Help Us Plan Our Summer Trip AND Do Some Good At The Same Time!
I’ve got $500 burning a hole in my pocket. Can you help me with that?
I was planning to write up an article asking folks to send suggestions for our summer vacation, but a friend of mine popped an idea in my mind for a little twist.
In case you missed it, our family bought an RV last summer. While we love to travel to far away places the COVID-19 pandemic definitely got in the way of that. We started out by renting RVs, which I highly recommend before buying. And, you’ll need to do plenty of research so you don’t end up buying two pickup trucks like we did.
We’re starting to get our travel groove back, but we don’t plan on getting on planes this summer. I’ve been doing research on campsites across the country (and Canada, if those borders reopen). The family is thinking about 2 or 3 weeks on the road, and we live near Washington, DC. We may also take some shorter trips.
Some of the areas we’re considering:
- Mount Rushmore
- A return to Bear Canyon Ranch
- Coast-to-coast in Canada
There are so many more areas in the US we haven’t explored, and that’s why I want your suggestions. You don’t need to know anything about camping or campsites, though it’s a bonus if you happen to have a good recommendation for one near an area you think we should travel.
Now, About That $500
The pictures and stories coming out of Texas right now are quite horrible. So many people without necessary supplies just to feed themselves or find a warm spot to sleep. My friend Mommy Points (who’s been a frequent guest on my podcast) lives in Texas and has been keeping our family updated on the conditions. It’s not pretty. Our family is planning to donate to organizations in Texas who are helping people in need. Summer (Mommy Points) recommended two local organizations if you’re looking to help at a local level from far away:
For every person who suggests a potential vacation spot for our upcoming family trip, we’ll donate $5 to a local TX charity helping people in need, up to a maximum donation of $500. It’s as simple as that, nothing else needed from you (though I hope you’ll consider a small donation to help folks in need). I’d love it if people can come up with unique ideas for our trip.
Help me plan our summer vacation and do some good today! Our family appreciates it and some folks in need down in Texas will benefit as well.
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Can I see let’s meet at Ft. Wilderness again? I know, too easy, but also … let’s do that. Othersie, come meet us in Jackson, Rockies, Glacier or some point out west. 😉 Thx for helping TX.
Yes to all of these! We can climb the big mountains with our big’ ol pickup truck.
Love it all and happy to respond for a Lincoln.
Near Mt Rushmore, visit/stay Custer State Park, Devils Tower, Badlands, and the cool town of Spearfish. Drive into Spearfish Canyon.
Coast to coast Canada sounds epic. We are thinking of that also, then down the Pacific coast.
See you on the road. Perhaps.
Charles, those all sound awesome! I need to research a few, like Spearfish.
Back when we used to stick a Winnebago pop-top camper to the back of the car and hit the road, one of the most memorable campgrounds of my childhood was in Nashville. The name’s changed since then and now it’s called Nashville Shores. It’s a lakefront property with an on-site waterpark and adventure course. Plenty to do if you just stay there and there’s the surrounding city and area to explore.
Joe, thanks for the great suggestion! Nashville is definitely on the radar to show the kids. I’m not even sure if my wife has been. I loved it when I was there.
We just finished the book Leave Only Footprints about a guy who visited all the national parks in a year, one of the highlights was Big Bend National park in Texas. It sounds like a part of the country that might have camping/RV spots available and could benefit from your tourism dollars.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bend_National_Park
From a reader standpoint (still not listing to the podcast much) the coast to coast Canadian trip would be interesting.
Iolaire, Big Bend is most definitely on our radar! Heard great things from friends who camped there.
All Colorado State Park and County parks are fabulous to venture with RV, with flush toilet and dump service. Buy an inflatable kayak to enjoy lakes everywhere: Steamboat, Dillon, even some around Denver, and south in Durango. You can spend the whole summer here.
Agnes, never heard of an inflatable kayak! I love flush toilets when we’re on the road. Hate dumping the tanks!
(Assuming US/Canadian border re-opens) RV up the AlCan Highway to Fairbanks and then down to Denali and Anchorage.
🙂
PH, that would be an incredible trip! And, I imagine we could spend the whole summer on that one.
Great Sand Dunes National Park in CO
Heather, that’s a possibility, since we’re considering going back to Bear Canyon Ranch (Southern Colorado)! Meet you there?
If you stay at Great Sand Dunes, triple check you’ll fit in the campsite. We only have a 19′ bumper pull and barely fit in a site that said it was much bigger. I didnt see more than a handful of sites a 5er would fit it.
Allison, you hit the nail on the head when it comes to RV size. We have close friends who noted that getting an RV the size we have would limit us from some desirable campsites.
Yes! We’ve been wanting to go back there for a long time 🙂
Drive slowly to Glacier National Park. You’ll find gems all along the way including Mt Rushmore and or Yellowstone. Cross into the Canadian side of the park. Spectacular countryside.
Thanks, Paul! I hope we’re allowed to cross into Canada.
Visit those places that got hit hard by the pandemic and protests
Barry, good idea. So many of those right now. We are trying to patronize locally-owned businesses wherever possible.
My vote is the “North Shore” of Minnesota (essentially all the state parks between Duluth and Grand Marais). If you end up taking all three weeks, you could do a giant loop…home -> Baraboo WI -> North Shore MN -> Teddy Roosevelt Natl Park ND -> Black Hills/Badlands SD -> Home.
I agree with Charles’ recommendations for where to go in South Dakota if you do indeed end up in that state. Mount Rushmore was beyond underwhelming but the rest of that region is extraordinarily beautiful and the wildlife watching is incredible.
Thanks for laying out all the steps, Becky! Mount Rushmore is mostly on the list because our 10-year old son is a huge Abe Lincoln fan. So, it’s pretty high on his list.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan! You can head west or go to Canada from there. Lots to see and do but Pictured Rocks is our family’s favorite and Mackinac Island is just something you have to do once if you haven’t.
Kari, I actually went to Muskegon to pick up our RV! I’ve heard the Upper Peninsula is beautiful.
I’d say post up in Santa Fe for a few days if you’ve never visited. Such a cool city.
We are finally thawing in Austin but a major clean water crisis continues / thanks for this Ed!
J, glad to hear you guys are thawing out. I imagine it’ll be a rough road back to normal. I’ve been to Santa Fe briefly, twice. Loved it both times and agree it’s a great place to hang out. Last time, we were just up the road at Hyatt Regency Tamaya.
Road trip around Southwest Colorado! We did Ridgway, Outage, Telluride, and Durango this past summer and it was amazing..
Ben, that could be right up our alley! Our friend’s ranch is in Rye, Colorado.
I have no recommendations except make sure you hit all those doughnut shops along the way…. just wanted to put a comment in for a good cause
Meghan, well played. Very well played. 😀
The Maine coast and Acadia National Park. Thank you for doing this for Texas.
Tara, you know that Maine is high on our list! Texas needs our help. Hope everyone can put aside their differences and pitch in.
If you want to do some places near DC, the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenendoa (sp?) are gorgeous.
Hi there. Great fundraiser!
If Canada opens you should spend a couple of weeks in the Maritimes of Nova Scotia and PEI. Lovely, peaceful, wonderful people.
Safe travels!
Polli, we have family that live just North of Halifax. We desperately want to visit them! Love that area of the world. Truly special.
On our list is the national parks in California in one long trip.Joshua Tree, Lassen Volcanic, Channel Islands, Sequoia,Kings Canyon, Death Valley, Redwood, Pinnacles. Already visited Yosemite. We are thinking one month so that might be beyond your limit. If so, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and Arches loop is doable with a raft trip outside of Moab.
Susan, both of those trips are on our radar! The only thing we’ve done on your list is 1 day at the Grand Canyon. Hope you and the family are well!
My absolute favorite rv trip as a younger tween/teen was going from Missouri to South Dakota. I was just old enough to understand and appreciate the history but still young enough to have fun hunting for gold and doing the silly tourist activities. The monuments were cool and the Indian reservations and all the wildlife always sticks out in my mind. And road tripping it was the best part!
Also have tons of fond memories of camping straight on the beach in Destin in the RV. Doesn’t get better than watching sunrise and sunset through the front RV windshield.
Auburn, South Dakota definitely on our radar. We’d probably wait for the kids to be vaccinated before tackling St. Louis. Destin doesn’t sound like a bad option. Thanks!
Montreal! So underrated.
Jamie, the family got to spend one day in Montreal a couple years ago as part of a ski trip to Mont Tremblant. Definitely need to go back.
Tour of some National parks – we had wanted to do the Utah parks, Bryce, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. Then we started looking at a map and reading about those parks and decided we also wanted to see Yellowstone so we started looking at what airports to fly in and out of so our range expanded and to incorporate Mt Rushmore you get to see Black Hills National Forest and Badlands. You can easily connect a loop of the US stopping at different national parks along the way and enjoying some awesome scenery. Our trip never happened but hopefully will one day.
Also if either of your kids are in the 4th grade you can get an annual pass for free to get into all national parks.
cnmaz, we do have a 4th grader and want to take advantage of the free pass! That was our plan for this past year, sigh…..
I haven’t heard of Capitol Reef. Adding it to the research list.
I would head north for sure! Maybe a mountain tour of the Pacific Northwest? Lots of great outdoor places to explore and it will be nice and cool.
Cali, neither of our kids has been in the Pacific Northwest yet!
We had the best time in Bar Harbor Maine last summer. We stayed in a small campground across the bay in sorrento. Arcadia National Park was amazing. Cadillac mountain, day cruise to see the puffins, kayaking in the ocean. #familytime
Patty, I love Bar Harbor but hadn’t heard of Sorrento or Cadillac Mountain. Thanks for the suggestions!
What about trying to find the entrance to Area 51? That would be a great memory. Also Joshua Tree out in California is beautiful or Manchester, VT? The town is amazing and there is a really cool falconry school there.
Love these suggestions! We did Manchester, VT in the winter (Equinox Resort) but I’d love to see that area in the summer.
For a 2-3 week trip, I would suggest a Mountain Time Zone adventure. I see from an earlier comment that Mount Rushmore might be in the cards. You could do a grand loop, going by Devils Tower in Wyoming, then driving up to the other corner of the state to see Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, then start the loop back through Montana – possibly making it up to Glacier National Park – or just continuing through the state to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park, then make your way back to Virginia.
Devils Tower and Glacier would definitely be a fun trip to throw in with Rushmore and Badlands.
Suggestion: no destination. Start driving west from DC and just go where the road takes you. Maybe you’ll wind up in Iowa corn fields. Or Nebraska. Or Wisconsin. Or Oklahoma. Just go. Let someone in the family pick a direction each morning snd just go that direction and wing it.
Yeah, I don’t think we’ll lock the entire trip down ahead of time. However, with the popularity of RV travel right now, we probably do need to book at least some sites so we don’t get shut out in more popular destinations.
What about like northwoods of Wisconsin, UP of Michigan, or on the lake shore somewhere up there? Gorgeous forests, trees, lakes, hiking, and tons of state parks that look amazing!!! And less of a haul for you than Colorado or S Dakota.
Allison, upper peninsula is on the radar. Though I will say the highways in Michigan were a ROUGH drive when I picked up the RV.
I’ll second Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s a hidden gem with tons of outdoor activities. Tahquamenon Falls is beautiful and the Soo Locks is an engineering marvel. You could spend weeks there!
Never heard of Tahquamenon Falls or Soo Locks. Thanks!
Antelope canyon is in bucket list. They extended the free National Park pass for 20/21 5th grader because of limited used last summer.
Daniel, we really enjoyed Antelope a few years ago. No question I would go back!
On our Travel list this summer are the San Juan Mountains near Durango, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone.
Sarah, I love all those choices!
If you can’t get in a plane, go look at planes instead! The EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI was such a blast to go to when I was growing up. Tons of amazing state parks and outdoorsy things to do in Wisconsin in the summer as well!
https://www.visitoshkosh.com/event/eaa-airventure-2021/128559/#
Mike, do I take the N to J, then a left on 2?
Seriously, we had thought of Wisconsin if we did Upper Peninsula. Either on the way to or from Rushmore.
Stay local. Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.
Joseph, we did that right after Xmas!
If you’re ever in North Texas, there are some great state parks worth visiting. Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Caprock Canyon State Park, and Copper Breaks State Park are all along 287 between Amarillo & Fort Worth.
Thanks, Standby! I hadn’t heard of any of these. I’ll definitely add these to my list. We have friends in Texas that we’d like to visit, so these would definitely be on our list.
Hot Springs S.Dakota,Evans Plunge Pool. Crazy Horse Monument June 5-6 2021 has a Volksmarch ,you can hike up to the face of the monument.
Minnesota North Shore Jay Cooke Park.
Canada, Banff to Jasper and every place in between the two towns!!Adventure and beauty at it’s finest!
Luanne, LOVE this list. Banff and Jasper are high on it for when the border reopens. And, you’ve given me a few other ideas.
I definitely recommend hitting Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches) which really do line up well for a trip to the Grand Canyon or further west
Mowogo, hitting the Utah parks is REALLY high on our list!
If you go to Florida, I recommend Manatee Hammock Campground near Titusville for a launch from Kennedy Space Center. Blue Spring State Park just north of Orlando is also great for seeing the manatees in the winter (and swimming in the spring in the summer).
Katie, thanks! I’d never heard of this.