This post is a bit outside of our normal nature-based adventures, but for those interested in a more urban holiday, it might be of value. This year, we went with my wife’s family to the Gaylord in Grapevine, TX, which is north east of Dallas.
We did something similar in Austin, two years prior, at Kalahari, and having now done a ‘resort’-based holiday twice now, I believe that I have a better perspective. The general consensus was that the Gaylord experience was far superior. It is not as much of an amusement park atmosphere, but it felt much more like the holidays.
What We Did
Cowboys v. Giants: This is really the main reason we went. My son has become a huge Cowboys fan, despite their play on the field, and it felt like a bucket list moment to go to Jerry World on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys won, which improved the atmosphere, but the stadium is the real star. Having been to dozens of sporting events and venues across the country, I can say without doubt that AT&T is the most amazing stadium in which I have ever watched a game. It doesn’t have the character of a Wrigley or Green Bay, but it a remarkable achievement.
ICE!: The Gaylord puts together multiple Christmas activities for all ages. We went indoor sledding, ice skating met with Santa. The best thing we did, though, is an exhibit called ICE! where the creator makes elaborate ice sculptures and scenes from beloved Christmas stories. At the Gaylord in Grapevine, the theme was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and they did an awesome job. I do suggest that if you plan to partake, you dress warmly, including gloves. You will be provided with a parka, but it is just about 9 degrees, so layers definitely help.
Visit Oklahoma(and the Eiffel Tower): In order to spend time with some of my wife’s extended family, we also drove to Paris, TX. Paris is less than two hours from Dallas, and less than 20 minutes from Oklahoma. This was the second time that I have been to Oklahoma, and it was the same trip, right across the border, both times. I would love to spend more time in the Sooner State, as there appear to be some great things to do, but this checks the list for the kids. Paris also boasts its own Eiffel Tower, complete with cowboy hat. If you’re in the area, it is a can’t miss.
Thanksgiving is a great kick-off to the holiday season, and if I had the chance to spend it at the Gaylord again, I would. I recommend making dinner and breakfast reservations on nights when you know your plans in advance and bringing layers for the winter adventures, and it’ll be a great time.
Next up for the Traveling Igoes, a Christmas visit to St. Louis. It will likely not be accompanied by a blog post, but you never know. Moving into 2025, we’ve got a lot on the menu, including a trip to the Bahamas and to Michigan, but first, for Mardi Gras, we’ll be hitting up the elusive Virgin Islands National Park. Check back soon…
This July, we met my parents and three brother on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, in Stateline, for a week. We stayed in a VRBO on top of a mountain near the Heavenly Ski Resort. It was sold as a ski-in, ski-out, so it is primarily for winter use, but it made for a great summer home. It was basically two different three story units attached to one another, which worked well for our group of fourteen.
Lake Tahoe is quite expansive, so you have to plan what you do, what to see and where to eat based upon how much time you are willing to spend in the car. Getting up and down our mountain took a solid fifteen minutes, so that included, everything we did was at least half an hour away, so we really had to make the most of our time.
Hikes
Cascade Falls: I believe this was my favorite trail that we took on our trip. It is 1.3 miles out-and-back and does include some strenuous uphills and some scrambling. The effort is completely worth it. At the top, you find dozens of small cascades that you can play around in before they become a large waterfall. Not only do you get a great view of Lake Tahoe, but there is another, more secluded lake which is spectacular. Parking can be difficult, but going either early or later in the day can help.
Cave Rock: This is a short, popular hike with extremely limited parking. The initial approach is simple, but the end is a relatively vertical climb. This trail is most popular at sunset, so gets very crowded, but if you are willing to get there early, you can dangle your feet over the lake and watch the sun drop below the mountains.
Horsetail Falls: This is a great hike, but a good distance from where we were staying. It is hard time find exactly where this trail starts, but look for the Pyramid Peak parking lot. When you start up, I strongly suggest using AllTrails, because while the trail is marked, it is over a lot of stones, so it is not always clear where the pathway is. The best thing to do is follow the falls up, where you can find several small pools to swim in. Getting all the way to falls is difficult, and something we did not accomplish, but you get cool views of it all the way up.
Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake: This trail was by far the most difficult to park at. It is on the other side of the road from Emerald Bay, and there are multiple smaller lots, but we had to circle a lot to get a spot around 9:30 am. The hike up is two part, the first going along to Upper Eagle Falls, the second reaching an amazing mountain like. You should definitely go all the way. The trail was too difficult for my parents, but we made it with just a little difficulty.
Excurions
Clear Kayak Lake Tour: Tahoe Paddle Sports offers a really fun tour of Tahoe on the Nevada side. The clear kayaks are great and our guide was fantastic. It is not a super exhilarating, high-energy tour, but it was very relaxing and a nice way to see parts of the lake.
Rafting the American River: This was done through a friend of my brothers but is definitely something you should look into. It took us over an hour to reach the initial launch spot, but it was worth it. We basically did two tours. The older, more adventurous of us started at the top and took on some class 3+ rapids. We met the kids and grandparents halfway down, who joined us for a leisurely float for the rest of the day.
Boat Rental: Out of the Ski Run Marina, we rented two speed boats and a tube, each able to hold seven people. It was a lot of fun tossing the kids around on the tube and exploring the lake. It was also a good way to see Emerald Bay and get a close up look Fannette Island and the Tea House.
Beaches
Emerald Bay: Getting down to the Emerald Bay beach includes a solid 1 mile hike, once you’ve won the battle for parking. The hike is downhill, so super easy on the way down, not so much on the way up. The Vikingsholm House is at the bottom, so that is fun to see, and there are several vendors who rent things like kayaks and SUPs. If you’ve got the stamina for it, this trip is worth the walk.
Round Hill Pines: This is the beach where we spent a solid four or five hours. It doesn’t get nearly as crowded as some of the other options, but it just as impressive. The beach is gritty, but that is normal in the area, and there’s a restaurant and bar. We were also able to rent chairs, an umbrella and two jet skis for an hour.
Where We Ate
South of North Brewing Co: This brewery has decent food and decent beer and absolutely no parking. Our main reason for going was a Wednesday night trivia, which we won.
Artemis Lakefront Cafe: This Mediterranean restaurant is right on the water and kind of expensive. That said, the food was good, the view was great, and it was very convenient.
Riva Grill on the Lake: Riva is in the same Ski Run marina as Artemis. I prefer the former. Riva does have a great view, and the food was fine, but way over-priced with mediocre service.
Base Camp Pizza: This is a cool pizza place in the most popular part of town. It was good, but our favorite part was the large number of great appetizers they offered.
If you’ve never been to a ski town in the summer, you ought to consider it. We went to Breckinridge a few years ago and felt the same way. There is a lot to do and usually all sorts of great hikes. I usually try to offer advice at the end of our posts, things that I would do differently, but I really don’t have much to say. It wasn’t my favorite vacation ever, but it really was a lot of fun.
As the school year came to a close in 2024, my wife and eldest daughter went on a service trip to Nicaragua, starting on Memorial Day weekend and lasting for 8 days. To keep the wander lust as bay, Clara, JR and I decided to take a short jaunt to Chicago and catch a White Sox home game.
If you are asking why in the world did we choose the White Sox, the answer is pretty straightforward. For one, it is a direct flight from NOLA to Chicago, which made traveling with a three year old a lot easier. Two, we had never been, and I would like to see a ball game in home stadium of every team. Counting the ChiSox, I am up to fourteen.
We were in Chicago for less than 24 hours total, but we had a great time. There’s so much to do there, that we could go back again and have a completely different experience.
What We Did
Stax Cafe: We arrived quite early, and the game didn’t start until 1:10 pm, so our first stop was at Stax for pancakes. There are at least two of these in Chicago, and I was very impressed. They have a very diverse menu for breakfast and for lunch, and have several options for kids. All three of us got pancakes, and while JR, who is a bit of a pancake snob, said they weren’t the best he’s ever had, they were definitely above average. We were all very satisfied.
Maggie Daley Park: This is a great public play area right off the water in downtown Chicago. It has a lot to offer, and while we didn’t have a ton of time, we managed to get in 18 holes of mini golf and about 45 minutes on the playgrounds. There’s a lot more to do in this area, and it has great options for kids. We probably could have spent the whole day there. The only drawback is that parking is kind of confusing and kind of expensive.
White Sox Game: If you were too suggest that the White Sox stadium has the worst name in baseball, I wouldn’t disagree. That said, the stadium itself is quite impressive. While it isn’t in the best part of the city, the area immediately surrounding the stadium is great. There is ample parking, and since the team is pretty mediocre at the moment, we were able to park less than five minutes away.
There is a large Kids’ Zone in the outfield, but we actually didn’t take advantage of it. JR said the pretzel was a 6 out of 10, which is much higher than Philadelphia, and Clara easily took care of a hot dog. My only complaint about the food is that they didn’t have any candy (as far as we could tell), which helps to get a three year old through 3 hours of ball.
My favorite things about the White Sox experience are the batters eye and City Connect jerseys. Centerfield is lovely copse of green trees and bushes that creates a much more esthetic batters’ eye than does a simple green wall. While they weren’t wearing their City Connect jersey’s that day, I think the White Sox’ is one of the best. I see little reason to ever go back the Guaranteed Rate, but I would definitely recommend it.
Lou Malnati’s: We closed the night with deep dish pizza and spaghetti at Lou Malnati’s. I am not expert in Chicago-style pizza; frankly, it’s not my favorite. That said, the food was good, the beer was cold and the people were friendly, so what could there be to complain about?
We had a great, brief experience in Chicago, and while the Sox field certainly doesn’t compare to Wrigley, it certainly isn’t at the bottom of the list of stadiums that we’ve visited. It probably doesn’t make the list of must-do things in Chicago, but for the MLB fans hoping to visit every stadium, Guaranteed Rate is more than just a box to check, it was a very pleasant experience. We spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express (which was not very nice) near the airport and caught the early flight home.
Next up, we’ve got an RV trip through the Dakotas, so stay tuned to see if I hit another Dairy Queen.
This year, as Eileen went off to Spring Break in Pensacola, JR, Alyson, Clara and I made our way from New Orleans directly to Baltimore for Easter. This is the fourth year in a row that we’ve used this weekend to visit a new city and go to a ball game (or two).
We landed in Baltimore in the early evening on Friday night and spent some time tooling around the Inner Harbor area. This is one of the more popular, touristy areas of the city. You’ll definitely pay tourist prices, but there’s a lot to do. We were too early in the season for the majority of the water activities, but it’s still a pretty interesting area.
Where We Ate
Angie’s Seafood: This was a great spot that had reservations available for us on a Friday night in Lent. The entire menu looked great, and while it was pricey, the food was worth it. We were definitely on the prowl for crab cakes, and these were some of the best I have ever had. It’s worth it to keep in mind that the crab cakes in Baltimore differ from those, in say, New Orleans. Back home, it’s basically a fried patty. On the east coast, it was almost like a huge ice cream scoop of crab with very little filler, warmed and browned on a grill top. The meal was quite satisfying.
Underground Pizza CO.: This pizza places specializes in Detroit-style pizza, which basically means sauce on the top and no crust. This, too, was in the Inner Harbor area, so was pricey and touristy, but the food was really good and the people were really friendly.
Miss Shirleys: This is one of the classic breakfasts spots, of which there are several throughout the Baltimore area. We were able to walk from our hotel, and all four of us easily found something we were able to enjoy.
Peabody Heights Brewery: Full disclosure, we didn’t actually eat at this brewery. There was a food truck, but we didn’t actually try anything. The beer was solid, and there were a dozen or so options. Two unique things about this brewery is that first, it’s located at the site of the old Orioles baseball stadium, there’s some cool historical stuff to look at. The second is that the brewery includes an all-you-can-play video arcade for $15. Our kids were allowed to participate, and we spent a solid two hours here.
What We Did
Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum: If you are a baseball lover or a history lover, this is a cool place to visit. While Babe Ruth only lived at this Baltimore site for about a week, they have done a really good job of preserving it. There are some really cool old baseball cards, not just of the Babe, several exhibits about the Babe and the Orioles, and a short, but poignant video about the relationship between big league ball and the national anthem. It’s priced reasonably, and only takes about an hour, and is definitely worthwhile.
Fort McHenry: Speaking of the national anthem, this is National Historic Site was the location of the battle where it was originally penned. At the time we were there, the Fort actually overlooked the collapsed bridge, but in addition to that, it is a well-preserved part of American history. The grounds are beautiful, especially when the trees are flowering, and there’s a great video about Francis Scott Key, the War of 1812 and the development of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Phillies Game: If you’ve come to Baltimore for the love of the game, as did we, it might be worth your time to drive two hours northeast and catch a Phillies game. We did on the Saturday, and watched the Phillies drop one to the Braves. Although I am a fan of neither team, it is always fun to watch the Phillies lose; their fans take it so well.
I believe this was the 12th MLB team at whose stadium I saw a home game, and frankly, I was not impressed. I love visiting Philadelphia, but everything you hear about the Philly-faithful is true. They boo almost all the time, including their owns players. The stadium is relatively lackluster. Worst of all, the fans don’t seem to understand normal, live sports etiquette. They stand up to go to the vendors or bathroom mid-pitch and seem to completely disregard the fact that others a trying to watch the game. In terms of getting to a home game of every club, I am glad that we went, but I don’t have plans to ever go back.
Orioles Game: Camden Yards is a completely different story. This first of the classic, retro stadiums is built right into the heart of the city and does not disappoint. While I am aware that the team itself frequently disappoints, we had a great experience. For me, an Orioles game is the top attraction in Baltimore. Of the stadiums that I have been in, I think I would have to rank it third, behind only Busch and Wrigley.
We had a great trip and great time visiting Baltimore. It is a very diverse city, and it has a lot to offer. I would gladly go back given the opportunity. Next on our list might be another short baseball trip with just JR, Clara and I, or it will be a big one: South Dakota, North Dakota and an RV. Stay tuned…
The morning after the Bananas’ game, JR and I woke early and jetted off to Florida to see his favorite band, Fall Out Boy, perform in Jacksonville. Again, this post will be somewhat of a diversion from our normal travel posts, but if you’re spending some time in Jacksonville, or with Patrick Stump or Pete Wentz, this installment is for you.
What We Did:
Fort Caroline: This is a National Park Service site within the city of Jacksonville. To be honest, it is a bit of a disappointment. The ‘fort’ has existed since the 1500s, and it is admitted by the people who run the site that no one really knows what exactly it was or what exactly happened there. It would be a cool place to take your dog for a walk if you lived nearby, but there is not actually a lot to see or do. We got a passport stamp, and that was about it.
Safe Harbor Seafood Market and Restaurant: This restaurant, right one the water, was awesome. You walk in, order at the counter, and they bring your food within a few minutes. JR and I sat outside, had a great food and enjoyed a perfect atmosphere.
St. Augustine, FL: The oldest town in the United States is less than an hour south of Jacksonville. In retrospect, I wish we’d gone right away, but since the concert didn’t start until 6:30 pm, and FOB wasn’t likely to go on until 9, we had plenty of time. There is a much better National Park site here (Castillo de San Marcos), and while the whole town is a bit touristy, it’s a lot of fun. We found a bar with a balcony overlooking the water, a place called Ben’s that sells pretzels, and all sorts of other things to do. It actually reminded me a lot of the French Quarter, sans the strip clubs and t-shirt shop.s
Fall Out Boy
What an amazing show!!! I couldn’t have asked for more for JR’s first concert. We arrived at about 7:30, but still saw two openers, including Jimmy Eat World, who were pretty good. Fall Out Boy went on at around 9 and played for almost two hours.
The show was amazing. A lot of their music is very interactive, and the audience was great. The band played every song we wanted to hear, plus a few more that we didn’t expect. By the end, the boy was exhausted, and I was happy. I sent the band an FB message thanking them for making his first concert so memorable, and Patrick Stump (the lead singer) actually responded.
We both look forward to the next new album from Fall Out Boy (named for a Simpsons’ character, if you didn’t know) so that the go on another tour.
This year has been filled with a lot of traveling for the Igoes, and our next big plan was (and is) Hawaii, but in the meantime, we decided to sneak in a quick Memorial Day jaunt. None of the Igoes, save yours truly, has ever visited the great state of Kansas, so we tried to come up with a reason to go.
Those who follow closely are aware that my parents live in St. Louis, which is only a four hour drive from Kansas City. You are probably also aware of our proclivity to attend baseball games. What you may not be aware of is that in addition to the Cardinals and Blues, St. Louis has a new Major League Soccer team, St. Louis City SC.
After very little thought, we bought tickets to St. Louis and home from Kansas City, along with tickets to the City game and Royals game. We woke up early on Saturday morning, hopped on a plane and made our way to St. Louis.
The City SC game was that night, so we had about 8 hours to kill prior to kickoff. One of the landmarks of St. Louis is Union Station. Originally an actual train depot, it has gone through many evolutions, but it seems that the current iteration might actually stick.
The old station now has multiple restaurants, mini-golf, a London Eye-style wheel, ropes course, mirror maze and interactive aquarium, amongst other things. We had done a bit in the past, so this time we decided to ride the wheel and play mini-golf. The wheel is pretty cool, and seats up to 8, but the grand view is primarily of nothing. It is fun, and only about 15 minutes, but it doesn’t compare to looking out over the city of London. The mini-golf was also nothing special, but was a fine, albeit expensive, way to spend the morning.
We got the timing just right, and headed down to our favorite area to get lunch in St. Louis, The Hill. This is an old Italian neighborhood with a restaurant on almost every corner. It is great for dinner, but the Italian lunch sandwiches are one of my favorite things about St. Louis.
This go around, we ate at Adriana’s, which was packed. It was my first time there, and while I don’t think it is my favorite spot on The Hill, I would gladly go back five days in a row and enjoy five different sandwiches.
We hung around my parents’ house for a few hours whilst the baby napped, went to Saturday afternoon church at my high school, and headed downtown. If you are going to an SC game, I definitely suggest getting there early. The game didn’t start until 7:30 but the festivities kicked off at 4 pm, which made parking quite difficult.
It probably took us 20 minutes to find a spot, and it was still a solid 15 minute walk to the field. Next time, we would go on ezpass.com and reserve parking ahead of time. The field, City Park, was amazing. It was at capacity, as usual for this inaugural season; a solid 22,000 people.
It doesn’t hurt that the team is brand new and in first place, and the city of St. Louis has gone crazy for them. I say this having attended multiple sporting events, playoff games, championships; this soccer game was the most vibrant environment in which I have seen a game. The entire congregation was on their feet, singing and screaming, for 90 minutes. Again, I am sure it helped that City won the game, but the atmosphere was insane. That said, the prices were also insane, so come prepared, but if you have a chance to catch a game in a place like City Park, I suggest you take it.
The next morning, we left the house before 8 am and headed for Kansas City. It is about a 4 hour drive, and just outside the city itself is Independence, Missouri, home to President Harry Truman. We stopped at the Harry S Truman National Historic Site, which includes a Visitors Center with a nice video and his house, which you can tour. We didn’t actually do the tour, but the video is interesting, and we got another stamp for the kids’ passport books.
The Royals’ game was a 1:10 pm start, so we ate lunch at Kauffman Stadium. If you have never been, Kauffman is pretty cool. Unlike a lot of newer stadiums, Kauffman is outside of the main urban area, but is done really well. It has a lot of amenities, and everyone was quite friendly. We actually got see the Royals hit a walk-off, which was cool, and that puts me up to 11 home stadiums.
Before we ended the day with dinner, we raced over to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which may well be the best thing in Kansas City. It is small but packed with great features and information, and fantastic video narrated by James Earl Jones. In terms of a can’t-miss experience, this is at the top of the list.
That night, we ate at the Beer Kitchen, which is exactly what it sounds like, a restaurant with beers. It was quite delicious, kid-friendly and had a great atmosphere.
Now at this point, it might have crossed your mind that as of yet, we still had not actually visited the state of Kansas, as the majority of the experiences in KC reside on the Missouri side. So the morning of Memorial Day, we woke up, crossed the river and drove to Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant. This is a cute little diner with a solid breakfast that is actually delivered by toy trains. It is nothing out of the ordinary, but if you happen to be in the state of Kansas, it is a place to eat.
Our flight home wasn’t until the early afternoon, and we struggled to find something to do with the rest of our day. Kansas City has several waterfalls, but most are not super impressive during this time of year. There is a lot of cool stuff to do in Kansas, but most of it was too far from where we were. We ended up settling upon the St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne Memorial Park and Shrine.
If you are not Catholic, and even then, are not well-acquainted with the Sacred Heart community, this is probably not a good use of your time. That said, my daughters both go to a Sacred Heart institution, and my wife teaches there, so for some of us, this was pretty interesting.
On our way back to Kansas City for our flight home, we stopped at Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, which is just a classic, great place to get a frozen treat. We made it home that day without any difficulty, capping off a great Memorial Day trip.
It was nice for the kids and my wife to cross Kansas off the list, and it was nice to get out of New Orleans for a bit. Next up, the big trip to number five-O, Hawaii.
We decided to follow a similar script as last year for Easter and center our journey around seeing a baseball game. The Cardinals were playing in Milwaukee, and having already visited that unimpressive stadium, we decided to look elsewhere. I was hoping that both the Red Sox and Yankees had home series, but that also was not meant to be.
So where did that leave us? Cleveland…
Cleveland, you say? According to Mark Twain, America has only three great cities: New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.
While it is hard to disagree with America’s greatest novelist, there are actually reasons to visit Ohio’s second largest metropolis, which I shall proceed to detail below.
As in recent years, our eldest ditched us for a Spring Break in Seaside, where one of her drunk friends proceeded to haver at for evidently no reason. My hope is that this experience will lead her to joining us again next year, but we shall see.
So the remaining four us set off for Cleveland on Satuday morning, and arrived just after noon. We were hoping to try Slyman’s Deli, but it is closed on the weekends. Instead, we settled for a wonderful Michael Simon BBQ restaurant called Mabel’s. It’s in a really interesting, revitalized area of downtown, and the food is excellent. At the waitress’s suggestion, we just ordered one large plate of meats and two sides, which was more than enough for our family to share. As far as I can recall, this was my first time eating at the restaurant of an Iron Chef.
In the early afternoon, we drove up to Lake Eerie, the third Great Lake I have seen, and spent about two hours at arguably Cleveland’s most iconic attraction, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Located by the football stadium on the shores of the lake, this is an impressive building slightly reminiscent of the Louvre.
We purchased tickets ahead of time, and made our way down to the first of six floors. Every leve has its own experiences, from exhibits specific to The Beatles and The Who to the Wall of Plaques to a Pink Floyd’s The Wall theater to a live band karaoke experience.
JR and I agreed that our favorite part was the Hall of Plaques that featured every band or individual inducted, starting in 1986. It actually came as a surprise to both of us that the first class was so recent, but it was very cool to see. My son was disappointed at the lack of Fall Out Boy representation (a feeling I shared in reference to the Gin Blossoms), but eligibility begins 25 years after an artists initial commercial release, so Pete still has a few years to go.
After checking into our hotel, we headed out to Progressive Stadium to watch the Guardians eventually lose to the Brewers. This was the 10th home stadium in which I have seen a game, and I have really enjoyed expanding my baseball horizons. That said, from the outside, the Guardian’s stadium is one of the most unimpressive and downright ugly ballparks I have ever seen.
Fortunately, this was just a poor first impression, because from the inside, the open air complex is quite lovely, a fine place to catch a game. If you are going to see an outdoor game in early April, please prepare appropriately. We all had several lays, including doubled up socks, and hand warmers to get us through 2 and half hours of 40 degree baseball. We were all very thankful for the next accelerated pace of play, as it got us in and out much more efficiently than in years past.
We woke early the next morning for a hotel room Easter celebration and drove over to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for an 8 am service. This building is everything you’d want from a grand cathedral: beautiful high vaulted ceilings, multiple side chapels and wonderful artwork throughout. Some of our past Easter experiences in terms of the service itself have been mediocre, but that was not the case this Sunday. The priest did a fine job of letting the gravity of the day speak for itself instead of adding a whole bunch of unneeded nonsense during the homily.
After finishing up just under an hour, we headed over to Betts for an Easter brunch. Betts is nothing too fancy, or too expensive, but it offers a round menu, and the food was excellent. It was exactly what was needed prior to beginning the second leg of our Ohio trip which would take us into Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
CVNP is perhaps the most uniquely positioned National Park of the current 63. The Arch is directly in the middle of downtown St. Louis, Hot Springs is basically a city in-and-of itself, Saguaro encircles Tucson, but Cuyahoga is by far the most suburban national park that we have visited.
The borders meander, and you’ll find that some of the most interesting sites in the park are within a hundred yards of an interstate or a Pure Barre. If you love the secluded, lost wilderness of the big parks out West, you might not enjoy Cuyahoga, but it is super-accessible and offers some breathtaking experiences, even if you’re only a short walk from the nearest fro-yo stand.
The park is a refuge for native plants and wildlife, and winds along the Cuyahoga River, giving way to deep forests, rolling hills and open farmlands. Our first stop was at the Boston Mills Visitors center to get the lay of the land and get our passport book stamped. At this stage, we were heading into the early afternoon, so our plan was to do just one solid hike before getting dinner.
The first trek we endeavored was the Brandywine Falls Trail, one of the most popular trails in the park. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the paths were unsurprisingly crowded, but there are a few notes to help amplify your experience. For one, you don’t actually have to do the hike to see the falls. The falls are located at the end of the loop, which basically starts and ends in the parking lot. If you are not much a hiker, this is a great park, as there are many attractions that can basically be driven to without having to endure the cheap showiness of nature
However, we decided to trek the 1.5 mile trail, which was quite lovely and not particularly strenuous. If you also make this decision, I highly recommend taking the trail in the clockwise direction. This way, you finish with the boardwalks that lead to this amazing waterfall, instead of seeing the payout at the beginning.
The fall itself is quite wonderful, albeit right next to the road, and the system of boardwalks set up around it offer visitors the chance to see the falls from multiple different angles. I think for most folk, if you were just going to do one thing in Cuyahoga, Brandywine Falls would be it.
Before dinner, we had about two hours to kill, so we made use of some of the other sights in Cuyahoga that are not far off the road. The first of which was the Everett Covered Bridge. The area is calm and quiet, and the old fashioned covered bridge is certainly quite quaint.
Another great feature of Cuyahoga, which can include a long walk or a short one from a nearby parking lot, is Deer Lick Cave. This is really more of an overhang than a legit cave, but it is a very impressive feature of this park. We didn’t do the actual hike, but the short version leads to a creek with several small cascades and multiple small alcoves that the kids can explore. It was a great way to end our day in the park.
We struggled that evening finding a place to eat, as most of the restaurants we had researched were closed for Easter. We settled on the Ohio Brewing Company and were not disappointed. Very family friendly, this brew pub offers your standard brewery foods: pretzels, burgers, chicken sandwiches, etc. The food was solid, and the beers were excellent, good enough to bring a couple back to the hotel with us.
That night, we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in the city of Richfield, one of the suburbs that borders CVNP. The hotel was fine, and there are limited lodging accommodations in the park itself. There is the Brandywine Inn, which looks nice but inexplicably won’t allow visitors under 5 years of age, and the Stanford House, which would have required us to book the entire 9 bedroom building, a bit more than we needed. There are plenty of nearby hotels, and while they don’t offer the experience of actually staying the park, they get the job done.
Our flight home on Monday wasn’t until the evening, and park is less than half an hour from the airport, so we attempted to see as much of the rest of the park as possible. There is a train that can take one throughout the Cuyahoga Valley area, but it was out of service during our stay, so we stuck with the rental car.
Our second day in the park started out back at the Boston Mills Visitors Center, a location which also includes the Blue Hen Falls trail head. This trail is about a 3 mile out and back, relatively strenuous hike. It starts with an arduous ascent up several stairs leading away from the Visitors Center, and included three separate up and downs.
It is a challenging hike, and is often in very close proximity to several main roads, but the payoff is absolutely worth it. As you approach the falls, the traffic noises fade away, and you will find yourself encountering one of the parks wonderfully secluded gems. We started this trek early, so had the run of the falls.
There is a scenic overlook, but if you are adventuresome (and willing to stray a bit off the trail), you can get right to mouth of the falls. This was my favorite part of the trip, and I think JR and Clara spent about half an hour hanging around on the cataract, trying to skip rocks.
We had one more hike that we wanted to attempt, and decided to take only a short break between the two. There was one other brewery that we hoped to sample, and figured that if we knocked out both hikes before 2 pm, we could grab a beer with a late lunch.
The Ledges is the last of the major attractions in Cuyahoga, and is definitely one that you won’t want to miss. This is basically a 2.5 mile lollipop loop from a centrally located parking lot. I strongly recommend taking the loop clockwise as, again, this leaves the most impressive parts of the trail for the end.
The Ledges is a series of interconnecting trails that take hikers up and around a plateau and series of, well, ledges that are quite impressive. Whilst on this trail, be sure that you take the path that goes around the outside of the stone features, called the Octagon. If you stay on top of the plateau, you miss out on a lot of the most interesting features, and have to be below the ledges at the end to experience the Ice Box.
Our last stop in Ohio, aside from the airport, was a brew pub in Peninsula, OH, call the Winking Lizard. This is a cute little brewery in a cute little town that has solid food, good beer and a great atmosphere. It was really a nice way to put an end to our trip.
We really enjoyed Cuyahoga Valley and the Cleveland area. We were in Ohio for less than 72 hours, and this felt like the appropriate amount of time. If we wanted to spend more time in the National Park, it is possible to rent kayaks or horses, but we couldn’t find any guided tours. Given the amount of time we had, I feel like we really maximized our experience.
The Igoes don’t have anything on tap for May, except perhaps visiting a few friends in Fairhope over Memorial Day. The next big ticket on our docket is a late June cruise with Alyson’s family in Hawaii. Stayed tuned as we look to knock out two more National Parks and my fiftieth state.
Last Thanksgiving, we met my parents in Gatlinburg and had the pleasure of exploring the city and Smokies over the holiday. Generally speaking, we spend Thanksgiving with one side of our family and Christmas with the other. After last year’s trip, we decided to not-so-subtly suggest that instead of spending Thanksgiving sitting in one of our parents’ houses for four days, we spend the time doing something new and fun.
Alyson’s mom/family were agreeable to this, so instead of another late November stay in San Antonio, Alyson’s mom booked a suite at a resort called Kalahari, just northeast of Austin. If you are not familiar with Kalahari, it is very similar to a Great Wolf Lodge. If you are not familiar with a Great Wolf Lodge, it is kind of like a stationary cruise ship.
Kalarahi has multiple restaurants, shops, an arcade, indoor rides and an indoor water park. It also has several outdoor pools and bars, none of which were open at this time of year. The kids were really excited to go, although Alyson and I were a bit more hesitant. It didn’t seem like the type of trip that would offer a whole lot of traditional Thanksgiving options, but we agreed that anything would be better than spending another four days sitting around doing nothing.
Our check-in was early afternoon on Wednesday, so we left New Orleans late on Tuesday night, picked up a rental car (not from Budget) and stayed at a near-by Hampton Inn. Since we got there early, we decided to use the time explore some of the sites in the greater Austin area.
Our first stop was at a waterhole called Hamilton Pool. This natural wonder was created when the dome of an underwater river collapsed thousands of years ago. Reservations are required, and from the parking lot, it is about a quarter of a mile trek down to the pool. During warmer months, people lay out, picnic and swim, but at this time of year, it was a bit too cold. It is also possible to traverse the inner rim of the pool underneath the overhang, but since the deep freeze in Texas in 2020, the area has been somewhat geologically unstable, so has been roped off.
That said, even without being able to swim or explore the entire area, I still highly recommend this impressive site. There are a lot of natural watering holes in Texas, but this one is pretty unique, quite secluded and absolutely beautiful. If you have the time, it is a can’t miss.
Afterwards, we also tried to visit Jacob’s Well, a similar natural feature not too far away, but much to our chagrin, it was closed for the entire duration of our visit, due to the holiday. It is not clear to me how a watering hole celebrates Thanksgiving, but for whatever reason, we were unable to visit.
We met Alyson’s mom in the early afternoon at the Salt Lick. If you’ve ever been to this barbecue heaven, no more need be said, but since this a blog, I will elaborate. Aside from the live music, the rustic atmosphere and the great service, the BBQ at the Salt Lick is legendary. This is a must-visit spot for anyone from Texas, anyone visiting Texas or anyone who has ever heard of Texas. The food is great, affordable, and extraordinarily representative of the barbecue culture in Texas.
At this point, we had killed enough time that we could check into our hotel, so we made our way to the resort in Round Rock. Giving credit where credit is due, check-in and unloading were extremely easy, and we found no need to valet park for, at this time of year at least, there were plenty of available, nearby self-park spots.
Every member of the party received wrist bands, which were used to activate a lot of the rides, and could be used to charge just about anything to our room. In a lot of ways, this was super convenient, but conversely, it required all of us to wear a plastic wrist band for four days.
Added to our package was what Kalahari calls Tom Foolery. The Tom Foolery area is a set of indoor activities that includes a roller coast, ropes coarse, miniature golf, a mirror maze and multiple climbing walls. It was worth adding this for about $30/person for the whole trip, as the rest of the arcade games are not included in the standard package. That evening, we ate at the internal pizza restaurant, which was perfectly acceptable, and the kids sampled all of the rides and games.
The one negative we experienced in the Tom Foolery area is that Clara, at only two, was too young to ride any of the included rides. Having taken her to several amusement parks before, there was no clear reason for this, as none of the kiddie rides would have posed her any kind of threat. Having to regularly steer her away from these areas was a pain and kind of pointless.
We woke the next morning, Thanksgiving, and headed for the water park, which is included in everyone’s package. The water park was pretty great with over a dozen slides for the big kids, a pretty impressive tree house/splash pad area for younger kids and two toddler areas for Clara. It also has its own restaurant, bar and a surfing simulator.
We spent about three hours in this area, mostly with the kids riding on their own and Alyson and I corralling Clara. She wore herself out around noon, and since we had ‘Thanksgiving dinner’ schedule for 2 pm, it felt like the right time to put her to bed.
Once Clara was down for her nap, I took JR and Eileen back down to the arcade and bought them game cards. The arcade is pretty similar to a Dave & Busters, and has multiple games that award the kids points which they can use to buy crap in the gift store. The kids loved this part, and it is a lot of fun, but $140 worth of gaming cards doesn’t last very long.
Our Thanksgiving meal was served buffet-style in one of the convention rooms. I understand that hearing this might make some of you cringe, but it was actually pretty decent. The spread was quite vast, so while some of the food was less impressive than others, a bit of searching delivered several great options.
The turkey and potatoes were great, and the kids loved the mac ‘n cheese. I found the stuffing to be a bit lacking, which is disappointing since you really only eat it once a year, but in general, this was a meal that I enjoyed.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hotel suite, watching football and letting the kids mellow out. Once the Cowboys had won, and Clara had been put to bed, I took the older two back to the water park, which at this time of night, was much less crowded.
It gave Eileen and I the opportunity to ride some of the bigger, multi-person slides without having to wait half-an-hour, and they both got the chance to try the surfing simulator.
The next day, we did pretty much the same thing, minus the Thanksgiving smorgasbord, and herein lies my biggest issue with Kalahari. In the morning, we went to the water park, then got lunch at one of the resort’s restaurants. The kids went back to the arcade while Clara slept (spending another 100 bucks), and we all ate together at a different burger place. We took the kids back to the water park, and that was about it.
In terms of pure enjoyment, the kids were ecstatic on day one but by the end of day two, it had all become a bit monotonous. Water slides are fun, but once you’ve done each one five or six times, the novelty wears off. Same goes for the indoor rides and games, to the point that we actually ended up giving most of this kids’ earned points away.
The experience was great, and we all had a lot of fun, but I think one night, two tops is really the sweet spot. Beyond that, it felt like we started to run out of ways to spend our time..
With that in mind, we did try to add a few things in on the Saturday morning before we left. The resort has two escape rooms and a bowling alley. We hadn’t really thought about the escape rooms until the night before, and by the time we did, they were already booked up, but were able to get in two rounds of 10 pin before we left for the airport. Perhaps had we planned better, we might have more successfully optimized our time, but I am still convinced that one less day would have been better.
One our way to the airport, we stopped at an wonderful restaurant that offers all three sittings each day, called Walton’s Fancy & Staple. This gem on 6th street had something for everyone, and was just what we needed before flying home. We learned later that it is actually owned by Oscar winner and occasional New Orleanian, Sandra Bullock.
Our Thanksgiving trip was a lot of fun, and while as with every trip, it was not perfect, it was a lot better than sitting in a house doing very little for 72 hours. Christmas is a bit different, as a location is needed for Santa, presents, church, etc., but I feel like as a family, we are at the point where we want to maximize the value of our limited time off.
Next up, we are heading to St. Louis to meet my family for Christmas, and I doubt we will post on it. Following that, we’ve got a Mardi Gras trip in the works for the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas, so we’ve got a lot coming up for which to look forward.
This year, we made plans to spend a week with my family in upstate New York, in the Cooperstown area. Since the house my mom booked wasn’t available until Monday, July 4th, we decided to head up early on Saturday and spend a 36 (or so) hours in the city that never sleeps.
Please keep in mind that since our time was quite brief, we tried to cram as much in as we could, so if this all sounds overly touristy, that is because it was. We landed in LaGuardia, which has just been remodeled but is still very poorly labeled, and took a rental car to our hotel, a DoubleTree in Chelsea.
We had actually hoped to make it Hamilton Grange that first afternoon, but it took us so long to get the rental car, mostly due to LGA not being labeled, that our time ran out. Our main activity for the day was to watch the Mets lose to the Rangers, and we did not want to be late.
Once we were settled in the hotel, we spent about half an hour trying to figure out the subway, and after going the wrong direction once, made our way back to Queens. Alyson and I watched a game at Shea Stadium during our honeymoon in 2006, and while I’ll grant that Shea was an iconic field, our seats didn’t offer views of about 40% of the field. The new Citi Field Stadium isn’t any more impressive than most of the new era ballparks, Atlanta, Milwaukee Colorado, but it is clean, has plenty of amenities and there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
The Mets lost, which always makes me happy, and the game featured half a dozen home runs, so it was a fun day. This is the 8th different home stadium in which I’ve seen a game, and the 7th for my son. We have unintentionally set ourselves down the path of trying to see a home game for all 30 teams, so I guess we are on our way.
We took the subway back into Manhattan and spent the next hour wandering around Times Square. The experience was very similar to when Alyson and I were there 15 years ago. Lots of people, lights of sights and sounds and smells, and not a place where I have interest in spending much time. The kids enjoyed it though, and it is certainly an experience worth having.
The next morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel and headed back to the underground and to mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. What a spectacular church, very reminiscent of the cathedral in DC. Not only is the church beautiful, but it has a dozen or so side chapels that are just as inspiring. If you like grand, classic church architecture, you should visit St. Patrick’s.
After church, we walked a few blocks to 30 Rock, where we took an elevator up the Top of the Rock to take in the panoramic views of the city. The observation decks offer amazing perspectives of Manhattan, and if you don’t live in a city with lots of over-large buildings, it is really a sight to behold.
That said, I do take issue with these types of tours. It is required that timed tickets are purchased in advance, but it has little to do with when one is actually allowed to enter. We arrived right at 9, when it opened, the time printed on our tickets, and still had to wait in a line that wrapped all the way around the block. The views from the top were totally worth it, but be prepared to wait.
We next took the subway up to Central Park, where we rented bikes for two hours and made our way around the entire park, both the lower and upper loops. This was such a fun ride and such a fun park but you should keep in mind that the north end of the park, in particular, has some very steep uphills that actually required us to hop off and walk at certain times.
All the toil was made worthwhile when arrived to find no line at the Levain Bakery, and had one of the largest, tastiest chocolate chip cookies that I have yet to experience. We returned the bikes, hopped back on public transportation and made our way towards Pier 83.
Why Pier 83 specifically, you ask? That is where we were to meet the boat that would take us on a scenic tour along the river. Prior to that, we grabbed lunch at a local deli. Keep in mind, a lot of the top rated deli’s in this area, Hell’s Kitchen, do not actually have any seating, so we stopped at this first place where we could sit and relax for a bit, at Cafe Aroma.
This was really more of a breakfast place than a deli, but they had several great sandwiches that we all enjoyed. From there, we walked down to the pier and boarded a boat for our tour with Circle Line Cruises.
Our initial intention with this was to take a boat to visit the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, at this point in time, a tourist can go up into the pedestal but not to the crown. Because of this, we decided to take a tour that passes by the Statue and Ellis Island, but also goes to other areas of New York.
This tour was great, very similar to one that we took in Chicago; it had snacks, drinks and was very informative. This kind of tour is a great way to see a lot of the city at once and learn a lot about its history.
At this point, we took a bus (our first of this trip) to a subway, which got us underwater all the way to Brooklyn. Why did we go to Brooklyn, you ask? We let me tell you. You may or may not be aware that one can actually walk across the Brooklyn bridge, and one of the entrances is on the Brooklyn side.
With a slight bit of down-playing the difficultly of the walk, the kids were convinced to climb the stairs and make the one-mile trek across the iconic span. The hike is about a mile, and the first half, unsurprisingly, is uphill. This might have been my favorite part of our New York trip. The bridge is packed with tourists and vendors and provides really cool views of the amazing city skyline.
The reason we went from the Brooklyn side was that the exit into Manhattan is very close to Ground Zero. Eileen had been asking a lot of questions about September 11th recently, so we thought this was a good time to visit. The area is very well-done and very inspiring. We only spent about an hour there, and didn’t get to go into the museum, as it was closed, but coming to New York and not seeing it didn’t feel quite right.
That night, we grabbed pizza at a nearby spot called Rosella’s. Similar to the deli’s in Hell’s Kitchen, it actually took us a bit of time to find a pizza place where we could sit and eat. They didn’t serve alcohol, which was a bummer, but the pizza was classic New York-style, exactly for what we were looking.
We made it back to the hotel and bedded down for the night, planning to squeeze in just a few more city hours before we headed upstate. The next morning, we skipped hotel breakfast and ate at a nearby shop called the Bagel Pub. I think this was my favorite meal eaten in New York. They have classic bagels with all sorts of toppings and fillings for all ages and taste profiles. I could have eaten every meal in the Bagel Pub, gotten something different each time, and been quite happy.
We jumped on a train again and headed uptown to a place called the Museum of Ice Cream. This was Eileen’s idea, and was actually a little different than what you might expect, based upon the name. There was a lot of ice cream, but there were also several activities and museum features that were fun and interesting.
There is a hallway that chronicles the history of ice cream, as well as New York’s longest indoor slide and a ball pit filled with ice cream sprinkles. These types of museums have started popping up in larger cities, places that are experiences more than museums themselves, like the Hopscotch Museum in San Antonio or the City Museum in St. Louis. These experiences are really not city-specific, but they are good ways to fill your time and keep the kids engaged.
The last stop we made before checking out heads north was a Katz Deli. This New York icon can actually be a little overwhelming (and a little expensive), but if you take your time and figure out what it is you want, it is totally worth the effort. The kids got burgers off the kids menu, which were nothing special, but the pastrami sandwich that Alyson and I split was enormous and delicious.
This trip was a bit of a whirlwind, and there are still things in the city that I would like to do, but I feel like we did as much as we could to maximize our time in the Big Apple. I do not think that New York is a place that I could ever live, but when it comes to visiting, it certainly has a lot to offer.
Since our initial RV trip through the Southwest in 2019, the Traveling Igoes have been itching to get back in a big rig and hit the open road. We had big plans for 2020, but a certain virus had even bigger ones.
When 2021 finally came along, and we all got vaccinated (at least those who could), we rebooted our travel plans. I had never been to Yosemite before, and no one in my immediate family had ever visited Oregon, so we decided this was the perfect opportunity.
The planning for a trip like this is pretty labor intensive, and by the end, we had about 70 pages worth of itinerary put together. After picking the dates, the next thing to do was pick the route. We decided to fly into San Francisco and pick up a recreation vehicle. From there, we would drive north along the coast through Redwood Forest, into Oregon and Crater Lake. We would then head back south through Lassen Volcanic National Park and Yosemite, and finish back in San Fran.
Beyond that, the trip would lie in the details. Once we figured out our dates (11 days in total) and our course, the next thing to do was to find the right rig. Two years ago, we found a great RV through Outdoorsy, so that’s where we started. We actually found the perfect fit for our family. A 24 foot truck with no slide outs, with unlimited mileage and generator use included. Unfortunately, about a month prior to leaving, this RV flooded, and our proprietor had to cancel.
Outdoorsy helped us find another option, which was a very similar 24′ Winnebago, the only difference being that this one was made in 1999. It had almost all 5-star reviews save one, that claimed it was old, dingy and worn down, and at this point, we had very few options. When we arrived, it seemed that all the reviews were accurate. Gertie (as we named her) was a reliable old bird with countless dings, scratches and stains. That said, she ran well, stopped alright and got us from point A to point B on time.
We landed in San Francisco, picked up Gertie and headed north. Our first stop was at the Full House house in the heart of the city. My daughter, a huge fan of Fuller House, was very excited. I found it rather pointless, but the main reason we take these trips is to bring joy to our kids, so if it makes Eileen happy, I can spare 30 minutes.
From there, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped on the north side for a picture. It was really impressive, shrouded in fog, but this point was also one of my biggest regrets. On the south side of the bridge is Fort Point, a spot where the kids can get their passport books stamped. We missed the turnoff, and in Gertie, it was too hard to make our way back. It was still really cool, but I not getting that stamp will eat at me.
We loaded back up and headed another hour north to Muir Woods. What a great introduction to what we were going to see. The approach was a big white knuckle-y in an RV, but once we got there, we realized how worthwhile is Muir Woods. Protected since 1908, this primeval forest is both refuge and laboratory, filled with old growth Redwoods reaching for the sun. In order to access this site at the time, parking reservations are needed, so definitely look into getting these well in advance. We did not spend a ton of time in Muir, but it was a great appetizer for a trip filled with some of the most amazing trees in the world.
Our next stop was at the Olema Campground, an RV park with easy access to Point Reyes National Seashore. This site had electrical hook ups, but nothing else, but for this trip, that was something. For those of you unfamiliar, RVs can hook up to electricity, water and a dumping station. While this is not vital, having hook ups does make life quite a bit easier.
In the morning, we met up with our guide, Frank, in Point Reyes, for what he refers to as a Point Reyes Safari. We followed him throughout the park, riding behind him in our truck, visiting various different parts of the site. We first visited the Cypress Tree Tunnel, which is really impressive, and something similar to what you see at old southern plantations.
From there, he took us to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was very unexpected how cool this would be. It is a trek to get there, and I doubt we would have done it if not for Frank, but if you go, this is the must-see part of Point Reyes. This lighthouse is so cool and so remote, it feels like something out of a fantasy novel.
The only thing I will say is that it was not super clear what we had gotten ourselves into with the safari. We thought it was going to be something like an off-road, UTV tour. Instead, we were following a Subaru around in our RV. It ended up being great; we saw plenty of elk and coyotes, but it is not exactly what I thought it was going to be.
Once we finished at Point Reyes, being sure to get our books stamped, we drove to the south end of Redwood National Park and spent the night at Gold Bluffs Beach Campground. This was by far the most amazing site in which we stayed. It was right on the beach, and the seascape looked like something out of a painting. The site recommended no vehicles larger than 24 feet, which worked for us, but I think they were being generous. The approach was extremely treacherous, there were no hook-ups, and we felt super out of place around all the small tents.
We made it through the night though, and headed for Fern Canyon. This hidden gem is wild to the point that parts of Jurassic Park were actually filmed here. The canyon is covered wall to wall with greenery, and can really only be called jaw-dropping. It is not simple to access, but it is certainly worth the effort. If you want to experience something that few have, something very different than anything I have ever seen, Fern Canyon is a great place to start.
We made our way out of the canyon and stopped at another one of the can’t-miss spots in Redwoods, Trillium Falls Trail. This is approximately a 2.5 mile loop which leads to a cool, but small waterfall. You should not let the size of the fall deter you, however, as this trail is beautiful start to finish. The one thing I would suggest is to start in the direction that has you finishing with the falls instead of starting with it. Saving the payoff for the end makes this trail all the more worthwhile.
We stopped at the Elk Creek Visitor Center to get our books stamped and pick up the Junior Ranger packets. This packet was straight forward, and the kids were able to finish it that day. Our next stop up the road was at the Trees of Mystery. The trip through the vast Redwood National and State Park area is littered with roadside attractions, and Trees of Mystery really caught our attention.
It is definitely a little kitschy and touristy, in sort of a Gravity Falls type of way, but my son really loved it. There are several aerial walkways that take you up into the trees, a bunch of really cool carvings out of the Paul Bunyan legend and a sky-tram that takes you several hundred feet up into the mountains. There is also a perfectly serviceable restaurant attached, which for those eating out of an RV fridge, really hit the spot. There was nothing overwhelmingly great about the Trees of Mystery, but my 9 year-old son really like it, and it was a welcome break from all the hiking (and driving).
We got back on the road and stopped at the north end of the park, at the Hiouchi Visitor Center, where the kids picked up their first of four National Park Junior Ranger badges. We spent that night in a KOA, with full hook ups, which was a nice break (and the only one). We have really enjoyed the KOAs in our two RV trips. The sites are not usually as unique or memorable, but it is nice to have a full set amenities. It makes roughing it in a camper not quite so rough.
The following morning, we met up with the guide from Redwood Rides, who took Eileen, JR and I kayaking on the Smith River. Clara was too young to go, so Alyson took her for a hike while we hit the water. JR and I were in a tandem kayak, which worked out well for him, whilst Eileen was on her own.
As this was the dry season, the river was not too high or too fast, but it was very scenic and a lot of fun. At one point, we stopped at a rock that Eileen jumped off of, and at another, we took a hike through Stout Grove, which was pretty impressive. I have been on more exciting rivers before, but had we been there in April or May, I think the water would have been a lot faster.
At this point, it was time to cross the border and mark off another state for our entire family. That afternoon, we crossed into Oregon for the first time for all of us. Our first stop was at a little visited Parks site, the Oregon Caves National Monument. I am a huge fan of caves, so I was really looking forward to this visit, but unfortunately, it was an extraordinary disappointment.
The caves only recently reopened and require guided, ticketed tours. At this stage, the tickets are only available day of, and cannot be purchased in advance. When we arrived, all of the tickets for the day were sold out. I understand the need for social distancing, but as we walked a decent hike in the park, it became clear that total, there were no more than 10 people in the entire area. Further, only offering tickets first come, first serve makes it nearly impossible for anyone from out of the area to visit. I wish I could say we will go back someday, but it does not seem very likely. Out of everything we did this trip, this was by far our biggest letdown.
We made our way from the Caves of Disappointment northwest towards Crater Lake, and stayed the night in Mazama Campground. This camp was very rustic, but it provided great access to the park. The next morning, we loaded up the RV and headed into Crater Lake.
Crater Lake is arguably the most beautiful place that I have ever been. That said, there is not actually all that much to do there. We drove the rim, which is about 30 miles around, and offers multiple amazing viewpoints. We stopped at one of the more frequently used trails, the Cleetwood Cove, which leads from the rim down to the lake itself.
During regular times, this is where you can pick up the boat that tours that lake and takes passengers all the way to Wizard Island. Due to COVID, it is not running this year; had it been, this certainly would have added something extra to our visit. The Cleetwood trail is beautiful, but the way back up, in particular, is extremely strenuous.
We followed this by completing our Junior Ranger packets and getting badges for the kids. We then traveled about an hour south to Crater Lake Ziplines. Eileen and JR love ziplining, so we always try to work this into our trips, if it’s possible.
Crater Lake Ziplines actually requires that you break yourself, so JR was not old enough to do the big zips. That said, they offer a smaller course for kids under 10 and under 70 pounds. He was a little disappointed, but once he got over himself, he seemed to have a great time. If you ask Eileen, she will tell you this was her favorite part of our entire vacation.
We spent another night in Mazama, then headed south back to California. Our next two stops were definitely my two favorite. Our first was at Lava Beds National Monument. This was a late addition to our itinerary, so we were not really sure what to expect. Frankly, it blew me away.
I think everyone else enjoyed it, but I loved this site. I could have spent an entire week exploring this vast network of caves. Volcanic eruptions in this area from past millennia have created a rugged, unique landscape with over 800 caves. We only had time to explore two, the Mudpot and Valentine caves. These caves, former lava tubes, are different than caves like Mammoth or Oregon, and are each unique. The park rates them based upon difficulty, so the two we did were more kid friendly. Like I said, I love a good cave, and could have spent a week at Lava Beds, but we had to move on.
The next stop on our whirlwind tour was Lassen Volcanic National Park. Compared to the other three National Parks we hit, I knew very little about Lassen, but have to say that of the four big parks, I enjoyed it the most. When we arrived, we went straight from the Visitor Center to the Kings Creek Trail. This is a hike that goes on for miles, but about 1.5 miles in, you realize why you came. The trail follows Kings Creek as it meanders across the park, and a great stopping point is the Kings Creek Falls, a stunning cataract that you can explore almost to the very precipice. On the way back, I strongly encourage you to take the left hand, one-way trail. While it is a tough climb up a few hundred stairs, it is one of the best parts of the hike.
We spent that night in the Manzanita Lake Campground, another rustic RV park, but it gave us great, quick access to Lassen. The following morning, we headed back into the park, turned in our packets for Junior Ranger badges, and went straight to the Bumpass Hell trailhead. My son was very excited about this, as, according to him, the name contains two swear words.
This trail is about a three-mile round trip, and while the hike is not as stunning as Kings Creek, the payoff is equally as impressive. Bumpass Hell is a live area of geothermal activity. It reminded me a lot of Yellowstone; there are boiling mudpots, acidic pools and sulfur fumes everywhere. It is a really stunning site, and it makes one wonder how long it must have taken Mr. Bumpass to find it so many years ago. We all loved our visit, and if I had to pick one National Park to go to, it would be Lassen.
We left Bumpass and Lassen, and headed into Chico, where we met my uncle for lunch at Nash’s. It was great to see family, and on a trip like this, getting the opportunity to eat something for lunch other than turkey on white bread was a welcome change of pace.
The next leg of our trip finally brought us to the grand prize, Yosemite. This park is a spectacular gem on the ring finger of the National Parks system. The valley is about as cool a place as you will find anywhere in the U.S. That said, we went in what is really the off season, so a lot of the water had dried up. While it may have been the off season, it was also extremely crowded, and in some ways, reminded me more of Disneyworld than a National Park.
Our first two hikes were Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls. The lower falls was still a trickle, but unfortunately, the Upper was completely dry. The hike on the Upper Falls trail, to Columbia Rock, is still a great one, with an amazing view of Half Dome, but it is quite strenuous.
After this, we spent sometime in Yosemite Village and picked up our Junior Ranger packets. This was one of my biggest frustrations. Since we started with our passport books and Junior Ranger badges, we have visited 47 National Park sites. Thus far, Yosemite has been the only park to charge for them. As this is one of the most visited parks in the world, I found this to be completely ridiculous, and certainly let the park rangers there know how I felt.
We left the park that afternoon, only about a mile out, to go horseback riding. All the guided tours inside the park are currently suspended, but this trail ride right on the perimeter was really cool, with several river crossings. The guides from Yosemite Trail Rides really did a great job.
We spent that night in Yosemite, in the Wawona Campgound. This site was actually pretty mediocre, but it is within the park, so that was a big bonus. On week days, the wait to get in can be up to an hour, and on weekends, up to three, so skipping those lines was worth roughing it a bit.
The next day, we took the Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls, and this was pretty amazing. If you stop at Vernal Falls, it’s about 3 miles in and out, with the last portion being 650 very steep steps. It is definitely worth it though, as this waterfall is nothing short of spectacular. During the spring, I understand that it is common for people to get quite soaked on the trail, but even during the dry season, the fall was still a sight.
We spent the afternoon on rented bikes taking a self-guided 8 mile tour of the Valley, then headed back to camp and packed up the RV for departure. We awoke early the next morning and drove back to San Francisco, ready to leave Gertie behind.
It is important to note for those not familiar with RVing that when you return the rig, it is expected that it be full of gas and propane, but emptied of everything else. When we got back, our proprietor was very gracious, and while Gertie was not always the easiest rig to drive, she got us there and back, so I have no regrets.
We took an Uber to the Intercontinental San Francisco, a hotel that is walking distance to Oracle Park, and we headed to the Giants game. We find it nice to give the kids a break from all the hiking and outdoors-ing with something a bit more cosmopolitan. We all love watching baseball, and going to new stadiums is a lot of fun. The Giants beat the Astros, and the game featured 7 home runs, which was a lot of fun. Oracle Park is pretty cool, with the bay just beyond the right field wall, but honestly, I was less impressed than I thought I would be.
We left early the next morning and made it back to New Orleans in time to start laundry. I had to work the next day, but the kids slept much later than normal. This was the type of vacation that almost requires a follow up vacation. An RV trip is amazing, but it is also exhausting. It is a great way to spend time with your family and to see vast parts of the country in one fell swoop. If you are planning one or even considering it, please reach out. I am happy to share the things that worked for us and those that didn’t. Until then, we’ll see you next time the Igoes go a-traveling.
