A year ago (the very same time) we decided to spend our 3 weeks exploring different National and State Parks. From Texas, we drove all the way to Illinois - Missouri - Kansas - Colorado - Utah - Nevada - California - Arizona - New Mexico then back to Texas. It was one of the best road trip ever with our 2 boys. It is a LOT of driving but definitely worth it.
This photo was taken back at Yosemite National Park. It was one of the cleanest (and the coldest haha) lake I have ever seen here in US. We stayed there for almost a week camping below the Yosemite park. I am glad that the camping site at the park itself is full coz we get to enjoy this very secluded camping site right by the river. It's our favorite campsite so far and everybody out there is very friendly.
We spend most of our time in Yosemite hiking and just enjoying nature. It's definitely incredible! No wonder John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt fell in-love with it's beauty.
This waterfall known as Horsetail Fall is considered one of the tallest in the world (based on what I read so please correct me if that is not the case). It is definitely breath taking and just amazing!
The 3 weeks we spend on the road is quite an experience. I told most of my friends that in 3 weeks we hardly get to use any gadget other than the time we took some photos. Most of the time we are just together and enjoying everything. My kids don't think it is crazy that we sleep in our old 2008 Honda Van, nor camp in different site. In fact, they love the experience and not complain a bit. I honestly haven't seen my kids so happy like the one captured above. I think the fact that we are not stress about anything and just outside in the nature helps a lot. I sure wish I can bottle that happiness and keep forever.
Here, the boys get to enjoy climbing and running around after we hike the Horsetail Fall trail (nope we didn't get to finish it coz we are told that it gets stiffer and not suitable for the boys who are already half tired from all the walking we did. We told them that we will be back there and will make sure we finish it (hopefully it will happen soon and not years - RV or not we can make it happen with our van lol)
Before our big trip, I ordered a Curt Basket Style Cargo Carrier (Bent Folding Shank style) and this is the one we used to carry most of our camping gears (this way, it free up a lot of room in the van and we can use it for sleeping purposes). It also doubles as my son's day bed, breakfast bed and whatever he wants it to be that day haha.
This photo was taken In Grand Canyon National Park, we camp there for 3 days (2 nights). I love the site too and how amazing the milkyway is at night! We got lucky that the sky is very clear and I can see so clearly. I even get to see (and wish) on a shooting star - how cool is that!
Lastly, this photo was taken at ArChes National Park. We only spent a day here coz our goal is to go to California and spend majority of our time in there. I think if you have kids, the whole day is enough to experience how amazing this place is.
Oh, a simple advice - make sure your gas tank is full before you hit the small roads heading here. The gas prices goes up like crazy so you are better off getting it at the city area.
I have so many photos I want to share so I can show you how amazing this trip was. Budget is a huge problem for us but we made it work. Hubby got enough points on his IHG rewards that we used for almost 5 days on our trip. We picked the areas that is not congested so we can use points as low at 15,000 for a night's worth of stay. The rest, like I said we spend on Vanping and Camping. We dont eat out much as well, I did a lot of cooking while we are parked. I think the most we ate out was when we went to San Francisco and they are very very expensive and not that great - we just want the experience so we swallowed the pride lol.
I will post more of our last year's trip so you get an idea how we made it work.
For now, I keep this one as it is coz my internet is so slow and I can't hardly post a photo grrrr....
Last pointer... With budget our not, please make sure you travel or go somewhere and experience what the world has to offer (you dont have to travel far, just look for parks near you). I think that is the reason why I am a nomad at heart - there is so much to see, experience and learn. I want my kids to have the same passion in life. Enjoy it while you can, if you have kids - more reason to do so! If you are home all the time, we tend to neglect our duty and forget to give our precious TIME to them. They are only young once, soon they will have their own lives and may not have time to spend as much time as you want with them. Spend it wisely and memorably - it is one wealth they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Thanks for being here.
Remember Life is Short. Explore. Dream. Discover
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