“Caution: Trail not maintained. Use not recommended.” I think that is an accurate representation of my family vacations. My mom has always been a huge fan of a good adventure, and so far in my life I’ve been swimming in the ocean with manta rays at midnight, stuck on a dogsled at the center of a snowstorm, and driving through lighting bolts in Nowhere, Idaho. There was one particular trip, however, that was even more hilariously cliche and “what-were-we-thinking” than the others. Mom had just proposed to the family her newest quest: a mission to hike all of America’s National Parks. For my family, this was like a challenge. Us versus the National Parks. So we said, “Bring it on!”, and we headed for Mount Rainer in beautiful Washington State.
QUARTER-FINALIST 2015 FTF TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP
Actually, we were just about to leave for the airport when my brother, Jack, and I decided to take a short bike ride and Jack challenged me to a race. I watched him quickly take the lead, and then, a couple houses away from ours, hit a bump in the road and flip over his handlebars. Jack broke both of his arms, and came home from the emergency room a couple hours later with bulky temporary casts and tear-stained cheeks. But, being his mamma’s boy, he insisted on still taking the trip. We rescheduled our flight for that evening and headed for Mount Rainer with a total of six functioning arms. The next morning dawned with potential. The trail my mom decided we would take was deemed “treacherous” by the visitor’s brochure and the somewhat-chubby park ranger warned us that people normally take about six hours to complete it. “Psh, what does he know,” my mom said, “People are not this family!” We drove out to what seemed like the very edge of the park, with no other cars in sight, and pulled up alongside the trailhead to a sign that said “High risk of bear encounters.” We started hiking along the edge of a dense forest, then forked off and began to climb over huge boulders through a canyon—my brother’s casted arms above his head like he was in a stick-up—trying to guess where the actual trail was. After half an hour, we spotted the one-foot-wide trail entering the bear-infested forest. Then, after two more hours of hunched-over walking and holding on to tree branches to keep from sliding downhill, we came to a sign announcing that we had reached the end of the “maintained” part of the trail. By that point, none of us were too enthused to continue on, but my mom reminded us that “this part is what our family does best!” I was convinced that this was not the part that I did best, but my dad had already begun to follow my mom, with the food and water in his backpack, so I followed. Then we came to the bridge. The bridge was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie: It swung about five hundred feet over a canyon and was built with wooden planks each spaced about five inches apart. I don’t remember much about crossing the bridge, but I will always remember the look on my dad’s face as he started to make his way across to his family. He was closing his eyes, and I thought he was trying to show off like he always did, but I later learned the truth: maybe my family was a danger-loving superfamily, but my fearless, superhero dad was afraid of heights.
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Grt place to visit.. This place is located after entering the Ranthambore National Park.. However, to visit this place u can evn get your own vehicle…
John, glad you liked the story. This park is in Ohio where the weather can be unpredictable! It’s warmest between late April and November, but even April has the risk of some snow. If you’re camping with kids, the safest bet is June to August, because it’s warmer and there’s little rain. Enjoy your trip.
Hey Maggie, I really appreciate your innovative traveling ideas. You have covered so many adventurous places. Waiting for some new destinations. Please keep posting.
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Game Lover
It’s truly magical being there. I love the art this country offers. Their wall arts and crafts are just lovely.
Hi Maggie,
You always share to the world with something new and different destinations. Thank you so much for sharing.
The history of Cuhahoga valley national park seems interesting and must be a new experience when we observe scenes of National park from their scenic campgrounds.
which season do you think is the best time to visit this national park?
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Wow, what a nice article. Makes you feel like you should pack up and go immediately. It seems Linblad runs a good operation and trips are kid friendly. Is there a list of particular dates that are family friendly or are there kid activities year round on board the boats. Any other advice on travling with kids to Ecuador and Galapagos would be really welcome.
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Hello Michael, glad to hear your family is interested in a dude ranch holiday.
Since your kids are older and, hopefully, everyone in the family rides, you have lots of options. The Dude Ranchers Association is a really helpful resource in sorting through the many types of ranch vacations. For example, you can go here: https://duderanch.org/by-activity-amenity and search for ‘Advanced Rides’ and “Cattle Drives’ and that would get you some real working ranches that would have more of the lifestyle you seem to be looking for. One of our authors recommends the Hideout in Shell, Wyoming for this type of trip.
Looking for a real ranch experience with horseback riding (lots of it) and time in the open air with my son (15) and daughter (12) and my wife (49). I am 62. We live in NJ, my children have been sheltered but I grew up in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I want my children to see another side of life.
very informative post i just checked your blog its very interesting and full of information we are tour operators in Indian Kashmir we provide Kashmir Holiday packages where you can live with local Muslim communities see their lifestyle and get a chance to taste authentic Kashmiri Halal food our Kashmir Tour Packages are customized and very cheap at pocket.
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Great destinations for First Night and New Year’s Eve! Check out our favourite ones in Europe: https://tapsy.blog/?s=new+year%27s+eve
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Of course, you can do travel freely and easily through these two countries yourself, but I enjoyed having the trip curated for me, including well-chosen local guides, comfortable transportation on call and some superb private tours, such as a Khmer cooking class or historic walking tour of Saigon, with flexibility in the itinerary for our group of five to follow their own paths, such as making an emotional detour to the moving Genocide Museum housed in the old S-21 jail in Phnom Penh.
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I enjoyed reading your Italian family vacation story, and thank you so much for these tips. This surely gonna help us achieve a stress-free vacation in Italy. Great blog!
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For Richard re: dual citizenship US-Nicaragua… can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Hi Richard, In our travel experience, this type of document should work well for your travels, but if your wife is available, it can’t hurt to download the sample forms we have online and also have her fill out and notarize one for your trip with your child. The agency responsible in your case will be the carrier — we assume an airline — and if they can make a note in your travel record that they have approved the Nicaraguan documents you should be fine on both departing and entering.
Safe Travels!
Wow, great!!! it could be a great fun out there.
very informative article Travel forums provide first hand experience and advice to travelers and are a great source of information and travel tips.
As a signal parent, your life, world, actions are based on your childs well fair. Not your happiness or anything that has to do with you.
It should list where they are going, the dates that they are allowed to go and grant your permission for that trip. You want to include your address and phone number and probably the contact info for the adult traveling as well.
The grand archways and the paintings of Lord Krishna and his cows are a visual treat. Wander through areas opened for tourists and you shall witness the impressive aura and architecture of the Royal state of Rajasthan.
Thanks for Sharing
Hello guys my wife and I have dual citizenship US-Nicaragua, I’m planning to travel to the US with our son also dual citizenship for 3 weeks, with a Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) from Nicaragua, can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Congratulations to the winners! A question to all the professional travelers here, how are you planning the route ant the places to see while visiting a new country? As for me I just google the most touristic and popular places. It works mostly, but there were a few times when I realized that I have seen only some the places this country or city is famous for, and that’s sad. On my last trip to Armenia, I decided to take a tour and it was quite productive. It’s much more informative when somebody is telling you history and some interesting facts. If someone wants to save their time – make sure to ask them to help if you’ll ever be there.
Curitiba é uma lugar lindo, além de ser considerada uma das melhores cidades para se morar em Brasil.
Realmente a muito o que conhecer por lá, como também diversas outras belezas do nosso brasil.
Principalmente as praias do Brasil que são muito procurada por inúmeros turistas internacionais e nacionais.
As Praias do Litoral Paulista, divididos entre Praias do Litoral Norte e Litoral Sul.
As mais conhecidas são as Praias de Ubatuba com mais de 100 belas praias no litoral norte paulista.
Já no litoral sul, a região mais procurada são as Praias de Guarujá, a região conta com 23 praias de pura beleza e preservação ambiental.
nice article, i also read about Celebrate Christmas Eve 2018
Aloha!
I would like to add my baby equipment company, Nana’s Baby Equipment. I serve the entire island of Kauai with aloha!
Mahalo,
Sharon Hackleman
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Was an honour and pleasure to host you both in the Maori Whakata/Welcome to Wanaka. Welcome back anytime to this wonderful part of the world.
Kia Kaha/Stay strong
[http://www.wanahaka.co.nz]