July 10, 2022

Rocky Mountain National Park – Emerald Lake

We finally made it!

After four years of wanting to take Emerald to “her lake” we got reservations and made the hike all the way up to Emerald Lake.

If you include Bear lake this is about a four mile alpine hike. All Trails calls it moderate and I would agree, both kids did really well and hiked the entire thing on their own.

We had to reserve a spot a month in advance, park in the overflow lot and ride a shuttle to the trail head, but it was worth it for this gorgeous hike.

I think Dream Lake is my favorite of all four lakes.

So proud of these kids!

Have you been to RMNP? Do you have a favorite hike?

June 22, 2022

Kids Hike – Lily Lake RMNP

One of our favorite hikes is up in Rocky Mountain National Park called Lily Lake. It’s a very easy to navigate hike with great accessibility. It’s one of my go-to trails when it’s just me and the kids because I know it’s safe and I won’t have to carry Emmy.

The main loop is just shy of a mile and can be navigated with a stroller.

Back in 2018 Cory made it around with our double stroller and a busted Achilles in a boot.

Now the kids hike on their own!

We brought lunch to enjoy while watching all the wildlife. I LOVE summer in the mountains so much.

We choose to add some elevation and distance by going up over the ridge. There are many other trails that connect to the main Lily lake trail so you can add distance if you like. You can also paddle on the lake and the kids want to bring our boards next time.

If you are in the Estes Park area we can’t recommend this trail enough! We have also visited in the fall and winter….all beautiful!

Previous years:

March 22, 2022

SPRING BREAK ’22 | Goblin Valley State Park

Utah has some amazing National Parks but the State Parks should not be overlooked! We LOVE Goblin Valley State Park so we made the day trip over from Moab. It’s only 1.5 hour drive so not too bad.

In the morning we woke up to a bit of snow in our campsite.

It was a surprise but also pretty.

On our way to Goblin we stopped for coffee and treats.

When we arrived we decided to start with a hike.

We did the Entrada Trail along some drainage areas and it was such a cool, unique experience. Dogs are allowed so Humphry came along with us.

We then made our way to the Valley of the Goblins, which is a big open area full of Hoodoos that you can climb and explore.

It is so fun to see the kids playing in the best (biggest) playground ever.

It’s the perfect day trip from Moab or this is a good stop if you are seeing some of the other National Parks. Last year we camped here on the way home from Capitol Reef.

On our way back to Moab we decided to grab a pizza and go back into Arches National Park to eat dinner.

This was such a fun way to eat dinner I highly recommend. At this time in the evening the park is pretty quiet.

Then we went down to the Double Arch area to go for a little sunset hike.

We have been down to this area many times but always hiked up to the Windows section. This was our first exploring the double arch side and I can’t believe we waited so long, it was stunning!

This hike is super easy and accessible to view the arches. To get up inside takes some scrambling.

The kids loved the sandy trails.

It was amazing watching the sun go down over the desert.

I will never get over this place! Hiking out in the dark was a fun experience since there is so little light out here.

Then on our way back to our camper disaster struck, I won’t go into the long story but we ended up in a hotel overnight, searching for a way to get our Tahoe fixed. Luckily we were all safe and together so it could have been WAY worse.

March 21, 2022

SPRING BREAK ’22 | Arches National Park

We spent our second day in Moab visiting Arches National Park. This is one of my favorite places and it never get old.

We started our day by going to the visitors center.

We needed to pick up our workbooks so the kids could do the Jr. Ranger program and stamp our passports.

The visitors center is super beautiful and has so much good information.

Our first stop was Broken Arch Trail, this one was a new one to us and a new favorite! It was really kid friendly and so fun.

I think this might be our 5th visit to Arches and we still find cool new places to explore. I am excited to do more epic hikes when the kids are bigger.

We had our picnic lunch and enjoyed some more overlooks. Then we went to Sand Arch which is our kids’ favorite.

We stopped on our way out of the park for the necessary picture with the sign.

Then we went into Moab for ice cream then back to the campsite for dinner.

The sunset was amazing!

Then we set out for another night hike because it’s the best way to get some energy out before bed time.

The kids love hiking with flash lights! And these trails are so pretty. Another magical day in Moab, I love this place so much!

March 20, 2022

Spring Break ’22 | Canyonlands National Park

We woke up early in Fruita, Colorado, made breakfast and coffee before hitting the road. It’s only about an hour to get to Moab.

We set up camp on some BLM land where we could have direct access to some awesome trails.

Canyonlands National Park is just down the road from our campsite so we set out to find some hikes.

First stop is to get a picture with a sign.

Then into the Visitor Center so we could participate in the Jr. Ranger program and stamp our passports.

It is so beautiful here!

We hit up some trails we didn’t do last time we were here and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

After a long day of hiking we went to Moab to grab some dinner and shopping. The kids got to pick out a souvenir and new sweatshirts.

Emmy picked out a dino puppet and was hilarious with it.

We had dinner at the Spoke on Center and then went back to our campsite.

Last year we started doing evening hikes after dinner and have continued it this year. It’s the perfect way to end the day.

January 17, 2022

A Winter Day Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

We often overlook that we live so close to a magical National Park. It is my goal to spend way more time there this summer (We love our parks pass).

We have been to RMNP many time but never taken the time to get a stamp in our passports so we stopped in at the visitors center.

We went to the Bear Lake Corridor.

We weren’t really prepared for a long hike as this wasn’t our original intention but we explored around Bear Lake and had an amazing time.

The lake is frozen over so it’s fun to run around on.

We do have all wheel drive and snow tired but the roads were easy to drive on regardless.

A little deposit in my attempt to like winter more….

December 31, 2021

Christmas Cactus – Day Twelve – Saguaro National Park

I was so looking forward to visiting Saguaro National Park, seeing all of these towering Cacti was amazing.

We loved learning about the environment and the kids participated in the jr ranger program.

We did a short hike around the visitors center before getting back in our car and driving out into the park.

Our first stop was to hike up to an overlook to see some petroglyphs.

Our next stop was for lunch.

They had very nice tables to eat at with an overlook. We had packed a picnic in the morning, our little lunch boxes were well used again on this trip.

We then drove around the rest of the scenic loop. We decided that we wanted one last hike as a storm was rolling in.

This was when messages started rolling in from friends and family. Our neighborhood and my parents’ was in a pre evacuation zone because of a fire in our area. This was the start of the Marshall Fire that devastated neighborhoods near us.

We really wanted to leave and drive home immediately to be there to help friends that were evacuated from their homes and to grab important things from our home. We did feel comfort that we were dafe and everything important was with us (each other). Our dog Humphry was safe at my brothers home far from the fire.

Friends and family were sending us pictures of what they could see from their homes. We really wanted to pack up and head home as that is where our hearts were but (luckily) a snow storm was coming in that night and we didn’t want to pull our trailer into a storm. The snow was good as it put out the fire.

The views were scary but we were lucky and our neighbors didn’t have to evacuate.

We were very worried for our friends that were evacuated and for Cory’s office that was also in an evacuation zone.

December 28, 2021

Christmas Cactus – Day Nine – Joshua Tree National Park

We had a full day to explore Joshua Tree National so we started with the Visitors Center.

We got maps and found a few short hikes that we wanted to do.

Our first stop was at hidden valley where we did a fun hike and lots of rock scrambling. We took our time, drove the rest of the big loop and went back to our campsite for lunch.

We then went back to explore the area around skull rock, it was very busy so we observed it from a distance.

We did the Discovery Trail, made by kids for kids. It was a fun little hike.

The Joshua Trees here are huge and amazing. It’s something you have to see in person.

It is magic here! We made it back to camp made dinner and enjoyed our last night. We would have loved more time (as we always say) it’s a sight to be seen.

December 27, 2021

Christmas Cactus – Day Eight – Anaheim -> Joshua Tree

The eighth of our trip was mostly about chores and driving out of LA. We took advantage of the laundry facilities at the hotel we were staying at so we would have clean clothes for the second half of our trip. We packed our things back into our travel trailer and started heading back east. We also stopped at a couple grocery stores to restock our cabinets.

We were so excited when we got to Joshua Tree, our campsite was actually in the national park and it was amazing! We loved our site tucked into the rocks. Cannon said he liked it better than Disneyland so I probably won’t ever be able to talk Cory into going back.

We ALL want to go back and spend more time in Joshua Tree.

We didn’t have time to really explore the park since we drove in late in the day but we have the full day tomorrow.

After a few nights in a hotel in the city it was nice to be back out and camping.

December 22, 2021

CHRISTMAS CACTUS – DAY Three – Petrified Forest National Park

On our drive west from Santa Fe to Sedona we stopped at Petrified Forest National Park. It was such an interesting area to visit.

We did a few short hikes and got to see so much petrified wood.

We learned a lot about how petrified wood is formed and why there is so much in this area.

The visitors centers were nice and informative. While we would have loved more time to explore I don’t think you need more than half a day to see this park.

We only spent a few hours exploring because we needed to drive further west to get to our campsite in Sedona.