This post represents another installment in the series detailing
the second of our three cross country National Parks camping trips with travel
trailer in tow. At the time of this trip in 2010, our son, Ryan, was 16
and our daughter, Kyra, was 11.
When one or both parents are working, it can be difficult to build
the vacation you really want to take around a limited number of days off.
It’s very true that Alan, I and our two kids could have flown to our various
destinations, rented a car and booked a hotel - and there are certainly
countless families that do that and have absolutely wonderful vacations.
For us, however, camping is the adventure and having all the comforts
and conveniences of home tagging along behind us is just how we prefer to roll.
Luckily, by the time our second National Parks trip was in the
planning stage, Alan had six weeks of vacation to work with. (That
grammatical error was just for you, Mike!) I was working part time in the
local school district, so my summers (and the kids’, of course) were
free. Once Alan’s approval came through for a four week block of time, we
had a major decision to make – the same one we faced every time we started to
plan a vacation. Do we limit the stops and immerse ourselves in each
one? Or do we try to fit more in, but make the visits to each National
Park shorter? It was never an easy choice and, honestly, we would have
had a great time no matter which option we chose.
