!

If you can get as far as CA, my kids were fascinated by LA and the La Brea Tar Pits.

4 years, I was thinking the same thing too. Makes me kind of panicky, lol.

Realistically, I don't think we'll make it to CA. Too far for us. And yeah, we're big into water too.

We lived through a California trip with 2 teenage boys. 4 weeks into the trip in San Francisco, we had all had enough. It took us 3 days to get home!:B

I would love to do CA. But our max time off of work is two weeks, so to have any time there we'd have to fly, rent a car, etc. That's not in the cards for us anytime soon.
Limited by time and finances we are thinking Yellowstone is about as far as we'll get with kids.